What is Standards-Based Assessment?
Standards-based assessment (SBA) focuses on determining students' progress towards the learning goals of the course. You may have also heard it called competency-based assessment, criterion-referenced assessment, ungrading or another similar name.
In BC, teachers are expected to evaluate students' growth against the core and curricular competencies, which form the learning goals for each course. The Core Competencies are cross-curricular, which means they are part of every course. Students self-assess their progress with these competencies each year. The curricular competencies are different for each course. In my classes, student progress is measured against the standards of the BC English and Social Studies curricula.
I have been using standards-based grading with my classes since 2018. I no longer use traditional letter grades or percentages to evaluate student work. Instead, I focus on:
This comparison chart may help you further understand the difference between SBA and the traditional approach to assessment that you may be more familiar with:
In BC, teachers are expected to evaluate students' growth against the core and curricular competencies, which form the learning goals for each course. The Core Competencies are cross-curricular, which means they are part of every course. Students self-assess their progress with these competencies each year. The curricular competencies are different for each course. In my classes, student progress is measured against the standards of the BC English and Social Studies curricula.
I have been using standards-based grading with my classes since 2018. I no longer use traditional letter grades or percentages to evaluate student work. Instead, I focus on:
- Providing feedback that helps them identify their strengths and areas for potential growth
- Connecting the feedback on each assignment to their understanding of the course content and competencies
- Using the same proficiency scale to give feedback on everything
- Encouraging self-reflection, so students better understand their own learning
- Determining their final marks holistically based on their overall progress with the competencies
This comparison chart may help you further understand the difference between SBA and the traditional approach to assessment that you may be more familiar with:
TRADITIONAL ASSESSMENT |
STANDARDS-BASED ASSESSMENT |
Students receive numbers, percentages or letter grades on assignments. |
Students work is evaluated with rubrics or proficiency scales. |
Written feedback is often focused on the specific task and may not be useful for improving on future assignments. |
Written feedback is focused on helping students improve with one or more competencies. It is written, so students understand how to improve on future assignments. |
Grades on report cards are calculated by averaging all of the students' marks together. This may mean averaging students' early struggles with the material together with their improved understanding. |
Grades on report cards are determined holistically by looking at how a student has progressed overall. Only the most recent evidence of their understanding is used. |
All assessments feel high-stakes because students know that they only have one chance to do well and that any mistakes will lower their average. |
Students have multiple opportunities to demonstrate their learning, and there is time to learn and improve after making mistakes. As they improve, they progress along the proficiency scale and earlier mistakes are no longer factored in to their overall mark. |
I have discovered that this approach makes sense to students once they get used to it. Using the same proficiency scale to evaluate everything means they no longer have to wonder about the difference between a 3 out of 5 and a 35 out of 40. Focusing on providing detailed, individualized feedback helps them to truly understand their marks and how they can improve. Knowing their final mark is based on their progress is encouraging and motivating because they feel they will be rewarded for their efforts to improve. Once standards-based assessment becomes a familiar part of their learning, students quickly see that it is a fair and accurate way to determine their mark in the course.
I, personally, made the switch to SBA because it supports the development of a growth mindset, an important set of beliefs about learning that are key to life-long success. A growth mindset encourages students to see learning as a process of trial and error. It helps them to understand that failure is part of success and that we only improve with consistent practice, effort and self-reflection. A growth mindset emphasizes the rehearsal-performance dynamic of learning in the real world. If we want to improve at something, we need to practice. No one sits down at a piano and plays a song perfectly on their first try. They rehearse the piece of music many times over several practice sessions until they are ready to perform the song for others. Learning something new requires time, patience and effort. It often involves making mistakes, learning from them and trying again.
The traditional approach to grading does not encourage a growth mindset, and it does not support the rehearsal-performance dynamic. It treats every assignment, test and project as a performance. Mistakes that are made along the way end up as part of the student's mark. If a student works hard to improve and finally does well on an important assignment, they may only see their grade increase by a tiny amount because their improvement is averaged with their earlier struggles. The learning and improvement that occur during the rehearsal phase are punished and not rewarded in this system. This situation can be incredibly discouraging. Because this approach to grading turns every demonstration of learning into a high-stakes situation, students and their families often expect high scores on every assignment and forget that learning is a process that involves both success and failure. Students end up competing for high marks or feeling like failures who can never succeed instead of appreciating their own growth and progress.
With standards-based assessment, I calculate marks and provide feedback in a way that encourages students to embrace the rehearsal-performance dynamic. This approach allows students to try new things, develop their skills, experiment, take risks and make mistakes without hurting their final mark. As long as they keep learning from their mistakes and improving, their performance in the class will also improve. It rewards students who make the effort to improve, which helps motivate students to do their best in class.
This new approach to marking is unfamiliar to many of us. To help you better understand it, I have pulled together the following resources:
I, personally, made the switch to SBA because it supports the development of a growth mindset, an important set of beliefs about learning that are key to life-long success. A growth mindset encourages students to see learning as a process of trial and error. It helps them to understand that failure is part of success and that we only improve with consistent practice, effort and self-reflection. A growth mindset emphasizes the rehearsal-performance dynamic of learning in the real world. If we want to improve at something, we need to practice. No one sits down at a piano and plays a song perfectly on their first try. They rehearse the piece of music many times over several practice sessions until they are ready to perform the song for others. Learning something new requires time, patience and effort. It often involves making mistakes, learning from them and trying again.
The traditional approach to grading does not encourage a growth mindset, and it does not support the rehearsal-performance dynamic. It treats every assignment, test and project as a performance. Mistakes that are made along the way end up as part of the student's mark. If a student works hard to improve and finally does well on an important assignment, they may only see their grade increase by a tiny amount because their improvement is averaged with their earlier struggles. The learning and improvement that occur during the rehearsal phase are punished and not rewarded in this system. This situation can be incredibly discouraging. Because this approach to grading turns every demonstration of learning into a high-stakes situation, students and their families often expect high scores on every assignment and forget that learning is a process that involves both success and failure. Students end up competing for high marks or feeling like failures who can never succeed instead of appreciating their own growth and progress.
With standards-based assessment, I calculate marks and provide feedback in a way that encourages students to embrace the rehearsal-performance dynamic. This approach allows students to try new things, develop their skills, experiment, take risks and make mistakes without hurting their final mark. As long as they keep learning from their mistakes and improving, their performance in the class will also improve. It rewards students who make the effort to improve, which helps motivate students to do their best in class.
This new approach to marking is unfamiliar to many of us. To help you better understand it, I have pulled together the following resources:
