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Grading Changes

Why is the Jackson County School System making the change from traditional grading to standards-base

Standards-based reporting enables teachers, students, and parents to focus on the learning goals for each student. Traditional grading practices do not provide enough information on what students should know, understand, and be able to do. Traditional grades also limit the ways in which assessing and reporting of student learning can be accomplished. In preparing our students for a future marked by increased demands for genuine thinking and creativity, standards-based reporting allows students to demonstrate learning in a variety of ways that are not constrained by traditional grading practices.

With the implementation of the Georgia Performance Standards in classrooms, it has become more important to have students demonstrate evidence of learning by standard. Establishing clear learning goals helps teachers, students and parents have a more accurate picture of the students’ preparation for the next grade level.

How do teachers effectively determine evidence of whether or not a student has mastered a standard?

Representative Jackson County teachers from each school and each grade level have written performance indicators for each standard to describe what it means for the student to “meet the standard.” A group of teachers developed common assessments to be used by all teachers in Jackson County. The common assessments align with the performance indicators and the standards. By using the common assessments and other assessment evidence, teachers collect meaningful evidence of student mastery toward a standard.

What is a performance indicator?

A performance indicator is a description of what students should know, understand, and be able to do to demonstrate mastery of a specific standard. The performance indicator documents are organized for the school year by quarterly learning goals.

Are all of the Georgia Performance Standards covered adequately on the report card?

The teacher representatives for the Standards-Based Report Card committee have carefully examined the Georgia Performance Standards to align them with the standards on the report card and the performance indicators. The common assessments are aligned to the performance indicators to verify evidence of learning of the standards and elements of the GPS.

What is required for a student to receive an ?E? on the report card?

Students will be required to demonstrate higher order thinking in relation to the standard or to perform skills that are significantly above grade level to receive a mark of “E”. Higher order thinking includes analysis, synthesis, and evaluation that demonstrate the student’s thorough learning of the standard. The common assessment and/or rubric for each standard provide a description of how a student could receive the mark of “E”. Rubrics for standards that are skill based describe how a student could be performing significantly above grade level to exceed the standard.

For students to exceed in Middle School Advanced Content, they will be required to apply higher order thinking to the standards identified for the course, whether the standards are on grade level or above grade level.