Transitioning to Criterion/Standards Based Assessments

Here are some steps a High School can take when transitioning from a traditional grading system (based on the accumulation of points) to a criterion or Standards system (based on levels of achievement). These steps do not necessitate changing the way a school reports letter grades and corresponding GPA calculations to colleges.

1. Remove all non-academic attributes from grades (e.g. behavior, tardy penalties, etc). These attributes while important, may be reported separately. Just this one step brings the academic grade closer to a true representation of what a student actually knows, understands and is able to do.
2. Design a course as units of instruction with each unit focussed around a manageable cluster of related standards or learning objectives. The Understanding by Design framework from the work of Wiggins and McTighe can facilitate this process.
3. Encourage teachers to write the assessments for evidence of learning when planning the course. In other words, once course and unit standards/objectives have been identified, design the semester exam around the key standards/objectives of the course. Then backward design the unit summative assessments. Thirdly, design the important formative assessments that come before each unit summative that will provide learning/progress feedback to help the students master the standards/objectives. This process of properly aligning formatives to summatives and end of semester assessments, helps students see their learning progression and provides clear and important feedback along the way.
4. During the early days of transition, when students are getting used to the emphasis on the learning rather than the grade, include formative assessments into the grading mix. Some schools have used an 80-20 mix (80% of the grade from summatives and the remaining 20% from formatives).
5. Introduce a retake policy for students who do not meet proficiency on a summative. Give a student at least one more opportunity to prove proficiency. Place the onus on the student to go through the necessary policy steps to apply for the retake in a timely manner.
6. If semester exams (in step 3) truly reflect evidence of course proficiency, they could count for more than just part of the semester grade (traditionally 20%). Here is an idea which can be supported by the philosophy of criterion or standards based learning: A student whose semester exam result is at least one letter grade above the pre-exam grade, will improve his course achievement level by one letter grade. E.g. A student who goes into the semester exam with a C and receives an A on the semester exam will earn a semester grade of B.

We Evolve through the Messiness of Engagement

In the Bible, the Book of Genesis tells the creation story from two traditions.

In the first tradition (Gn 1 - 2.3), we witness the smooth flow of God's creative Word: (1) Day and night; (2) The sky; (3) The land and the sea and the variety of vegetation and fruit trees; (4) The sun, the moon and the stars; (5) The creatures of the sea and sky; (6) The creatures of the land and man. At the end of the sixth day God saw all that He had made and found it very good.

The second tradition (Gn 2.3 - 3) appears a little more messy and disjointed.  It does not have the orderly and sequential flow of the first tradition. We read that God forms man from the dust of the ground and blows life into his nostrils. He places man in a garden and gives him a multitude of trees that are good to look at and to eat from. In the garden He also places the tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He gives man the freedom to eat the fruit of any of the trees but warns him not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Then, God realizes that the man is alone and needs a helper. He creates the birds and the animals and brings them to the man to name but none appear to be a suitable helper. God then puts the man in a deep sleep, removes one of his ribs and forms woman out of it. Then comes temptation, the eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the introduction of sin and suffering.

Upon reflection, the first tradition reveals God's mind and will for the good of creation. The second places man at the center of the story and we see the tension between the free will God bestows on His creation and His will for good. Perhaps the second story of creation is a foreshadowing of all our stories - that we evolve through the messiness of that engaging and testing of wills, until we allow ours to be redeemed by His and we are able to share and live His vision of creation as very good.