Use of standards-based grading to increase the teacher's overall understanding of student's learning in the seventh grade science classroom

Abstract

Standards Based Grading (SBG) in the classroom was examined along with the extent to which it would increase students' overall understanding of the materials. As high-stakes testing becomes more prevalent, it has been necessary to begin to look at changing aspects of pedagogy along with assessment to increase achievement. Students were given a survey prior to the treatment/non-treatment cycle and then again when the cycle concluded to detect any change in their attitude once they became more comfortable with the grading system. Students were also given the choice to authentically reflect on their learning and the quality of the reflection was compared to their overall understanding of the materials. Overall students' attitudes about their abilities in relation to the practices with SBG were positive. Students who demonstrated a quality reflection were much more likely to be proficient on the summative assessment when compared to their peers who either did not reflect or completed a poor reflection.