Standards Based Grading and TAB

I have been on a journey over the past 4-5 years with Standards-Based Grading and TAB art education. I have always loved the idea of standards-based grading for a few reasons; I believe in grading the process more than the final product, and I believe what we assess we value, and I value developing students as an artist, and not just a producer of a product.

I worked to use a grading philosophy as close to standards-based grading as I could within a traditional grading system, and I have also piloted actual standards-based grading at the high school level. All of my work has been at the middle school or high school level.
Here are a few things I have learned along the way...

Some things people Don't Like About SBG (Standards Based Grading) have nothing to do with the philosophy, but rather have to do with grading software that has done a bad job creating a framework for entering the grades.

I love the ideas and concepts behind standards-based grading, and for the most part, parents have also been on board with the idea, the problem comes with reporting. The only experience I have is with Skyward, but I can tell you it was not good. The way skyward had us entering SBG grades was tedious at best, and when students or parents went in to view grades it was confusing. Not only was it a change, but skyward made it very complicated (I had to create tutorials just so parents and students knew what they were looking at. Here is an example of what I sent home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc5yNIFXTOM

Keeping Standards Based Grading Simple is Best for Students and Teachers Regarding Clarity, but with High Stakes Grades and High Stakes Everything, Parents Want More Information.

Ideally, the only thing being factored into a student's final grade would be scores for each standard. I have seen classes in a standards-based district where each class only reports on their main standards; this number, of course, would vary by district and state, but I have seen as few as 4. I personally report on 9 (one per week of my quarter course). These grades are typically entered more than once because when a student improves, the score goes up (think back to elementary school and how they report on whether or not students are meeting standards). Often students and parents want to know more. I have found that they are used to knowing about almost every assignment, and whether or not it was turned in. When moving to just reporting on the standards, parents and students miss this "is the work complete" part of grade reporting. Because of this, I have created 2 grading categorized in my grade book (keep in mind right now I am standards-based grading within a traditional system). Here is what it looks like, and it seems to keep everyone happy and informed...

I have two categories. Assignments, and daily work (you can title them whatever you'd like). Assignments I set at 0% if I can, or make it really low (less than 10% of the grade). I set it really low because I don't want students grades based on assignment completion. The other category is for the assessments, and those are aligned with the standards, so they are the majority of the grade. 

Here is What My Grade Book Looks Like Right Now 

Here you can see how my skyward grade book looks. The green are in the assignment category, they are set at 1% of the grade, and are either complete or not complete (no score variation). Here I have chosen 1 point or zero. I know another teacher that does 4 or zero. The main reason for this category is so parents can see if students are completing work, and have a heads up before assessments surprise them. Now, could a student do all the work and not ace the assessment (yes), could they do no work and ace the assessment (yes), but it is a pretty good indicator of whether or not they are putting in the practice, and it eases parent and student anxiety to have some information. 

The gray category are the assessments and are 99% of the student grade. If these scores are low, students have an opportunity to redo the assessment after they follow the necessary procedures. 

Finding a Structure and Procedures that Work for You and Your Students is Key, and You Won't Likely Get it Right on The First Try.

I enter whether or not big assignments are completed. We do assessments where students self-assess against the Minnesota State Art Standards. Students have the opportunity to complete redos, but there is a procedure. Students collect evidence of their learning, and process in Seesaw (digital portfolio). Find what works for you and your students, and be clear about those procedures. Don't worry though if you mess it up (it took me a while to get it right, and it's still not perfect)...check with your students once in a while, mine let me know when something was confusing; just be sure to only consider real feedback. Many of my students would wine about self-assessments and redos, because it made them think, and it was easier not to. 

Here is My Grade Conversion (Since I am doing SBG in a traditional system).

Are you doing some form of standards-based grading? I'd love to hear how it's working for you...