Standards-Based Grading

Ohio’s Learning Standards clearly define the knowledge and skills students are expected to know and be able to do in each subject area pre-k through grade 12 by the end of the school year.  Decisions about how to teach students, in what order to teach content, and what materials to use are made at the district- and building-level.  The learning standards are set at the state level and are available on the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce website.

A standards-based report card is designed to provide accurate information about student performance in meeting the standard. Put simply, standards-based reporting prioritizes student mastery and understanding instead of relying on earned points or percentages. With standards-based reporting, the conversation shifts from “What is my child’s score?” to “What is my child able to do?”

Beavercreek City Schools has been using standards based grading in K-2 for many years. Elementary school is a time when students develop the critical thinking and processes for learning that are essential to academic success in a larger context. The learning progressions of children are too complex to be reduced to a single letter grade. Our goal through standards based grade reports is to provide parents with specific information about student learning processes, rather than an overall letter grade. This shift in elementary school communicates more specifically what a student has learned and achieved based upon learning standards and to what degree they have learned them.

The three standards-based proficiency skills key are: 

• M=Meeting Yearly Grade Level Expectations
• P=Progressing Towards Meeting Yearly Grade Level Expectations
• N=Needs Improvement 

Performance levels indicate a student's progress toward end-of-year academic expectations based on their achievement. Teachers offer ongoing opportunities for students to practice taught skills and content before gathering evidence of mastery. Student mastery is collected from various sources, such as classroom activities, quizzes and tests, teacher observations, small group tasks, and individual instruction.

Teachers will evaluate overall student proficiency across the grouped standard based on what the student has been taught at this point in the school year. For example, if the report card states “Work with time and money” for the standard being assessed, the student may be progressing towards working with time but may not be introduced to money yet. If the student was showing grade level understanding of working with time, they would receive a “P” on the report card. The skills within the standard are introduced to the students in a sequential manner, therefore, not all skills may be addressed at the same time. By the end of the year, the whole standard will be taught and assessed for all students in the grade level.

An asterisk (*) indicates a standard has not been assessed fully or introduced yet. you will see an asterisk (*) on the report card for that standard. To ensure a proficiency level is accurate for a student, teachers are assessing students three to five times on a learning standard.

Because assessments measure progress against end-of-year expectations, receiving marks like P or N earlier in the school year is completely normal as students work toward mastering standards over time.

Standards-based grading is used in elementary schools to emphasize foundational skill mastery, offering targeted feedback on specific concepts without penalizing students during the learning process. On the other hand, middle and high schools frequently utilize traditional letter grades to align with transcript requirements, multi-subject GPAs, and college admissions criteria. This structural transition ensures secondary schools uphold necessary external alignments.

If you have any questions about your child's progress during the school year, please contact their teacher directly.

If your child hasn't reached an "M" (Meets Yearly Grade Level Expectations) by the end of the year, it simply means they need more time or practice with that specific skill—not that they've failed. Teachers use this data to target specific areas for support in the next grade level so there are no hidden gaps in their foundation. Learning is a continuous process, and the goal remains focused on their individual growth rather than a final, permanent penalty.

For students with an IEP or 504 plan, standards-based grading provides a clear and personalized look at academic progress on grade level standards. Instead of a single letter grade that averages test scores and assignments together, this approach breaks learning down into specific skills. This allows us to track your child's growth on grade-level standards while honoring the specific accommodations, modifications, and individual goals outlined in their plan.

Along with standards-based grading, individual progress reports will serve as an ongoing tool to track and monitor student growth. Please see below for additional information.

Standards-Based Report Cards reflect a student’s achievement of grade-level standards, while IEP Progress Reports document individual progress toward the specific goals and objectives outlined in the student’s IEP.