Losing As and Fs: What Works for Schools Implementing Standards-based Grading? - Article 3 - Volume 46

Oct 15, 2026

The essay examines what works when K-12 schools implement standards-based grading, using a deep review of related research and identifying areas for future consideration. It argues that assessment is central to closing the loop between curriculum, instruction, and testing, and that neglecting grading mechanisms produces misalignment and unreliable instructional data. The work traces grading history and critiques traditional letter-grade reporting that can distort achievement under Common Core standards.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

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Losing As and Fs: What Works for Schools Implementing Standards-based Grading?

Educational Considerations

The History of Grading

Educational Considerations | Volume 46 Number 1 | Article 3 | | --- | --- | | 2020
Losing As and Fs: What works for schools implementing standards-based grading?
Matt Townsley
University of Northern Iowa, [matt.townsley@uni.edu](matt.townsley@uni.edu)
Tom Buckmiller
Drake University, [thomas.buckmiller@drake.edu](thomas.buckmiller@drake.edu)
Follow this and additional works at: [https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations](https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations)
Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, and the Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. | | Recommended Citation Townsley, Matt and Buckmiller, Tom (2020) "Losing As and Fs: What works for schools implementing standards-based grading?," Educational Considerations: Vol. 46: No. 1. [https://doi.org/10.4148/](https://doi.org/10.4148/)[ ](https://doi.org/10.4148/)0146-9282.2204 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Considerations by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please [contact](contact cads@k-state.edu)[ cads@k-state.edu](contact cads@k-state.edu). Losing As and Fs: What Works for Schools Implementing Standards-based Grading? Matt Townsley and Tom Buckmiller While school leaders often think that pedagogical and curriculum improvements will provide the most leverage for systemic change in school reform efforts, innovative educational leaders are coming to understand the critical role that assessment plays in the teaching and learning process. When failing to close the loop, so to speak, or thinking about improving the grading/assessment piece, the optimism of reform efforts may not come to fruition and schools most likely will continue to spend money, time, and effort searching for the next “silver bullet.” A guaranteed and viable curriculum is the foundation for any school improvement effort (DuFour & Marzano, 2011). This includes an alignment of what’s written (curriculum), what’s taught (pedagogy) and what’s tested (assessment) . If schools fail to pay attention to the assessment component of this triad, the likelihood of misalignment is greater and thus the data that school leaders gather and use for instructional decisions may be deplorably inaccurate. The directives of schools have changed since the time when our great-grandparents were in school. Instead of a system that sorts and selects students, modern schools are now charged with educating all students (i.e., No Child Left Behind, Every Child Succeeds Act) . Unfortunately, school leaders today seeking educational reform have greatly neglected the updating of grading and reporting mechanisms (Guskey & Link, 2019) which still date back three generations. Many schools continue to put blind faith in antiquated, arbitrary, and unsubstantiated methods of traditional grading. The Common Core State Standards have focused schools’ efforts to clarify student learning goals. Regrettably, traditional grading practices are not advanced enough to accurately communicate student achievement relative to those standards and instead often distort reporting due to grade inflation or deflation (Brookhart et al., 2016) . However, in response to the growing body of empirical research on the topic of accurate grading practices, a number of schools across Kansas and other states are moving away from letter grades and adopting standards-based grading which separately report learning goals from work habits (Bisaha, 2019) . The purpose of this essay is to document what works when K-12 schools implement standards based grading through a deep dive into related literature and to suggest areas for future considerations. To ignore what others

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the essay on standards-based grading?

To document what works when K-12 schools implement standards-based grading through a deep dive into related literature and to suggest areas for future considerations.

Why does the essay emphasize the role of assessment in school reform?

Because closing the loop between curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment is critical; when the assessment component is ignored, misalignment increases and instructional data can become inaccurate.

How does traditional grading relate to standards like the Common Core?

Traditional letter-grade practices are described as not advanced enough to accurately communicate achievement relative to the standards, often distorting reporting through grade inflation or deflation.

Oct 15, 2026

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