Policy Research and Politics

Alexander Noroyan

Central Michigan University

EDL 775: Educational Policy Analysis

Dr. Umpstead

Spring, 2017
 Policy Research and Politics 1

Policy Research & Politics

Statement of the Problem

For as long as I can remember, schools in the United States have assessed their students

the exact same way. The teacher gives students classwork and they prove their mastery on a quiz,

essay or test. At the end of the quarter, the teacher takes the amount of points that the student

earned and divides it by the possible points the course offered. The calculator did the math, and

spit out a number which was the student's final grade. Although this type of assessment has been

the norm for decades, it definitely doesnt mean that it is the most effective way of assessing

student growth. Grades should have meaning, and in the traditional grading system, they do not.

Teachers are routinely grading homework and taking points off if the assignment is turned in

late. Many teachers are stuck in the traditional mindset where they will not allow students to redo

an assignment or retake a test. This old school mindset goes against everything that teachers

believe in. Students should be able to try assignments multiple times to prove to the teacher that

they have mastered a concept, even if it is after the original assessment.

For decades, many students around the United States have earned a letter grade.

According to the age old practices, the grade that you have earned represents how that student

performed in that particular class. The problem is grades are influenced by homework,

attendance, extra credit, timeliness of turning in assignments and multiple other factors that

arent related to student growth, learning or mastery. If a student does not turn in their

homework, but scores an A on every major assessment, that is enough proof that they have
 Policy Research and Politics 2

mastered the content. With the traditional assessment method, students grades certainly would

not reflect that.

If a student refuses to turn in their homework or does poorly on a quiz, test or

assignment from eight weeks ago, that certainly doesnt show where their current mastery

level is. The traditional grading method is outdated and in reality, just not fair. To solve this

problem, schools in the United States need to implement: standards based grading techniques,

project based learning (Expeditionary Learning Schools), and alternative assessments for their

students. These three forms of assessments will allow schools, parents and teachers to truly

assess their students much more accurately.

Standards Based Grading

Recently, many teachers, administrators and school districts have researched standards

based grading. Standards-based grading aims to communicate how a student is performing

against a set of essential standards. A student is judged on what she knows, not how many

assignments she has completed. Her grade is a reflection of her knowledge, and thus, is ever-

changing (Pinken, 2016). Standards based grading allows for a much more accurate reflection

of student performance, progress and growth. By implementing standards based grading, student

growth is being assessed opposed to comparing them to their peers. Munoz and Guskey believe

that a shift to standards based grading is essential when they write, It is time to change our

traditional approaches for grading and reporting in our nation's schools. The scaling-up process

of the suggested approach for grading and reporting will enhance student learning (Muoz &

Guskey, 2015).
 Policy Research and Politics 3

In an effort to learn more about standards based grading, I interviewed the reading

specialist within in my building. She teaches three intervention classes along with two general

education ELA classes. She explained that while teaching the intervention classes, it is almost

impossible to give students a letter grade. Every student in her intervention class is at a

drastically different level than their peers. She stressed that some of her students are at a second

grade reading level, some students are at a fourth grade reading level, and some may just be a

grade or two behind. She mentioned that the most difficult thing about her job was assessing her

students with the current grading system that we have in place. With all of her students entering

the class with different skill levels, it was extremely difficult for her to implement a universal

grading policy. Not all students can be assessed the same. Since she is trying to cater to each

student, every student needs to be graded differently.

After spending months researching possible solutions, she knew that she had to

implement a standards based grading system in her classroom. Instead of using the traditional

method of giving each student a letter grade based on how many points theyve earned, she gives

each student a grade based on the progress or growth that they have made. In the midst of our

conversation, she made it clear to me that in her opinion, students should not be penalized for

taking longer to master a certain concept or skill. She allows all of her students to redo work or

retest until they can ultimately achieve proficiency. Although the students in her intervention

classes may not score as high as other students, this system allows these students to learn and

grow at their own pace. Many of the students that she teaches have struggled to achieve good

grades throughout their academic history. If a student sees that they are learning, growing and

mastering concepts, their grade should also reflect that. For many of these students, if their

reading level is a grade or more below, it would be impossible for them to ever achieve an A.
 Policy Research and Politics 4

They are not where they should be and the traditional model would set them up for failure

because they can not achieve at the same level as some of their classmates. Munoz and Guskey

write, Ultimately, grading and reporting are other important tools for what matters most:

improving student learning (Muoz & Guskey, 2015). This quote is spot on, because what

matters most is what students learn, and how much they grow, opposed to what grade they

receive.

Along with interviewing the reading specialist in my building, I also interviewed an

administrator from an Alternative High School. I wanted to hear from an individual that would

have a much different perspective than a traditional general education administrator. When

speaking to her, she was very adamant that assessing students at her building is very difficult.

Unlike a traditional school, her building has students with an extremely large age range. The

students that attend her building can be anywhere between the ages of 16 and 22. Since the age

range is so large, many of her students have accumulated a different amount of credits. Some of

her students are taking a basic algebra class for the first time, while others have taken it once or

twice before. This particular administrator mentioned that she has been doing much research on

standards based grading techniques in an effort to assess her students. Many of the students that

attend her school tend to have low motivation and self-esteem. Unfortunately, many of them

could also care less if they pass or fail. She mentioned to me that many of her students already

walk into certain classes expecting to fail. She believes that by implementing standards based

grading, her students can focus more on learning and growing instead of earning a grade. Shippy,

Washer and Perrin explain it well when they write, Standards-based grading allows students to

be graded solely on mastery of course content, which can lead to student motivation and a

meaningful learning relationship (Shippy, Washer, & Perrin, 2013).

 Policy Research and Politics 5

Although the research is very clear that alternative grading is very successful, the odds of

it happening at the national or state level are very slim. After talking to many professionals in the

industry, they made it clear that no modifications were going to be made unless we get a change

of leadership in positions of power. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) highlights

grading in schools. The ESSA is currently under review by the state of Michigan, and they are

awaiting a decision. One of the key factors of the ESSA is student accountability. Under one of

the accountability sections, it lists academic progress and student growth. These sections fall

under the umbrella term of student assessment. Within this section, The State of Michigan writes,

Michigan uses the student growth percentile as its growth measure. The calculations and

measures are the same for all schools in all LEAs across the state except those schools designed

to serve special populations. After researching the ESSA in relation to the state of Michigan,

they include an accountability system that reflects students performance in a traditional grading

format. They still provide the students with a letter grade of A-F with a percentage that it is

related to. Another interesting thing that was included in the State of Michigans ESSA section

was Michigans Innovative Assessment Pilot. This assessment pilot has two significant goals;

They want to Rethink the relative value of student outcomes and create more meaningful

measure progress towards those measures. According to the Michigan Department of

Education, they want to design an innovative assessment that, 1.) Allows for richer measures of

student learning and progress, 2.) Assesses a broader range of skills and 3.) Complements the

MDEs state assessment system (Keesler, 2016). This potential shift is extremely important,

because it will allow our students to be assessed with a wide variety of skills rather than specific

content knowledge. If correctly done, assessments will measure student learning and progress

which will give educators a more clear idea of how much our students have learned and grown.
 Policy Research and Politics 6

Project Based Learning

The second alternative to fixing the current grading practices that we have in place is

moving towards an Expeditionary Learning Schools, or Project Based Learning model.

Riordan & Klein explain the positives of ELS when they write, The ELS approach

promotes rigorous and engaging curriculum; active, inquiry-based pedagogy; and a school

culture that demands and teaches compassion and good citizenship. At the core of EL's curricular

model are learning expeditions, which are interdisciplinary, in-depth investigations of topics

grounded in state standards (Riordan & Klein, 2010). Project Based Learning has been

implemented in Finland for years. As a result, Finland has scored out as the top educational

system in the world. They achieved this level of success by scraping the traditional educational

method many years ago, and by adopting a project based learning model. When comparing

Finlands educational model to that of the United States, Finland doesnt believe in high stakes

standardized testing for their students. With that being said, they still have to take the Programme

for International Student Assessment test, where the students in Finland recorded the highest

scores in the world (DOrio, 2017). Along with not often testing their students, Finlands

educational model is much more relaxed and non-stressful for students. This allows for all

students to be successful, no matter their skill level. Finlands project based learning and non-

stressful educational model is one that students thrive under. Hancock writes, Teachers in

Finland spend fewer hours at school each day and spend less time in classrooms than American

teachers. Teachers use the extra time to build curriculums and assess their students. Children

spend far more time playing outside, even in the depths of winter. Homework is minimal.

Compulsory schooling does not begin until age seven. This quote proves that Finlands

educational system is much more efficient than that of the United States. The students in Finland
 Policy Research and Politics 7

do not go to school as long as Americans, yet they are still scoring significantly higher on their

national test scores (Hancock, 2011).

The reason that PBL is so much more effective than a traditional American school is

because students are responsible for their own learning. Instead of just reading out of a textbook

or answering questions at the end of the chapter, they are forced to research and create projects

that are interesting or important to them. Working with hands on projects are much more

beneficial and allow for students to connect to what they are learning. Zhulkov agrees, and

writes, Within this approach to learning, students work alongside teachers to develop projects as

opposed to passively receiving knowledge from their educators. For instance, students

questions, ideas, and theories serve as starting points when conceptualizing and planning essays

or presentations. Moreover, students have input not only in planning PBL class session, but also

in self-assessment. Throughout the duration of a project, which is typically a few weeks, students

take responsibility for their own learning and share new perspectives with their classmates

(Zhukov, 2015). Zhukov states that students are involved in their own self-assessment where

they are reflecting on their project and their own learning. This is an important skill, and allows

students to monitor their progress and success. Riordan & Klein are in agreement with Zhukov,

when they write, Expeditionary Learning is compatible with my philosophy on inquiry,

adventure, and riskI think kids need to experiment. I've seen inquiry work with kids where

they're able to construct their own meaning. I like the way it works." Engaging in a learning

expedition highlights how inquiry emerges (Riordan & Klein, 2010).

In the Millennial era, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to keep students involved,

engaged and motivated. When allowing students to work on PBL, it is found that students can

learn by problem solving, data collection, discussion and presentation. All of these are great
 Policy Research and Politics 8

skills that will benefit all students (Chu, Tse, & Chow, 2011). Motivating students to be

successful is extremely difficult, but most students are excited to learn in a PBL model. Hung,

Hwang & Huang write, From the experimental results, it was found that this innovative

approach improved the learning motivation, attitude, problem-solving capability and learning

achievements of the students (Hung, Hwang & Huang, 2012).

Alternative Assessment Choices

The final way that we should be assessing students is by providing them with alternative

assessment choices. We should allow our students to choose how they would like to be assessed.

By giving students a voice in how they want to learn or be assessed is extremely important.

When students choose how they want to learn, they can be creative and take responsibility for

their own learning. If a teacher gives students the opportunity to show their learning by: writing a

song, making a poster, writing a paper, creating a portfolio, writing a journal, interviewing others

or taking a written exam, it allows the student to prove to the teacher that they have mastered the

material. Hargreaves, Earl and Schmidt write, Such alternative assessments are often intended

to motivate students to take more responsibility for their own learning, to make assessment an

integral part of the learning experience, and to embed it in authentic activities that recognize and

stimulate students' abilities to create and apply a wide range of knowledge, rather than simply

engaging in acts of memorization and basic skill development. The point of alternative classroom

assessments, however they are labeled, is not that they are ends in themselves but that they are

designed to foster powerful, productive learning for students. (Hargreaves, Earl & Schmidt,

2002). By allowing students the choice of how they want to show their learning allows them to

be successful. Students dont learn when they memorize terms, they are just jumping through the

necessary hoops to be able to regurgitate the definitions back to the teacher to get an A. By
 Policy Research and Politics 9

giving students a choice of how they want to learn and be assessed gives our students a much

stronger desire to achieve success. Fried writes, The desire to learn, to discover, to figure

something out, and to be able to do something well enough to proclaim it as ones own must

surely be as strong as any impulse in the human soul (Fried, 2001).

The core democratic value present when looking at different ways to assess our students

is equality. With standards based grading, you are putting every student on a level playing field

no matter their current skill level. It is important that teachers are not assessing each student

against their peers, but in fact assessing each student against themselves. By doing this, it is easy

for the teacher to decipher if a student has mastered a concept. It is not fair to continuously

compare a student that is multiple grade levels below to other students in their class. With our

current traditional method, the student that enters the class below grade level is going to fail no

matter what. When a student has the mindset that they are already going to fail, they will not

work up to their potential. In their head, they are already thinking that there is no point to even

try if Im just going to fail. On the flip side though, if these students know that they are being

graded on their own individual growth, and start seeing positive results, it may very well

motivate them to keep working hard to improve their skills.

Another way that equality relates to standards based grading is when a teacher is

assessing a student with special needs. In some scenarios, it is not fair to assess a general

education student to those in the special education sector. Assessing students with disabilities can

sometimes be a an extremely difficult process. To be fair, students with disabilities have to be

assessed in a way that they can be successful. Guskey & Jung write, If an 8th grade student who

is unable to demonstrate proficiency on 8th grade standards because of multiple, severe

disabilities, but has worked hard and progressed well toward IEP goals. To fail this student, who
 Policy Research and Politics 10

has shown tremendous effort and progress, clearly seems unfair (Guskey & Jung 2009). By

using a traditional grading style, we truly arent providing all of our students with an equal

chance to be successful. By switching over to a standards based system, all students have the

ability to show how much they have learned and grown instead of being assessed compared to

their peers.
 Policy Research and Politics 11

Policy Report & Recommendations

Restatement of the Problem

Assessing students in schools is currently a very controversial issue. Many teachers still

prefer traditional grading methods where a letter grade is associated with how the student

performed in their class. If the student turns their homework in late, they get points taken off. If

they do poorly on an assignment, they get points taken off. If they fail a quiz or a test, there is no

retake available. At the end of the quarter, the teacher takes the total amount of points the

student earned and divides it by the total amount of points available, spitting out the student's

final grade.

This traditional assessment technique does not measure student achievement or student

growth. It doesnt accurately depict how much a student has learned. If a student didn't

understand a concept on the day of the test, but can prove they mastered the concepts later, their

grade shouldnt suffer. Our students should be able to prove to their teachers at a later date that

they now understand those concepts. Every student learns at a different rate, and a traditional

grading system sets some students up to fail.

To help alleviate these problems, our schools need to shift their grading practices to a

standards based grading system. Scriffiny writes, Although many districts adopt standards-

based grading in addition to traditional grades, standards-based grading can and should replace

traditional point-based grades (Scriffiny, 2008). This type of grading system allows for the

teacher to grade their students on their own academic growth, opposed to always comparing

them to their peers. If a student grows, they should be rewarded. A student that enters the course

severely below grade level will fail in a traditional system even if they've grown tremendously
 Policy Research and Politics 12

over the course of the year. Standards based grading measures each student against themselves,

and celebrates growth for every student.

With standards based learning, it no longer becomes an issue of achieving a grade, but the

focus shifts to more of a culture of learning. For example, one student said, "I think that

[standards-based grading] has helped my grade tremendously, because when you practice, if you

don't understand what you are learning, it is not counted against you and it gives you more time

to learn what needs to be learned" (Deddeh, Main & Fulkerson, 2010).

Implementation

Over the past few years, many educators have argued over the most effective way to

assess student growth. After speaking to many experts on this topic, they were very skeptical that

implementing a standards based grading system would ever be addressed at the state or national

level. They were very clear by saying in their professional opinion, they didnt see any

significant changes at the state or national level unless we have a change in our administration.

With that being said, just because there is no state or national law which mandates all teachers to

implement standards based grading practices doesnt mean that schools or school districts cant

start implementing these policies.

For any successful grading shift to occur in a school district, the support and ideas must

come from the top down. The superintendent's vision of how to best assess students has to be

clearly relayed to all of the principals within the district. By having all of the principals on the

same page, there is unity and common language for every school within the district. The

principals have an understanding of why this policy is being implemented, and they are provided

with facts, details and strategies to best roll out this concept to their teachers. The principals must

sit through a professional development session where they can learn more about standards based
 Policy Research and Politics 13

grading before they pass this information onto their staff. If the school district is going to have a

successful implementation process, it is extremely important that all three levels; elementary,

middle and high school all have a universal policy in place. This part of the implementation

process is essential so all of the: students, teachers and parents are all on the same page. The last

thing that schools should do is all of the principals within the district should hold an open house

to explain to their parents and students what standards based and project based learning looks

like. At this meeting, parents can ask any questions that they may have in an effort to learn more

about how their students will be assessed.

When implementing a change within a school district, it is important that the district has a

process in place, and you have clear checkpoints of when certain deadlines must be met. It is

extremely important for a school district to have a vision and a plan for how the changes are

going to be implemented. Moving from a traditional grading style to a standards based grading

style may take weeks, months or even years to fully implement. After the vision has been laid out

and the implementation process has begun, it is essential that you are closely following the

calendar to make sure that the implementation plan is not way ahead or behind schedule. By

following the designed calendar and making sure all of the checkpoints have been met, the

implementation process should be clean, easy and efficient.

All of our schools in the United States should start adopting these reforms as soon as

possible. The current system we have in place is not as effective as shifting towards a standards

based grading system. Anytime that new and better technology is available, it makes sense for

there to be a wholesale shift to the new product that is better and more efficient. Our current

grading style is outdated, and as a result, we arent doing what is best for our students. Bruce

Oliver writes, Some educational writers have even surmised that our current grading practices
 Policy Research and Politics 14

lack real meaning and reported achievement data is inconsistent, imprecise, and as Robert

Marzano has concluded, almost meaningless. Advocates of standards-based grading strongly

believe that we should not hold fast to an outdated system that no longer makes sense in the

current educational climate (Oliver, 2011).

Obstacles

Implementing a new concept or idea is never easy. There are always major obstacles

slowing down the process. Implementing standards based grading in schools would be no

different. LaRocque writes, The challenge of policy implementation then is to pursue the goals

of the policy while maintaining the integrity of each school's culture. How well this challenge is

met depends to a considerable extent on the implementation strategies utilized by the district

administrators (LaRocque, 1986). One extremely large obstacle that would be difficult to

overcome is that for many years, American schools have used traditional methods of grading.

This type of assessing students has been used for so long, because everybody that went to school

understands this system. Unfortunately, most Americans that do not work in education do not

have a good working understanding of what standards based grading is. Trying to get parents and

students to understand this new style of grading, and why it is so important will be a challenge.

Another issue that shifting towards a standards based grading approach is that it will be

extremely difficult to get all of the teachers within the district to completely buy in. Many

teachers have been in the profession for decades, and only know one way to grade and assess

their students. Many veteran teachers that have been in the profession for a while may be

stubborn and refuse to change with the times. Teachers often become stuck in their ways, and

refuse to modify the way that they teach or assess. This becomes difficult for administrators,

because they will get a lot of push back from teachers that are unhappy about changing the ways
 Policy Research and Politics 15

that they assess students. Many teachers wouldnt want to spend the extra work revamping their

assignments or assessments. To do this correctly, this would take a lot of time and effort on the

part of the teacher.

Solutions

To ensure that staff members feel supported in this transitional period, it is extremely

important to provide them with adequate amounts of professional development on standards

based grading. The teachers must learn what the best way to transition will be, and WHY this

shift will be so beneficial for their students. When implementing standards based grading

techniques, many principals tell their staff that they expect that they transition immediately. This

will not work without properly training them on how to best make this shift. Any time that a

school district makes a wholesale change to their policies, it is extremely essential that you

provide your staff with the appropriate research and knowledge they need to be successful. It is

important to bring in appropriate resources to make sure that your staff feels comfortable making

these changes. Since it is not easy to change the way that people think, it makes it so important to

show these professionals that their policies are in fact outdated, and there are better ways to

assess our students. If the professional development is done correctly, it should make all of the

teachers think about their current practices and hopefully make them realize that their grading

policies need to be changed.

It is also important to have the support of your administrators and department colleagues.

For some teachers, understanding and buying into this shift is not always easy. Every teacher will

need time to adjust before they fully buy into a new concept of this magnitude. Fullan writes,

People feel anxious, fearful, confused, overwhelmed, deskilled, cautious, and - if they have

moral purpose-deeply disturbed. Because we are talking about a culture of pell-mell change
 Policy Research and Politics 16

(Fullan, 2001). To help alleviate the uneasiness and to help ease the fears of many teachers, it is

imperative that administrators are supportive and provide teachers assistance to help them

modify their grading practices. To have a successful shift, teachers also need adequate time to

plan with other colleagues within their departments. While moving towards a standards based

grading system, teachers must also change their learning targets, assignments, and assessments.

Moving towards a standards based grading style is not one that can be completed overnight.

Most teachers would agree that spending all of this time and energy to allow our students

to succeed is definitely worth their time and effort. Most educators chose the profession to help

their students be successful no matter what it takes. By switching to a standards based grading

style, this would benefit our students tremendously. Muoz & Guskey write, The other major

challenge of implementing standards based grading is how do colleges assess student work, or

how are those standards converted into grades. The primary issue is to figure out how to weight

and combine different factors into the final grade and summative comments. When the

guidelines provided within the standards are applied, the problems associated with hodgepodge

grading methods may be eliminated. The standards provide a sound alternative or grading system

that can be used to replace traditional grading practices (Muoz & Guskey, 2015).

Policy Instruments

After reading, Policy Studies For Educational Leaders, many of the policy instruments

that Fowler mentions seemed like they could fit in very nicely with the implementation of a new

type of assessment for our students. After reading Fowlers book, the two policy instruments that

made the most sense in this particular situation are: system change and persuasion.

System change is extremely important for the implementation of a standards based

grading system. The current assessment practices that we are using in schools are not the most
 Policy Research and Politics 17

effective for our students. As a result, we must go through a wholesale system change to do what

is best for our students. Since many changes need to be had, we will be shifting our focus from a

traditional grading style to a more innovative, updated, effective grading style. This is not

something that will be easy, and in many ways the administrators will most likely receive

pushback from their employees. Fowler explains system change as, An appropriate policy

instrument when new behavior is needed but the currently employed staff and existing

institutions are unresponsive to demands for change (Fowler, 227). This quote is perfect,

because it describes the process that many buildings need to adopt moving forward. Districts

need to change the way that they are assessing our students, and this may take time and much

pushback.

The second tool that Fowler states that fits perfectly with this Policy Report and

Recommendation is persuasion. Many teachers will not immediately buy into this idea of

standards based grading because: they dont understand it, they dont want to put the effort in, or

they dont think that it is effective. As an administration team, it is important to persuade your

staff that this is indeed what is best for our students. Persuading someone and changing their

mindset isnt always an easy thing to do. By providing your teachers with facts, statistics, data,

and ways to improve their assessment strategies will hopefully persuade them to buy into

something that they may not know much about. Without 100% of teacher buy-in, the shift to

standards based grading will fall apart. Fowler writes, The major components of hortatory

policies are written, spoken, or graphic texts that communicate information and suggest that

people should behave in a certain way (Fowler, 228). This quote is spot on, because you need to

use data and proof to prove to your staff that this is indeed what is best for our students. By

providing them with proper data and details, hopefully the persuasion will pay off.
Policy Research and Politics 18

References
 Policy Research and Politics 19

Chu, S. K. W., Tse, S. K., & Chow, K. (2011). Using collaborative teaching and inquiry project-
based learning to help primary school students develop information literacy and
information skills. Library & Information Science Research, 33(2), 132-143.

Deddeh, H., Main, E., & Fulkerson, S. (2010). Eight Steps to Meaningful Grading. The Phi
Delta Kappan, 91(7), 53-58.

DOrio, W., (2017). Finland is #1! Finland's education success has the rest of the world looking
north for answers. Scholastic News.

Fowler, F. C. (2013). Policy studies for educational leaders (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Fried, R. 2001. "The Passionate Learners and the Challenge of Schooling." Pi Delta Kappan
(October 2001): 124-13.

Fullan, M. 2001. Leading in a Culture of Change. Jossey-Bass

Guskey, T., & Jung, L. (2009). Grading and Reporting in a Standards-Based Environment:
Implications for Students with Special Needs. Theory into Practice, 48(1), 53-62

Hancock, L., (2011). Why Are Finlands Schools Successful? The countrys achievements in
education have other nations, especially the United States, doing their homework.
Smithsonian Magazine.

Hargreaves, A., Earl, L., & Schmidt, M. (2002). Perspectives on Alternative Assessment Reform.
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Hung, C.M, Hwang, G.J, & Huang, I. (2012). A Project-based Digital Storytelling Approach for
Improving Students' Learning Motivation, Problem-Solving Competence and Learning
Achievement. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 15(4), 368-379.

Keesler, V. (2016). Michigans Approach to the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) 20016.
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Pinkin, S., (2016). Putting Standards-Based Grading Into Action. Education Week.
 Policy Research and Politics 20

Riordan, M., & Klein, E. (2010). Environmental Education in Action: How Expeditionary
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Standards-Based Grading. Journal Of Family & Consumer Sciences, 105(2), 14-16.

Tomlinson, C., & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating differentiated instruction and understanding
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Whiston, B. (2017). Michigans Consolidated State Plan. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act
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