Why Standards Based Grading Works (Persuasive)
Last year I had one English teacher, who I won’t name, that was widely hated by almost every student that had her. We all understood the fact that we were freshman and weren’t generally the most mature, but she must’ve mixed up freshman with second graders. The amount of helicopter teaching that students endured in that class was unbelievable. Any amount of freedom or growth was strictly prohibited. I’m not saying there was nothing to be gained from that class. I learned that using “one” in an essay instead of “you” makes it one million times better. I also learned that I hated acting and was so terrified of public speaking that I could become physically ill. No matter how annoying her teaching style was, there was one thing I actually loved about her class: how she graded.
My main problem with school is the lack of actual learning that takes place. Using standards based grading doesn’t erase, but certainly helps ease that problem. Grading based mastery of an idea, concept, or skill makes so much more sense than grading based on whether or not someone wrote their name on the paper, could reach exactly 500 words in an essay, or memorize every last element on the Periodic Table. Of course, there will certainly be times when memorizing something is essential in understanding a topic. There will also be times when a particular format, MLA for example, needs to be incorporated in order to receive full credit. In general, however, fully comprehending the material is what really matters.
Standards based grading also gives every student an opportunity to succeed. Traditional grading scales gave students 59 ways to fail, and 41 ways to pass. The only way to fail using standards based grading is to, quite literally, do nothing. If a student hands in their assignments with evidence of them trying, even if they got everything wrong, they can still succeed. That’s worth a whole lot to the kids who go their whole lives trying and still getting nowhere.
Every way of grading has it’s downsides. Critics of standards based grading often point out that it can be slightly more subjective than teachers following a master rubric religiously. From my experiences, the rubrics used are still outlined and followed well. Students get the grade that aligns with their comprehension. In my opinion, the sooner grading is entirely based on the learning and understanding students gain, the sooner the education system will do it’s job correctly.
