Evidence Based Grading

 

Traditional Grading:

• Letter grades are calculated by combining performance on assignments, tests, effort, homework, and expectations.
• Typically a student receives one letter grade for each subject.
• Letter grades do not inform students or families which skills have been mastered or whether they are working at grade level.

 

 

Evidence Based Grading:

• Students receive a separate mark for each standard.
• Subjects are divided into a list of skills and knowledge that students are learning.
• Parents know exactly what standard a student needs to improve on.
• Social Emotional Standards will report on effort, attitude, work habits, and homework separately.

Evidence Based Reporting Scale

• Based on student performance in relation to specific standards.
• Based on the Illinois Common Core Standards.
• Reports what students know and are able to do.
• Academic performance trackers (ELA, Math, Social Studies, Science, Music, Art, Spanish, and Physical Education)
• Separate tracker for Social Emotional Standards

Social Emotional Standards for Evidence Based Report Cards

The Social Emotional Standards for District 80 are inline with our PRIDE Program.

P - Positive

R- Responsible and Respectful

I - Inclusive

D - Determined

E - Engaged

 

The Illinois Social Emotional Standard are split into three goals and three learning levels.

• Goal 1 - Develop self-awareness and self-management skills to achieve school and life success. (Positive and Determined)
• Goal 2 - Use social-awareness and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain positive relationships. (Inclusive and Respectful)
• Goal 3 - Demonstrate decision-making skills and responsible behaviors in personal, school, and community contexts

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Goal 1:
Self-awareness and self-management skills to achieve school and life success (Positive and Determined)

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SEL 1B:1b: Identify family, peer, school and community strengths (Kinder - Second Grade)

• Identify the values that help you make good choices
• Identify the people who can give you the help you need
• Identify reliable adults from whom you would seek help in an emergency
• Describe an achievement that makes you feel proud
• Analyze how you might have done better in a situation
• Know and track reading level and RIT scores

SEL 1B:2b: Explain how you, family members, peers, and school personnel can support school success and responsible behavior (Third and Fourth Grade)

• Describe the personal qualities that successful learners demonstrate
• Explain how practice improves your performance of a skill
• Analyze what it is about school that is challenging to you
• Analyze the positive qualities of role models
• Measure your progress towards goals
• Know and track your reading level, RIT scores and Lexile levels

SEL 1B.3b: Recognize personal qualities and external supports (Fifth - Eighth Grade)

• Student knows their lexile level in Achieve 3000
• Student knows their strengths and challenges in each subject
• Student knows their latest MAP Reading and Math score
• Student knows their Khan Academy achievements
• Student knows their attendance and tardy record
• Student knows what adults are available at school to help them

 

SEL 1C.1a: Describe why school is important in helping students achieve personal goals (Kinder - Second Grade)

• Explain the various aspects of being successful in school
• Describe a behavior you would like to change
• Give an example of a personal goal you can set for yourself
• Describe how you might improve your classroom behavior

SEL 1C.2a: Describe the steps in setting and working towards goal achievement (Third and Fourth Grade)

• Make a plan for how to achieve a personal goal
• Describe the steps you have to made toward achieving a goal
• Monitor your progress toward achieving an academic goal
• Evaluate what you might have done differently to achieve greater success on a goal
• Develop an academic goal with action steps to be taken by certain dates

SEL 1C.3a: Set a short-term goal and make a plan for achieving it (Fifth - Eighth Grade)

• Student sets a lexile level goal in Achieve 3000
• Student sets a learning goal based on Power Standards in each subject
• Student sets a target MAP Reading and Math score
• Student sets a goal for attendance and tardiness
• Student creates a plan to achieve each goal

 

Goal 2:
Social-awareness, interpersonal skills, positive relationships
(Inclusive and Respectful)

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SEL 2C.1b: Demonstrate appropriate social and classroom behavior (Kinder - Second Grade)

• Use “please and thank you” appropriately
• Raise one’s hand for recognition
• Pay attention when someone is speaking
• Follow directions given
• Take turns and share toys and other resources with classmates
• Discuss how to be a good friend
• Make a plan for making friends

SEL 2C.2b: Analyze ways to work effectively in groups (Third and Fourth Grade)

• Recognize when it is appropriate to give a compliment
• Use “I statements” to express how you feel when someone has hurt you emotionally
• Demonstrate cooperative behaviors in a group
• Respond positively to constructive criticism
• Identify ways to build positive relationships with peers, family and others

SEL 2C.3b: Demonstrate cooperation and teamwork to promote group effectiveness (Fifth - Eighth Grade)

• Student follows directions from the teacher or peers
• Student invites others in to group activities; does not exclude verbally or nonverbally
• Student efficiently works independently or in a group without disturbing others (talking, moving around room, distracting)
• Students include others at recess

 

SEL 2D.1a: Identify problems and conflicts commonly experienced by peers (Kinder - Second Grade)

• Use self-calming techniques for anger management as a way to de-escalate conflict situations.
• Distinguish between constructive and destructive ways of resolving conflict
• Recognize various methods of resolving conflict
• Explain what a rumor is and how it hurts others
• Analyze how falsely accusing someone of something could cause conflict
• Identify bullying behavior and how it affects people
• Explain what happens when conflict is not resolved

SEL 2D:2a: Describe causes and consequence conflicts (Third and Fourth Grade)

• Analyze how an inability to manage one’s anger might cause a conflict to get worse
• Identify the consequences of a solution
• Distinguish between positive and negative peer pressure
• Describe conflicts you have experienced and how you dealt with them

SEL 2D.3a: Evaluate strategies for preventing and resolving interpersonal problems (Fifth - Eighth Grade)

• Students avoid gossip and name-calling/negativity
• Students keep their hands to themselves
• Student confronts other students calmly and attempt to resolve conflicts on their own, but seek adult support if the conflict continues
• Student identifies his/her own emotional state and applies strategies to regulate negative emotions to avoid conflict with others

 

 

Goal 3:
Decision-making and responsibility
(Engaged and Responsible)

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SEL 3B.1a: Identify a range of decisions that students make in school (Kinder - Second Grade)

• Recognize one has choices in how to respond to situations
• Describe calming strategies
• Practice group decision making with one’s peers in a class meeting
• Analyze how tone of voice influences how others respond to you
• Describe ways to promote the safety of oneself and others
• Demonstrate wise choices in selecting friends
• Describe the steps of a decision-making model
• Completes homework

SEL 3B.2a: Identify and apply the steps of systematic decision making (Third and Fourth Grade)

• Generate alternate solutions to problems
• Develop criteria for evaluating the consequences of a decision for oneself and the important others in one’s life
• Demonstrate the steps of a decision-making process
• Define the problem, say how you feel, identify the contributing factors, set a goal, identify alternative solutions, select the best solution, evaluate the results
• Completes homework

SEL 3B.3a: Analyze how decision-making skills improve study habits/academic performance (Fifth - Eighth Grade)

• Student completes homework on time and completely
• Student checks for understanding on homework and classwork and seeks help when he/she does not understand
• Evaluate strategies to promote student success
• Identify challenges and obstacles to solving problems

 

SEL 3B.1b: Make positive choices when interacting with classmates (Kinder - Second Grade)

• Use “I statements” in expressing feelings
• Implement stop, think, and act (plan) strategies
• Demonstrate reflective listening
• Brainstorm alternative solutions to interpersonal problems in the classroom

SEL 3B.2b: Generate alternative solutions and evaluate their consequences for a range of academic and social situations (Third and Fourth Grade)

• Demonstrate wise choices in selecting friends
• Apply a decision-making model to solve interpersonal problem
• Demonstrate awareness that feelings influence one’s decisions

SEL 3B.3b: Evaluate strategies for resisting pressures to engage in unsafe/unethical behavior (Fifth - Eighth Grade)

• Student practices positive responses to peers
• Student reinforces school rules to peers
• Student reports dangerous misbehavior of others to adults
• Student follows school rules and procedures to avoid misbehavior
• Student “owns” misbehavior mistakes and can discuss strategies for avoiding mistakes in the future
• Students know and practice anti-bullying strategies
• Students evaluate their participation in bullying situations in order to stop all bullying and be supportive of others

 

How will student be motivated without letter grade?

• Research shows that letter grades do not motivate students to learn. Research has found three consistent effects of using letter or number grades:
  • Grades tend to reduce student' interest in the learning itself
  • Grades tend to reduce students' performance for challenging tasks
  • Grades tend to reduce the quality of students' thinking

 

 

Parents already know what letter grades mean. Why change to another system?

• A standards-based report card gives more information than traditional letter grades, and reports how well the student is progressing towards achieving the standards expected for his/her grade level. It measures student performance in far more detail and in a more equitable way. Students are measured against a standard rather than against their peers. Moving toward a standards-based grading system is a national movement based on years of research. We recognize that letter grades are a time-honored tradition and are what most parents experienced as students however letter grades do not accurately reflect a learner’s knowledge of the standards.

 

 

Isn't "Developing" just another way of saying that student earned a "B"?

• One of the biggest differences between a traditional letter-grade report card and a standards-based report card is assessing what students have “learned” not “earned” based on very clear and specific expectations defined by the Common Core State Standards. A “B” is an average of the points earned on tests, quizzes, assignments, and so on but does not tell us what the student has really learned and achieved in terms of standards-based expectations for a specific grade level.

 

 

How will English Language Learners or students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) be graded on a evidence based report card?

• The learning outcome standards for all students are the same; however, students with IEPs have specific accommodations and/or modifications that enable a student to meet the standards. An accommodation does not change the standard, but provides the scaffolding and support necessary for that student to access and demonstrate knowledge of a standard. ELL students come to our communities with a variety of educational backgrounds and may require a variety of supports to access the curriculum standards.

 

 

My child is academically strong. How will evidence based teaching, learning and grading challenge my child?

• Through standards-based instructional methods of pre-assessment, teachers will know if students have already mastered concepts prior to a lesson or unit. It will give teachers an early opportunity to provide meaningful and challenging work for these students. In the classroom, teachers have always been, and continue to be, required to challenge the students who are achieving at or above grade level. Teachers differentiate instruction so that students continue to grow and progress.

 

 

How will teachers know when a student has mastered a standards benchmark?

• The standards require students to understand more than just facts—they must understand concepts and demonstrate that understanding using the skills they have acquired while learning the content. Teachers determine when a student achieves mastery by that student’s performance on daily assignments and assessments given throughout each trimester. Teachers will have greater flexibility to use a variety of means to determine when and if a student can demonstrate proficiency which can allow for greater differentiation of instruction and provide more frequent opportunities during an instructional unit for some students to study concepts at a deeper level.

 

 

Are there other school communities successfully using this model?

• Yes. Many elementary school districts in this area, as well as across the country, have made the switch to a standards-based grading system. This is a national movement based on years of research.