McLean County Unit District No. 5
1809 West Hovey Avenue
Normal, IL 61761-4339
Office of the Superintendent Phone: 309.557.4000
Fax: 309.557.4501
E-mail:
July, 2016
To Whom it May Concern,
As a business that offers incentives to students for their performance on report cards, I thought you would be interested in information about Unit 5’s transition to Standards Based Grading (SBG). We will begin the transition during the 2016-17 school year with all teachers in K-5 using SBG in math and some teachers piloting other subject areas. In the fall of 2017, we will complete the transition for elementary, with all teachers K-5 using SBG for all subject areas.
The biggest difference between Standards Based Grading and traditional grading is that what students know and can do in each subject is separated from all of the behavioral factors that often impact grades in the traditional grading structure. Students will receive grades in specific concept strands for each subject area, indicating where they are in their learning. They will receive separate “process” grades that reflect behavioral factors and learner characteristics such as work completion, effort, or participation.
When looking at a Standards Based Grading report card, you will notice that each concept strand is given a number score ranging from 1 to 4 (or 1 to 3 in kindergarten). These numbers do not correlate with letter grades A, B, C, D, F. These scores show a range from 1, which indicates that the student does not have the skills or background to master the concept, to a 4, which indicates that the student has such a strong grasp of the concept that he/she independently takes it to a deeper, more complex level. A score of 3 is our goal for all students in all concept areas. A score of a 3 indicates that the student has mastered the concept. We will challenge all students to work toward a 4, but we recognize that students are not equally skilled or motivated in all concepts in all subject areas, and we want them to put the extra effort into the areas of highest interest for them. Each subject area will also have two ratings for a process grade in the areas of Positive Interactions with Adults and Peers and Positive Work Habits. These ratings will be +, \, or -. The ratings indicate the following:
+ / characteristics are frequently observed / \ / characteristics are infrequently observed / - / characteristics are rarely observedIf you are interested in providing incentives for students, we encourage you to look for 3s in the concept strands. One important factor to consider, however, is that a score of 1 or 2 does not indicate any lack of effort on a given student’s part; rather, it indicates that the student may not be quite ready for the concept and is still needing assistance in class. If you are interested in rewarding students for work ethic and high levels of participation in school, you may want to look at the ratings in the process skills. These ratings will help identify the students who possess the learner characteristics that will contribute to long-term academic success.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact me. You will find additional resources on our website. We will continue to add and update resources as we work through this transition.
Sincerely,
Carmen Bergmann
Director of Elementary Education