Dear Spartan Spin,
Standards Based Grading can be confusing for students and parents alike. However, it is
not impossible to understand when provided with the right resources. A main issue is parents
never had SBG and the last time they saw numbers for grades was in elementary school when
we would get a 1,2,or 3 for a behavior grade. Translating the number into a letter year-round
rather than in the last months of the semester could help alleviate some of the confusion as they
will know where their student is in academic standings throughout the semester. This would
make it less of a surprise of what grade their student has and give time to make the grade
better. Another issue that arises with grades not being visible all year round is the fact that
teachers are bombarded with students asking to retake or do extra credit to bring up their grade.
Having grades visible all year would give students an easier way to see where they are at and
translate their numbers into a letter.