The Pros And Cons Of Standards Based Grading

According to a survey conducted by Robert Winberg, two of every four students prefer taking traditional tests over any other grading evaluation. In fact, most schools do not use a typical grading system like most people would think. Most schools have decided to try a different method. This method assigns students a long-term assignment where they must produce a project and present it at the end of the period, to show what they have learned. Teachers may find this effective, however I do not believe this to be the best option. Despite the horrible opinions and rude sayings about tests, homework, and quizzes, I think they are more effective. I believe the traditional grading system is a more effective way for teachers to grade than an oral-presentation because it is less time consuming, better for kids with social anxiety, and it gives students time to prepare and learn.

The American education system has not changed drastically since the 1900s. In the early 1900’s before grading, teachers were expected to communicate in depth to their students on how they were doing in the class. This worked well for small groups and individual tutoring. The ability for this information to be passed on to those who were not involved with the learning process, such as employers and parents was limited. By the mid 20th century schools changed drastically as they introduced grades in the form of letters. The American schools now became more standardized as A, B, C, D and F represented ones grade. Depending what percentage a student received determined letter they got. An example is an A is a mark of 90-100%

Alfie Kohn discussed multiple fabulous points in his article, “Degrading to De-Grading”. The author suggests more effective ways to assess students’ progress other than numerical or letter grades. Kohn goes into detail about why our current grading system is flawed. Grades can cause students to lose interest in learning which causes them to stop taking challenges. If students are not engaged and interested than they are not retaining the information they are being taught. The grading system can also cause students to develop unhealthy competition with one another for instance, “I got a better grade than you!”. Indeed, grades are a wonderful concept, but they tend to be more hurtful than helpful. In some cases, grades can have positive effects on students. For example, setting goals for various assignments, or receiving help where they are struggling. Though, there are alternatives that could make positive changes in the system.

Texas takes the STAAR, Alabama the ARMT, and Hawaii the HSA. Each state in the U.S. has a standardized test required of every student. From the ACT and SAT to the STAAR tests, standardized testing has become common practice for almost every student. The earliest records of standardized testing are when in China, anyone wanting to get a job in government had to fill out their knowledge of Confucian philosophy and poetry in examination. As more and more kids began to go to school during the Industrial Revolution, standardized testing spread as a way to quickly and easily test a large number of students. But not everyone agrees with the tests, stating that they are unreliable, and that the stakes are too high. Standardized tests cause immense amount of stress for not only students, but teachers as well. And the tests might not even be effective, causing more anxiety than it's worth.

Letter grades were introduced into American schools in 1911. The grading system was originally created in Europe in the 17th century as a means to rank students based on tests. By the 1930s and 40s, most

What is standardized testing? Standardized testing is a test which is given to students to evaluate the knowledge which they know. Testing can be in all subjects and topics in education. In Minnesota there is the MCA ( Minnesota Common Assessment). The MCA can be taken from elementary to high school, and the students are tested on subjects they have learned from the past. In Minnesota the MCA is a test which the government requires students to take. On a national level there is the ACT and SAT. These are usually taken as entrance exams to colleges and universities. ACT and SAT are two different types of test they have differ in grading systems and some colleges take both or one of the two. Why are standardized test given? The test are given so people in charge can evaluate the performance of the student and school; also gage the knowledge of the student. But standardized test like the ACT can not be an effective way to improve instruction and performance because it is a competency focused test. The reason why standardized test are competence: They test students on how well they can eliminate the incorrect answers to find the correct one. This is an inefficient way because what if the test taker crosses out the wrong answer, this forces the taker to choose between two wrong answers. There's needs to be tested efficiently and accurately gage their knowledge.

Pragmaticism, indeed, will dictate that schools, assessments, and organizations long-established will not be altered for light and short-lived causes. Hence, a gradual shift in culture and method must occur which reforms the quantitative nature of grading systems. However, let the negative effects of the current grading system be known in a direct way:

Mr. Standifer has tremendous 21st century educational vision with the strategic awareness to implement with fidelity. He has guided our secondary AVID program with amazing success that is recognized nationwide. Jerry understands that the foundation of a strong educational system begins with a guaranteed and viable curriculum for all students. Mr. Standifer has been a strong advocate to implement Standards Base Grading (SBG) through many conversations with teachers and administration. Secondary educators have incredible trust in Mr. Standifer, and his mentoring and guidance was instrumental in our SBG

Farber’s view on the grading system is accurate. The grading does more bad than good, causing students to get stressed and not learn. Students’ spend most of their

Education is without a doubt one of the most significant factors in our society. We spend twelve years of our lives in the schooling system, and our system has been the most accurate technique for assessing students for decades now. Lately, there has been controversy over the traditional grading system that we currently use in our classrooms across the United States. There is a multitude of individuals who believe we should alter our grading system, and begin using a recently developed system which involves working on a long-term assignment throughout the semester to show what students have learned during the length of the course. There are many benefits to our traditional system that people often seem to overlook. We should be

Pass or fail grading systems is just not accurate enough to determine a students performance on his or her work. It is almost just not fair especially for students in college that have classes with a pass or fail grading system. Its not fair because students pay so much money to go

Today, it can be observed that society has shifted education drastically from the time schools were constituted, to now. Throughout history, schools have gone from private, where only the elite can attend, to public schools where virtually anyone can attend. One of the factors that goes along with education is standardized testing. Frederick J. Kelly, father of the standardized test, once said, “These tests are too crude to be used, and should be abandoned.” Not only has this shift occurred within education itself, but it has occurred within the testing concepts found within standardized testing so much so that the founder of these tests has chosen to give up on it.

Teachers have always used grades to measure the amount a student has learned. This practice is becoming ineffective. Many students have a wide range of grades, which show that grades may not show what a student really knows. Therefore, the standard grading system should be replaced. Some reasons why grades should be replaced are bad grades can hinder a child’s performance, grades define who a student is in the classroom, and grades are not an effective way to see if students have learned the material. The current grading system should be upgraded and every school should incorporate the plus/minus system in their method of grading.

In sports, analysts examine a players skills and abilities through the use of personal records and game statistics. Similarly, grades reflect a student's strength and weakness in the classroom. In Paul Goodman’s excerpt entitled “A Proposal to Abolish Grading,” he argues that Ivy League Universities should abolish grades. His reasons are that students focus on passing a test more than they do on expanding their education. Eliminating grading standards will allow students to learn new material without being stressed. Goodman's main focus is on prestigious schools, but it is an issue that concerns every school. For it begs the question if grades are necessary to measure a student's inclination to learn. Goodman believes that today’s students

Over the past few years, the traditional grading system of A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s, and F’s have slowly faded away only to be replaced by the insufficient “Standards-Based Grading”. While some schools are adopting this unorthodox grading system, several others still continue to follow the traditional “A-F” grading system. Many believe that the standards-based grading system does not work well with all students and doesn’t accurately grade them. Standards-based grading is a fairly new system of grading where the student is evaluated on his or her ability to complete an assignment and master the concept, not by what they get right or wrong on each individual assignment. This has been very confusing to those who are unfamiliar with standards-based