Translation Issues
Standards-Based Grades Are Not Letter Grades. So don’t try to make them be.
I’ve been a fan of standards-based learning and grading for a very long time. Over the past 15 years, I’ve worked to incorporate this approach into every course I’ve taught. It’s something I know a lot about and deeply value. It’s also something that clashes with how schools typically handle grades. Both school systems that I have worked in require traditional letter grades at the end of a grading period. And every time, I find myself struggling to translate a standards-based grade book into a letter-grade format in a way that feels okay.
Different Languages
The crux of the problem is that standards-based grading and traditional grading are fundamentally different languages. On the surface, it might not seem that way. Why should one grading system be so different from another? Sure, they might use different scales or methods, but isn’t there just some sort of conversion that can bridge the gap?
This assumption — that grading systems are inherently compatible — makes intuitive sense. And for many systems, it holds true. For example, converting numerical grades to letter grades is relatively straightforward. Teachers do it all the time: take a percentage score from an assessment or points from a…
