Standards-Based Reporting

Standards-Based Reporting is a system in which the student is assessed on individual “Performance Indicators” or, in simpler terms, “skills” and “knowledge.”    Reports of student progress are focused on a collection of similar Performance Indicators within a subject, rather than one “grade” for the entire subject.  

Achievement Levels show the level of proficiency the student has achieved

Mastered:  The Student demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of the content and the ability to apply the processes/skills accurately in different and new situations.

Proficient:      The Student demonstrates a solid understanding of the content and the ability to carry out processes/skills accurately. 

Developing: The Student demonstrates limited understanding of content and/or emerging ability to apply processes/skills but does not have full and independent acquisition of either. 

Not Proficient: The Student demonstrates minimal knowledge or understanding of content and/or makes significant errors when applying processes/skills.

 Also in use are

X Not Assessed:   This is used for Strands which were not covered for the particular marking period or unit of study.

IE Insufficient Evidence:   This is used when there is not enough data for the teacher to accurately determine an “achievement level” Examples of when IE might be used would be for a student who enrolled in the class late or was absent due to illness for a lengthy period of time. It will also be used when a student has not submitted the assessments required.

In Standards-Based Reporting, teachers assess and report on student acquisition of knowledge and skills. They base their judgment on assessment data focused on individual Performance Indicators or clusters of Performance Indicators within each Strand. Teachers are not reporting on the student’s achievement in the entire subject.   A student may, for example, be very good at computation in Math and have a strong achievement in the Strand called “Numbers and Operations” but have difficulty determining how to solve a problem when the algorithm is not already laid out for them (the Strand called Mathematical Problem Solving).

Grade Averaging assesses student acquisition of chunks of knowledge (which can be studied for a test).  It is possible to say a student learned x% of the facts and then it is easy to say that between x% and y% was an A or a C.    Also, traditionally, Grade Averaging at times included other data not specifically related to a student’s academic achievement.

In Grade Averaging, a student’s grade is an average of scores, only some of which were specifically related to acquisition of skills or knowledge. For example, homework is sometimes counted as a percentage of the student’s final grade. Homework is done outside of the teacher’s supervision and is most often recorded as done/not done. This is a reward for completion (really a grade for behavior), not an assessment of skills or knowledge.

Averaging is easy. It leads us to believe we have done something statistically objective when we have not.   Outlier scores (usually low ones) can impact heavily on the average.

For example,

A student receives the following grades on a series of assignments (all weighted the same and all assessing the same content and skills);

            89, 90, 92, 91, 60, 92, 92: Average is an 86.56%  

But is that really an accurate report of the student’s achievement? The student clearly is performing in the low 90%s consistently except for one test.   What happened on that one test? Was the student ill? Was there trouble in his/her personal life that day? We don’t know but it does appear as though that 60% is a one-time anomaly (an “outlier”) and not reflective of his/her achievement.

Performance Indicators are written to encompass a year’s work so, if we only assessed the entire scope of the Performance Indicators at all times during the year, then you would be correct.

However, the teacher will “chunk” the Performance Indicators—break them down into teachable and assessable objectives for each unit of study during the year.  Each chunk would be taught and assessed and reported on with an Achievement Level.  Subsequent chunks would build on the first one and so on through continual development until the full scope of the Performance Indicator is assessed after all aspects of it have been fully taught.  

The memo narrative for the report to parents will be clear as to what chunk of the Performance Indicator is being reported on.

Standards-based assessment allows for continual feedback on student growth and performance using assessment that is both “formative” and “summative”.

Many skills and performance indicators are developed and assessed throughout the course of an academic year and thus “re-doing” a specific assignment is usually neither necessary nor productive as the student will be given other opportunities to demonstrate proficiency.

Other skills and Performance Indicators may be specific to a Unit of Study.   If a student does not show proficiency, he or she may be offered the opportunity to be reassessed at the discretion of the teacher – these decisions are based on necessity and in the interest of student learning.

Not at all. Standards-Based Reporting is widely used in the USA and even schools which have not yet adopted it are able to process student transcripts appropriately.   Transcripts have grading “keys” on them for those schools in other countries which may be less familiar with Standards-Based Reporting so that they can interpret the scores within their own contexts.  

EC3 through 8^th Grade

CAISL High School teachers are knowledgeable of and work to incorporate many of the same philosophies and procedures as used by teachers of younger students. However, CAISL has chosen not to implement Standards-Based Reporting at the 9^th through 12^th Grade level as university systems outside of the USA do not yet have laws and procedures in place to allow Standards-Based Reporting Achievement Levels to be converted to grades/scores which are used in the UK, Portugal, and other university systems.