By: Diane Benjamin
Yesterday I received one more document from Unit 5. This one calls the program Standards Based Learning and Grading.
PDF page 5 shows the courses for implementation. SBG Task Force 2019-2020
I have to refrain from commenting on the content, I’d rather hear from parents and teachers.
Please let me know your thoughts.
I’m a strong supporter of Standards Based Assessment and Standards Based Instruction. I strongly feel it’s the right approach after struggling with homework wars with my children who were taught under a different approach.
Most of Unit 5 has been teaching using the assessment and instruction for a long time and i would argue for the betterment of our children. They’ve done this while maintaining the grading system we’ve all been used to. It’s the move to the new reporting system that’s the problem. With the move to Standards Based Reporting teachers have not been given a clear pathway forward. The new system does not adequately lend itself to certain types of subject matter and most troubling are the questions surrounding measurement of student achievement and mastery of content. This is particularly troubling at the high school level and how will this affect college admission, accurate assessment of student progress and objectivity from teaching staff. At the high school level teachers will be switching to the traditional grading scale, to accommodate college admission. The problem is with how they’ve calculated the grade in the first place that ultimately gets recalculated.