Leader of Change

Standards Based Grading: An Implementation of Learning

-Presented to the Department of Educational Leadership
and Postsecondary Education
University of Northern Iowa
-In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the
Masters of Arts in Education
-By
Tatum D. Starcevich
Waukee High School
Waukee, Iowa
December 13, 2016
Dr. Nick Pace & Dr. Rob Boody

HistoryofStandardsBasedGrading
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word grade as a position in a scale of ranks or
qualities, a stage in a process, and a mark indicating a degree of accomplishment in school.
Considering those definitions, it is no wonder that grading in education is a complicated topic.
When looking at the history of grading in the United States, schools around the industrial
revolution era began to implement a system where letter grades would be given to represent
percentages achieved on different aspects of a students performance in school. This system was
applied to all types of schools all over the nation and became the standard for grading and
achievement in American society.
What society has recently realized is that our system of grading has not kept up with the
changing demands of the world. We no longer live in a nation where the majority of students
will go to the factory or farm after high school graduation. In order to be successful, and attain
the possibility to achieve middle class status in this day and age, every student must be college
bound in some capacity. The first step in that process is making sure students are learning what
they need to know to be successful beyond the school walls. Grades have always been the
measure of that achievement, however what does a letter on a scale really represent in real world
applicability. Should students not instead focus on learning skills and practicing those skills to
meet the demands asked of them. The answer to this issue comes in the form of standards based
grading.
Standards based grading is a grading practice that has emerged in the past decade as a
school movement to improve student learning and achievement. Standards based grading
encompasses the notion that students are given standards to meet, and through multiple
assessments, prove and apply what they know. According to Marco Munoz and Thomas Guskey

The purpose of grading is to describe how well students have achieved the learning objectives
or goals established for a class of course of study. (2015. p 33). That statement is essence of the
standards based grading philosophy.
Standards based systems allow authentic learning to occur because every assessment,
formative and summative, is tied to a skill or standards that a student must have mastery on.
According to Tomlinson and McTighe (2006) standards-based grading involves measuring
students' proficiency on well-defined course objectives. This idea and perhaps biggest argument
for schools switching to this system is the notion that standards based grading gives grades
meaning. This topic is important to research because the world that our students will be
competing in for jobs is rapidly changing. Change is the only way to advance society yet we as
humans are often resistant to change. Many people like to talk about change but are terrified of
upsetting the status quo. However, as intelligent beings, we recognize the need for change for
the advancement of our society. When looking at it historically, the greatest innovations have
come after a period of significant change. The same can be said about education and grading.
Unfortunately, principals do not have the opportunity to spend a substantial amount of their time
on the things that matter most. This action research is the first step in the change process and
evidence that standards based grading is the most authentic practice for student learning.
Preparing our students for the world of technology that their careers will need, and learning how
to overcome the resistance to change we face constantly.
When focusing on change in the way educators measure student achievement, it is
impossible to ignore the aspect technology plays in todays society. Students are constantly
exposed to technology and that is only going to increase in the future. Exposing students to
technology-based learning will only help them in their post-secondary education lives. When

referencing the works of Fisch, McLeod, & Bronman (2009), it is evident to see how imperative
technology is to our students. Conclusions from their works include the following:

The top 10 in-demand jobs currently in the United States did not exist five years
ago.
We are preparing our students for jobs that do not exist, using technologies that
have not been invented.
The United States Department of Labor estimates that todays learners will have
10 to 14 jobs by the time they reach the age of 38.

Taking those three facts into consideration alone should be enough of a catalyst to open
educators up to the changing grading practices that ensure the needs of 21st-century
students. This is the future and it is the responsibility of educators to prepare students for that
future. Schools must keep up with this change and incorporating an assessment process and
grading scale where teachers can adjust instruction is vital.
Scriffiny (2008), published work centering on seven specific, applicable, reason as to
why standards based was best practice for students. Reasons included grades having meaning,
challenging the status quo, teachers controlling grading practices, reducing meaningless
paperwork, individualized instruction, teacher quality, and a gateway to other reforms. All in all,
the research surrounding standards based grading definitely points in a direction that suggests
that standards based scales are a better assessment of student achievement.
Background of Waukee High School
The purpose of this action research is to see how standards based grading can improve
student achievement at Waukee High School. Along with implementing a standards based
project at the end of the term, research into the effectiveness of College Career Ready Standards
(CCRS) will also be conducted.
The Waukee Community School District has implemented the standard based system up
to eighth grade. The buildings not required to give standards based grades are both eighth and
ninth grade buildings and the high school. As a district, the goal is to be completely standards

based in the near future. Resistance to this change has been seen by a lack of understanding in
implementation, forced mandates by the administration with teachers perceiving a lack of
support to change practice, and a lack of accountability for teachers to start moving to this
system.
Action Research
Teachers in the high school over the last year have been given the option to transfer to
this scale or keep the traditional scale. My personal experience with standards based is with
individual assignments not the over all grade as a whole, as executed by this research project.
This plan will be implemented in a junior United States History class. The class is comprised of
twenty-seven students, four of which are ESL students. As a class that is required to graduate
high school, there are five other teachers that instruct this course, which allows for a comparison
of the two grading systems.
The proposed innovation involves changing a unit to standards based. This will not be
tested until second semester based on data collected this term on standards based Project Based
Learning (PBL) assessments. The results from this semester with a change to PBL in a standards
scale have been outstanding. Student achievement has risen on summative assessment and
standards based essays when looking at the entire student population by 9% from the first term. I
will be changing the Civil Rights Movement Unit completely to standards based next semester
compare the outcomes of student learning on multiple assessments.
Data will be taken from my sample class primarily in the form of formative and
summative assessments. Since I will be able to adjust instruction according to progress it will be
easier to see how the data is changing. The unit I will be looking about will run approximately
ten days. The predicted outcome will show how standards based grading can improve student
achievement, help teachers individualize instruction, and answer some lingering questions
colleagues have about how to implement this change process.

The administration at Waukee High School is fully behind this initiative so the purpose of
this action research has morphed into providing data to the staff highlighting how standards
based grading does in fact improve student achievement, assuming the results display this. The
biggest opposition to this change centers on a lack of understanding in implementation of the
system.
Future of Standards Based Grading at Waukee High School
When conducting action research at Waukee High School, along with standards based
grading practices influencing student achievement, the implementation and effectiveness of
College Career Ready Standards (CCRS) in student growth. The CCRS model is in its second
year of application at WHS after a less than effective first year. Students are given a standards
based grade over four areas which include collaboration with others, works productively to
accomplish a goal, utilizes feedback, and demonstrates respect. All of which are tied to college
and career readiness. However, the CCRS grade students receive has no impact on their
numerical grade or grade point average. This has created a culture of many students deeming
them not important. This assessment of student behavior practices is invaluable when gauging
success beyond high school, but many teachers are facing issues with students not caring about
this process. Further controversy over this topic is because students final grade in a course is not
influenced by CCRS since it is behavior driven. These standards are imperatives; unfortunately
student recognition of how essential these skills are has been the hardest aspect of
implementation. Student efficacy is nonexistent when looking at CCRS achievement. An
addition to the action research unit at the end of the year will be a connection to each of the
CCRS standards tied to an assessment in order to highlight the importance to students.
As previously stated, the administrators at Waukee are fully behind this cross over to
standards based grading. This is critical to the initiative because principals establishment of
grading expectation is critical. High expectations drive staff and students to higher levels of

achievement, efficiency, and excellence (Sorenson, Goldsmith, Mendez & Maxwell, 2011).
When individuals are motivated and challenged meaningful learning begins to occur at all levels
of the building. When setting low standards, principals create an environment of low
achievement and ultimately students pay the price. Increased student achievement is evident
when discussing high principal expectations. It is apparent that in all aspects of life when
someone is given an expectation their performance rises to accommodate. This logic is what will
drive the CCRS aspect of implementation. When looking at students in schools specifically, we
see high expectations enhance creativity, self-confidence, assertiveness and focus among other
things (Sorenson & Goldsmith, 2009). Allowing students to reach their full potential
educationally is something that all schools should strive for and the only way that will be
accomplished is if they are challenged in their learning and standards based grading is where that
change can begin to occur in classroom instruction.
The other buildings in the Waukee CSD have created rubrics, dedicated PLC time to the
cross over, and developed units around the standards. Many people in the high school seem
willing to change but want more support. Based on a survey of the social studies department at
the high school, 90% of respondents would be willing to implement a standards based system if
they had support in the application process.
People are resistant to change for fear of the unknown, being creatures of habit, and
ultimately failing. For those reasons alone it is so essential that leaders become the change
initiator and by doing so blaze a trail to greater individual gratification and collective
achievement for an organization (McLuhan & Fiore, 2005). The most important aspect of the
school organization is student achievement and without proper learning and grading, students
will not be ready to meet the needs of the changing world. Leaders must meet that resistant with
aspects of communication, support, empowerment, and motivation. Other ways to create

effective change in the face of faculty resistance is by establishing a culture of team ownership or
buy into the process. Being positive and having a clear vision and mission of what needs to be
changed is another aspect of effective leadership. Change is a tricky concept to tackle. As
previously stated, people tend to resist change even when it is necessary. As a school leader, it is
the principals job to be the change agent for the betterment of the school. When looking at
standards based grading, the principal should focus on buy in, data based decision-making,
communication, and doing what is best to meet the needs of the students.
Overall, this action research is far from being complete. The original goal was to
implement a standards based unit and demonstrate how that impacts student achievement. This
research will not be finished until the social studies department at Waukee High School has
implemented a standards based grading scale across all classes. The biggest reasons for this are
authentic and effective learning, individualized instruction, and project based learning for real
world applicability. This is the future of education and we as educators have a responsibility to
grant the leaders of tomorrow the best chance of success outside of the school walls.

Works Cited
Fisch, K., McLeod, S., & Bronman, J. (2009) Did you know? 3.0. YouTube.com. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHmwZ96_Gos
Grade.(n.d.).RetrievedDecember13,2016,fromhttps://www.merriam
webster.com/dictionary/grade
Kohn, A. (2011). The Case against Grades. Educational Leadership, 69(3), 28-33.

McLuhan, M., & Fiore, Q. (2005). The medium is the massage: An inventory of effects. Berkley,
CA: Gingko Press.
Muoz, M. A., & Guskey, T. R. (2015). Standards-Based Grading and Reporting Will Improve
Education. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(7), 64-68.
Scriffiny, P. L. (2008). Seven Reasons for Standards-Based Grading. Educational Leadership,
66(2), 70-74.
Sorenson, R. D., & Goldsmith, L. M. (2009). The principals guide to managing school
personnel. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Sorenson, R. D., Goldsmith, L. M., Mendez, Z. Y., & Maxwell, K. T. (2011). The principals
guide to curriculum leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.