A, B, C, D and F. These are the letter grades most middle and high school kids associate with the grading system. However, this system seems to be getting a “D” for “needs improvement” in effectiveness by many schools across the country due to the lack of detail in the way students are graded. On the other hand, a different way the grade, called standards-based grading, is receiving positive feedback from some Westport officials.

Standards-based grading is a system in which teachers use designated rubrics to grade assessments based on criteria that is more detailed than the traditional system currently used at BMS.

“Standards-based grading is designed to be a more informative way of assessing students. It is designed to track a student’s progress throughout a year based on the standards for the curriculum,” said Colleen Rondon, the 8th grade red team leader. She explained that standards-based grading is beneficial for giving students more information about what they need to work on, but can be confusing to read.

Westport Public Schools are looking into using this new system in future years. Teachers are already being educated about standards-based grading from recent presentations from author Rick Wormeli and Language Arts specialist Jeff Flygare from Marzaro Research. Teachers are learning about how to integrate this system into their curriculum to help students in the future.

Some people believe our current system doesn’t give enough information to students and their parents about the way they are graded. They believe that simply giving a letter grade does not help the students fix their mistakes and learn what to do differently next time.

“Instead of getting one number percentage for a quarter’s worth of work, each subject area would have a set of standards coming from state or national criteria,” Mrs. Rondon said. She explained that the scale for each standard is still in the process of being developed, but it will most likely be on a 0-4 scale instead of using A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s and F’s. For example, students would receive a 4/4 instead of an A plus.

“The scale should be achieved by a certain set of time. For example, if you have a 2 in September and a 4 in June, you are on target and would have the equivalent of an A,” Mrs. Rondon explained. “The upside to standards-based grading is that it will better inform parents and teachers of a child’s progress.” This would be done by placing them in a more specific category of achievement that more accurately reflects where the child is on an academic scale.

Some changes may come with standards-based grading. For example, Home Access Center would most likely be switched to a more detailed system, and the the amount of assessments students would receive each year would most likely increase, in order to continually assess students.

By increasing the amount of assessments, if the student is particularly skilled in one area or another, their grades will more accurately reflect that. If they do poorly on one big assessment with the current grading system, their grade would decrease dramatically, but with the new system, it would be less drastic. Grading would more accurately show the students understanding of the topic they are studying.

However, some people don’t want to see a switch to standards-based grading. Out of 10 BMS students, only one student didn’t like the current grading system. Three students thought it didn’t give enough detail, but nine of the students still said they prefer the system overall because it is traditional. Most people prefer what they are comfortable with, and by having to learn a brand new grading system, older students may have less understanding of how well they did on an assessment. Some people believe there would be no point in making the switch if it became more confusing for students to comprehend how they are assessed.

“The grading we use at BMS is simplistic and straightforward,” said Dawson Norris, an eighth grader on the red team. “It is self-explanatory, plus most schools use it.” Dawson said that she likes the system at BMS, but does wish that it gave more detail about where she is academically placed.

This is an issue that will be discussed in the years to come and will affect students in the future. It is certain that something needs to change, but how this change will come about is yet to be determined.