Standards-Based Assessment

My ELAB team met today for our first in-service. One of the topics for our discussion was how to grade students in this class.

Now, let me give you some background information: this is a new class that our district is implementing. ELAB is a Response to Instruction and Intervention class. I will be teaching writing, informational text, language, and academic vocabulary to leveled classes. Our report cards will still show two ELA grades.

We agreed that the ELABS would do standards-based grading. Each product will be scored with one standard in mind.

For example, writing standard 2a says, "Introduce a topic; organize ideas, concepts, and information, using strategies such as definition, classification, comparison/contrast, and cause/effect; including formatting, graphics, and multimedia when useful in aiding comprehension."

In standards-based grading, students would write the introduction to a piece of writing and I would score it based on that standard. Now, I could add language standards if I wanted to but I'm going to keep it simple for today's blog.

If the student has written an advanced piece, I would record a 100 in the column for that grade. If the student is proficient, I would record a 92. Basic earns an 84, and below basic earns a 74.

I'm excited because I believe that it gives more information to the student. My goal is to help him or her become a better writer.

My ultimate plan is to give each student a score sheet that states what standard is being graded on that particular piece. That way students can keep up with their own grades on a checklist.

Sounds ideal. I'll let you know how it goes in a few weeks.

Melissa