Don’t settle for generic tools such as standard SISs, documents, spreadsheets, and paper and pencil. Your teachers will be frustrated with time-consuming workaround procedures that add unnecessary stress. Get tools specifically designed for SBL. Help your standards-based learning initiative take-off!

1. Do you have the right
tools for
Standards-based
Learning?

2. Chart your course to
Standards-based Learning
2
Destination 1
Address Seven
Counterproductive
Assessment and
Grading Practices and
Beliefs
Destination 2
Classroom
Assessment and
Grading as
Components of a
Guaranteed and
Viable Curriculum
Destination 3
Standards-based
Grading and
Reporting
Destination 4
Competency-based
Education
Source: Charting a Course to Standards-based Grading, Tim Westerberg
Standards-based grading is one component of standards-based learning. School and district leadership
can follow this journey to improve classroom assessment and grading practices.

3. “ Although almost all student information
systems now have standards-based
grading options, the grade book
features of some systems are not
sufficiently aligned with the design of
the grading system developed onsite to
enable teacher-friendly data entry and
data management.
3Source: Charting a Course to Standards-based Grading, Tim Westerberg
3

4. Common limitations with SISs
Not Standards-Centric
SIS’s are assignment aligned.
Most SISs only show one
learning target associated with
an assignment.
More work for teachers from
adding extra assignments to
handle multiple learning
targets. Gradebooks should
align by standard to better
adjust instruction. Moreover,
educators must become
“MacGyver” to align standards
which wastes time.
Averaging falls short
Can not correctly calculate the
summative grade. SIS could just
produce an average of all
assignments without taking
complexity into account.
Averaging equally weights
assessments taken throughout
the grading period rather than
focusing on recent mastery. In
addition, formative assessments,
behavioral evaluations, and extra
credit gets intermingled when
they should be omitted.
Standards gap on portals
Parent portals generally don’t
display a student's progress on
individual learning targets.
A guiding principle for
standards-based learning is to
communicate expectations and
learning progress. Portals
should provide visibility of
standards mastery tied with
evidence to show progress and
identify areas of need.
4
WhatwehearWhycare

5. Does your
software truly
support SBL?
Don’t settle for generic tools such as standard SISs, documents,
spreadsheets, and paper and pencil. Your teachers will be frustrated with
time-consuming workaround procedures that add unnecessary stress.*
Get software designed for SBL. Help your standards-based learning
initiative take-off!
5Source: Charting a Course to Standards-based Grading, Tim Westerberg

6. SBL Capability Considerations
6
If you want to arrive at Destinations 3 and 4, you want to make it intuitive and sustainable for your
teachers to accomplish. Reduce labor intensive tasks and spend more time teaching. Here are just a few
capabilities to consider including of course ease of use.
❏ Gradebook built for Standards
❏ Align each assessment to all relevant standards
instead of just one
❏ Import state, CCSS, or district standards
❏ Manage standards across district and identify
gaps
❏ “Roll Up” the standards hierarchy
❏ Define unique proficiency scales that are
numbers (e.g. 1-4) or letters (e.g. P-Proficient)
❏ Capture formative assessments in gradebook to
analyze and give feedback without grading
❏ Continuously calculate proficiency grade from
summative assessments
❏ Utilize Power Law, Decaying Weight, Median of
Recent and other methods to calculate SBG
❏ Highly configurable standards-based report
cards out-of-the-box
❏ Support for SBG, traditional grades, or both on
report cards
❏ Student mastery analytics to inform
instruction, show growth, group students, etc.
❏ Differentiate instruction with assignments for
all or some students based on mastery
❏ Teacher collaboration tools to find, collect, and
create lessons and assessments
❏ Communicate mastery progress with email
tools and parent/student portal
❏ Allow standards to roll over multiple grading
periods
❏ Separate behavioral measures

7. ● Learning Targets and Rubrics
● Summative and Formative Assessments
● Curriculum and Lesson Planning
● Learning Management System
● Standards-based Report Cards
● Standards-based Gradebook
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