Standards-Based Grading
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Standards-Based Grading
At Renaissance Secondary School, standards-based grading (SBG) gives students and families a clearer, more meaningful picture of learning. Rather than focusing primarily on points, percentages, or averages, SBG communicates what students know and can do and how they are progressing toward mastery.
Instead of one blended course grade, teachers identify specific learning targets—the skills and concepts students are expected to learn—and assess progress toward those targets throughout the term. Students receive ongoing feedback and opportunities to demonstrate growth and improve their understanding.
Instead of students asking, “What grade did I get?”, our approach is designed to answer a more meaningful question: “What have I learned, what do I understand, and what do I need to work on next?”
What this means for students and families:
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Students can identify their strengths, understand where they need to grow, and take greater ownership of their learning.
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Families can see more clearly what their student is learning and how they are progressing toward mastery.
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Teachers can use assessment information to adjust instruction, provide targeted feedback, and support individual student needs.
Middle School vs. High School:
While the principles of standards-based grading apply across Renaissance Secondary School, middle school and high school reporting look somewhat different:
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MIDDLE SCHOOL:
Middle school students receive academic performance levels that communicate their level of mastery on standards and learning targets.
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HIGH SCHOOL:
High school students receive standards-based academic reporting along with a traditional letter grade for transcripts and college or post-secondary requirements.
Why we grade this way:
Grades describe progress, not punishment:
A grade should communicate where a student is right now — not be used to motivate or penalize. An average over time doesn't accurately reflect mastery.
Students are part of the process:
Students use learning targets to track their own progress, through self-assessment, feedback cycles, and student-led conferences.
Academics and work habits are reported separately:
Habits of Crew — participation, effort, and work habits — matter, but they're tracked apart from a student's academic mastery of standards.
Recent evidence of learning matters most:
As students demonstrate growth, later assignments are weighted more heavily than earlier ones — the goal is mastery, not a running average.
Middle School Reporting
Every standard is scored on this scale in Infinite Campus, under “Academic Performance Level.” Students who haven't yet met a standard (NY) typically get another opportunity to revise and resubmit.
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High School Reporting
High schoolers have typical letter grades on their transcript and progress toward mastery is reflected in standard letter grade format.
INFINITE CAMPUS:
Families may view progress grades in Infinite Campus to see how their child is progressing. A few important notes about viewing grades in Infinite Campus:
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Grades are listed out of 100 or more in Infinite Campus (see example below).
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For high school, grades are communicated on a 100 point scale.
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In order for Infinite Campus to create an accurate progress grade, the points given to an assignment must be 100. That value has no effect on your student’s overall grade; it's solely used to make the grade algorithm work.
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Some teachers also use weighted categories to further differentiate between assignments.
Below are examples of what you might see in a course progress grade. Note, academic performance level in the High School Example shows 3.33%, but the % should be ignored. The number can be viewed as 3.33 (a little above meeting standards) on a 4 point scale.
For Semester-Long Courses, be sure to click on Q2 at the top of the page to view grades for that semester (since the semester grades are posted in Q2)
Sample Middle School:
Sample High School:
