An Example of Criterion-Based Grading
Image generated by ChatGPT. Note that the 3Ps Grading approach was proposed by Thomas Guskey.
Below I've simply copied and pasted a piece that I've written and included for my course syllabi for next school-year. This requires a few words of explanation. First, my school, as mentioned previously, still uses the traditional normative grading practices of percentage grades, averaging, letter grades based on percentage ranges, and GPA calculations. My school is initiating a process of reforming grading practices, but, at least for next year in the high school, the traditional system will remain. As a result, what I've explained below is an attempt to assess, score and report using criterion-based grading within my own classroom despite the larger structure of the school. As a result, not every aspect of it is exactly as I would most prefer it. Second, it's important to note that I haven't actually implemented this plan in this exact way yet. It's possible that I'll have to return to it at some point and refine it once it faces the realities of actual practice. Third, I'm able to do this because of some loopholes within our electronic grading platform that gives control to the individual teacher over certain ways that grades can be inputed or calculated. As a result, I'm able to input letter grades for assessments directly, rather than percentages or raw scores. I'm also able to disable the automatic averaging feature of the grade book. This means that my students, though they'll still see their grades for each individual assignment, will not see a running cumulative grade throughout the grading term. They will have to wait for me to manually input the final grade at the end of each grading cycle. Finally, my school will still be calculating GPAs for report cards and transcripts next year, and that is done based on the school's grading scale that uses +/- with each letter grade. This means that while a B receives a grade point of 3 for the GPA, a B+ receives a 3.33. So as not to disadvantage my students in their GPA calculations, for the end of semester grades, I may need to consider +/- grades when I input them. This is less than ideal, since is expands my 5 levels of performance on learning criteria out to 12 levels of performance.
Below is the portion on assessment and grading as written in my different course syllabi:
In this class, you will complete two forms of assessment. The first, and most common, will be formative assessment. Formative assessments are a way for me (the teacher) and you (the student) to gauge how your learning is progressing as you’re learning. You will never receive a learning Performance grade on formative assessments, because, by their definition, they represent on-going learning and practice; they are unfinished work and we don’t judge unfinished work. However, you will often receive some form of feedback on formative assessment, which will help you know how you’re doing so far and what you need to do to continue towards mastery of the learning objectives. Formative assessments will, however, be considered as part of your learning Process grades; this is because your formative work is a key part of your process of learning.
The second form of assessment you will complete in this class will be summative assessment. These assessments will be at points where learning on particular learning objectives is complete, and we stop to evaluate your level of mastery on those learning objectives. You will receive a learning Performance grade on these summative assessments, and it is the full collection of these summative assessments for each grading term that will determine the learning Performance grade on your report card.
As alluded to already above, you will receive three types of grades in this class; you can think of these as the 3 Ps: a Performance grade, a Process grade, and a Progress grade.
The first is a Learning Performance grade. This grade represents the level at which you master the learning objectives of the class. The learning objectives represent the knowledge, understandings and skills you are expected to master. Because your learning Performance grade is based on these learning objectives, we call it a criterion-based grade. This means that you are never compared to your classmates; rather, your grade is based only on the level of mastery of the learning objectives demonstrated by your summative assessments. The grade levels for the academic performance grade are:
A = Highly Proficient: you have mastered all or almost all of the learning objectives at a high level and have even exceeded mastery on some.
B = Proficient: you have mastered most of the learning objectives.
C = Approaching Proficiency: for most learning objectives, you are approaching mastery, but you've not yet reached the proficiency level.
D = Beginning Proficiency: you have demonstrated beginning steps towards some mastery of the learning objectives.
F = Does Not Meet; you have demonstrated no or very little evidence towards mastery of the learning objectives.
The summative assessments that determine your Performance grade could take the form of short quizzes or longer tests. These assessments will be scored based on point values, but then your grade will be determined based on point-value ranges that represent the above academic performance levels. Other summative assessments will take the form of performance tasks that will require you to apply what you’ve learned to scenarios and problems from real-life. These assessments will be scored based on a rubric with the above five performance levels. Final academic performance grades reported on report cards will be determined by me after looking at your full collection of summative assessments for the grading term, and determining your level of mastery on the learning objectives for that term. This does NOT involve averaging; rather, this involves a professional judgment, looking at your full collection of summative assessments, regarding your level of mastery for that grading term. Note that your final summative grade for the course is not determined until the end of each semester. This means that, though the school issues a mid-semester report card, that mid-semester report card grade merely reflects your level of mastery on the learning objectives at that point in the semester; it is not a fixed or permanently stored grade. As the semester progresses, you will continue to have summative assessment opportunities to demonstrate mastery all the way until the end of the semester.
The second type of grade you will receive is a Learning Process grade. This grade focuses not on what you’ve learned, but rather on how you’ve learned it. In other words, this is about “learning how to learn.” I will be assessing you on three different criteria for your Process grade. These are: Thinking Skills, Collaboration Skills and Self-Management Skills. At the outset of each unit, I will provide some specific criteria of focus for that unit related to these learner attributes, but generally speaking, here is what each means:
Thinking Skills: Your ability to apply what we’re learning to solve real-world problems, which often involve thinking critically about the problem, and thinking creatively about solutions.
Collaboration Skills: Your ability to work and learn with other people. This relates to your positive contribution to the learning environment of the class in general. It also relates to your ability to work and communicate with a group to complete tasks, solve problems, and support each others’ learning.
Self-Management Skills: Your ability to work independently, focus on a task, set goals for your own learning, and reflect on your own learning. This also relates to your ability to stay organized, arrive to class prepared for learning, and meet deadlines.
I will report a grade for each of the above learner attributes in the comments section of your report card. I will report using the following levels:
Exemplary: You demonstrated a high degree of ability, even demonstrating leadership for others.
Satisfactory: You demonstrated an appropriate level of ability for this stage in your development as a learner.
Needs Improvement: You would benefit from a focus on improving this attribute in order to further develop as a learner.
The third grade you will receive is a Learning Progress grade. This grade will be determined through consultations between me, the teacher, and you, the student. At the outset of each unit you will set two goals for yourself for the unit. One of the goals will relate to a specific unit learning objective; the other will relate to a specific learner attribute. At the end of the unit you will reflect on the progress you made towards your goals. On each report card, I will provide a brief summary statement in the comments section of the report card regarding your learning Progress. You will receive one of the following statements:
_____________ (student name) has met or exceeded their learning goals during this grading period.
_____________ (student name) has mostly met their learning goals during this grading period.
_____________ (student name) has met some aspects of their learning goals during this grading period.
_____________ (student name) has not met their learning goals during this grading period.
These summary statements of your learning Progress (and the goals with which they associate) will be the starting point of discussions during our student-led conferences with parents.
