Grading for Learning

Our approach to grading and assessment of learning at Grandview is a holistic one. We began our work as a staff in 2012 after reading research on best practices and learning from other schools throughout the nation. We met as an instructional leadership team to define what a grade is, and that drives the work we do still today. Our teachers operate under the philosophy that a grade reflects student learning. Grades communicate to students where they are in relation to the learning of the standards of the course. Therefore, anything calculated in the gradebook of each teacher is what that teacher has determined is a summative (cumulative) measure of student learning. There are also process and progress scores listed in PowerSchool, but those are formative (practice) measures of student learning and are not calculated. That should be clearly defined by each teacher under the class description in PowerSchool. 

Because learning is a continuous process, we allow students multiple opportunities to show their learning. This could look different in different classes. Teachers communicate those opportunities through Schoology and PowerSchool. As educators, it is not enough that we taught the skills and the content; what is important is that students learned it. As educators, we learn from results of assessments, and we adjust how we teach to ensure students are afforded different ways to learn and show their learning. 

Each teacher is the expert in his or her classroom, and each teacher can clearly define how an assessment of learning demonstrates what students know. Our teachers meet weekly in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to develop content and assessments. They also share data to determine learning and further instruction if necessary. If ever you have a question about your student’s progress in class, please contact your student’s teacher(s).   

Grading research/reform is an ongoing effort throughout the country, led by work at the University of Kentucky and the University of North Dakota. And while, “no grading system by itself improves student learning…better grading can provide clearer and more accurate information on students’ learning that then can be used as a basis for making improvements” (Link & Guskey, 2022). We all have student learning at the forefront of what we do, and we want to help them achieve at their highest level.

Link, L. J., & Guskey, T. R. (2022). Is Standards-Based Grading Effective? Theory Into Practice, 1–14. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/00405841.2022.2107338