Two Opinions On Standards-Based Grading
Proposed Mastery Transcript from the MTC/W.Dix
The Peak School adopted standards-based grading early in the school's history, and the trend is becoming increasingly popular, so popular that Colleges may soon need to re-examine their admission processes. In a recent opinion piece, Forbes contributor Willard Dix writes,"it presents a significant and necessary challenge to the status quo of transcript construction and, more significantly, the ways we measure student achievement. If a significant number of public schools join the conversation, it may be a watershed moment in how we approach preparing students for college." Dix notes that it's significant that this change is coming from the secondary schools, rather than universities "imposing changes from above." Still, some are nervous about the shift, especially parents who still rely on traditional grading systems as a yardstick for measuring their child's success in school. Back in March, Lisa Westman—an instructional coach in Chicago's public school system—wrote a piece for Education Week, which was inspired by a friend facing this exact concern. Had standards-based grading made her daughter go from 'A's to average? Westman assured her friend, it had not and even outlined the fallacies and assumptions people make about standards-based grading. Read more from Dix and Westman below.
—> A Proposal To Radically Revise High School Transcripts May Alter College Admission By Willard Dix
—> Standards-Based Grading Made My Kid Average By Lisa Westman