Standards Based Grading Journey

Two and a half years ago I began participating in a district committee called Effective Feedback and Grading in which we looked at the work of Thomas Guskey, Ken O’Connor, Douglas Reeves.  We also studied the systems changes that local school districts had made and were in the midst of making.  Today culminates a major milestone for this work at Valley View.  This is the first marking period in which our teachers have separated behavior from grades, linked their standards directly to their assignments and made a shift to 70/30 grading for summative and formative assessments.

In August, I presented to the staff this image which not only highlights my childhood fascination Oregon Trail that I recall playing on the orange screened computers in early elementary school and the feeling some may have with grading changes.

Today is a big change in reporting out what students know and are able to do more effectively.  And this change was not always free of obstacles!  To change in English offers many definitions: to transform or make different, to adapt or modify, to break away or vary and to make a difference without the loss of identity or to alter.  In order to support our work, we have utilized Ken O’Connor’s book A Repair Kit for Grading and had Thomas Guskey speak to our staff.  The most important work however, has been the work that our dyads(job alike teams) and PLCs have worked out together.  I am really proud of their risk taking and open-ness to take on these changes to give their best to our students.  We’re not there yet, but we are on the journey together!