Bird Elementary School
Standards-Based Assessment, Grading and Reporting
- A Message from the Principal
- Philosophy
- Assessment (Grading) System
- Report Cards
- Learner Behavior Performance
A Message from the Principal
Parents and Guardians,
As Monroe One BOCES continues to improve teaching and learning for all students, we know that parents and families are our most valuable partners. This is especially true as we analyze and implement more rigorous standards in each subject area and grade level. The New York State Learning Standards set high expectations for our students, staff, and schools. It is important to us to communicate your child’s achievement toward these rigorous expectations in all content areas. Our Standards Based report card gives us a tool to accurately communicate your child’s learning on the district-identified reporting standards for each grade level and subject area from kindergarten through fifth grade. These reporting standards were identified as the foundational learning that students need to master in order to be successful.
In the coming year, Monroe One BOCES will continue its commitment to implementing equitable practices for all students by furthering the transition to a fully standards-based instruction, grading and reporting framework. This framework will provide a more accurate and comprehensive assessment of students' learning by breaking down the curriculum into specific learning standards or objectives.
Here are some key reasons for our transition to a standards-based grading and reporting framework:
- Clarity and Transparency:
Standards-based grading provides a clear picture of a student's strengths and areas for growth in each subject. This transparency allows teachers, students and parents to identify where to focus their efforts for improvement.
- Individualized Feedback:
Teachers can provide more targeted feedback to students based on their performance in specific learning standards. This feedback helps students understand their progress and how to make improvements.
- Focus on Mastery:
Standards-based grading emphasizes the importance of mastery and long-term retention of knowledge and skills. It encourages students to keep working on a concept until they have truly mastered it.
- Fairness and Equity:
This approach reduces the impact of extraneous factors such as homework completion or learner behaviors on a student's grade. Grading is centered on what students know and can do while reporting on learner behaviors separately.
- College and Career Readiness:
Standards-based grading better prepares students for the real world by emphasizing critical thinking, problem-solving, and subject mastery, which are important skills for college and career success.
- Consistency:
It promotes consistency in grading across the schools/programs, making it easier for parents and students to understand performance standards.
We are excited about the progression to a new framework and look forward to working together as a school community to make it a success.
Respectfully,
Dave McAlpin
Principal
Bird Elementary School
Monroe #1 BOCES
Philosophy
Standards-based grading is a way to communicate what students know at a point in time rather than an average of performance over an entire period. It measures a student’s performance according to the standards taught rather than comparing student progress to other students. Instruction is planned, implemented, and assessed using these guidelines. Student progress is evaluated every quarter based on skills within each standard for the specific grade level based on expectations for the curriculum taught during that period of time. Academic effort and responsibilities of the learner (mindful, respectful and contributing) are reported separately so parents/guardians know the effort of the student as well as understanding of specific skills. Individualized comments will continue to be an important part of parent communication on the standards-based report card.
| Traditional Progress Report | Standards-Based Progress Report |
|---|---|
| Students receive one grade for each subject area. | Students receive multiple grades in each subject area because the subject areas have been broken into broad categories that encompass the standards students are learning. |
| Students receive grades represented by a letter. | Students receive grades based on a numeric level. |
| Students’ grades are cumulative. | Students’ grades are representative of the student’s progress at the time the teacher marks the progress report. Teachers consider the most current assessment data in determining grades. |
| Teachers can select comments from a list of prewritten choices. | Teachers will have the option to write personalized comments for students as well as select comments from a list provided. |
| Students receive grades on effort and work habits | Students still receive grades on learner behaviors, mindful, respectful and contributing. |
Assessment (Grading) System
Our teachers’ gradebooks will collect evidence of students learning for content domains. Each domain contains various NYS standards’ essential elements. When scoring an assignment or assessment, students will receive a score of 4-1 on each learning target from the essential elements of the NYS standards:
| Score | Student Language |
|---|---|
| 4 = Extending the Standard: Student demonstrates a deep conceptual understanding of the learning target(s) and consistently applies/adapts their proficiency to authentic situations. | I am proficient, can apply this knowledge/skill to new/unfamiliar situations, and can teach others. |
| 3 = Achieving the Standard: Student demonstrates deep understanding of the learning target(s). | I am proficient with very few errors. |
| 2 = Approaching the Standard: Student demonstrates a partial understanding of the learning target(s). | I am making progress with guidance. |
| 1 = Beginning the Standard: Student has begun to demonstrate an understanding of the learning target(s). | I am just beginning to learn. |
| IE = Insufficient Evidence: Student has not provided adequate evidence to assess level of understanding of the learning targets(s). | I have not submitted any evidence of this learning. |
| NA = Not assessed: Learning Target(s) not assessed during this marking period. |
Report Cards
When you receive your child’s first report card, you will notice that their performance will be reported on multiple domains for each content area. Each domain, based on how students perform on each standard in it, will be reported out on in the following manner:
Levels of Academic Performance by Domain
Learner Behavior Performance
Teachers will assess student learner behaviors based on New York State Social Emotional Learning Benchmarks.
Mindful
Self Awareness
Focused Targets:
- I can identify a range of emotions.
- I can express emotions and causes of those emotions effectively.
- I can identify both internal and external motivators.
Self Management
Focused Targets:
- I can identify internal and external causes of emotions.
- I can identify internal and external supports.
- I can create short-term personal and academic goals and analyze my success in meeting the goal.
Respectful
Social Awareness
Focused Targets:
- I can identify other's emotion and the cause of emotion in a variety of situations.
- I can identify the importance of similarities and differences in others.
- I can identify how my decisions affect others.
Relationship Skills
Focused Targets:
- I can oppose bullying.
- I can effectively work and cooperate with others in a group setting.
- I can identify why it is important to have and maintain positive relationships.
Contributing
| Levels | Descriptions |
|---|---|
| Consistently | The student has consistently demonstrated this learner behavior. |
| Usually | The student has usually demonstrated this learner behavior. |
| Sometimes | The student has sometimes demonstrated this learner behavior. |
| Rarely | The student has rarely demonstrated this learner behavior. |
| Not Assessed | The student has not provided enough evidence to be assessed in this area. |