Standards-Based Grading

Midwest Academy employs Standards-Based Grading, which is based on student mastery of the course material. This reflects the Midwest Academy mission to make student learning, and in turn grading, more meaningful. In Standards-Based Grading, students receive a numerical score of 0-4 for each standard, which represents an objective, that an assignment or assessment covers. Most assignments and assessments include multiple standards. The teacher provides the measurement standards students need to achieve for each score in a rubric prior to each assignment.

What is the Rationale Behind Standards-Based Grading?

• Makes grades more meaningful
• Helps teachers adjust instruction (e.g., does whole class need a concept re-taught?)
• Motivates students to work toward progress instead of immediate perfection
• Eliminates issues with percentage grades (0-60 is a large margin for failing) 
• Accurately paints a clear picture of what a student has learned

Standards-Based Grading and the Engagement Grade

The Engagement Grade is included as a weekly engagement score and sometimes also as a standard within an assignment, such as working with a partner. The purpose of the Engagement Grade is to hold students accountable for their personal engagement in class and to identify weaknesses so that strategies can be put into place to help each student develop these important life skills. While the tracking and incorporating of this grade is very important for student growth and development, the Engagement Grade only constitutes a small portion of each student’s overall grade for each class. See the following graphic for an example.

The following table helps describe the score in terms of academic performance.

 * The intermediate scores of 0.5, 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 are used to show that a student has shown partial mastery of the next level of learning.