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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.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/losing-as-and-fs-what-works-for-schools-implementing-standards-based-grading-article-3-volume-46/601969/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/losing-as-and-fs-what-works-for-schools-implementing-standards-based-grading-article-3-volume-46/601969.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"CatatanPagi","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-20","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the main purpose of the essay on standards-based grading?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"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.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Why does the essay emphasize the role of assessment in school reform?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"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.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How does traditional grading relate to standards like the Common Core?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"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.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},601969,1792209912,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},962090894170,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","Educational Considerations  \n\n| Volume 46  Number 1 | Article 3 |\n| --- | --- |\n| 2020\u003Cbr>Losing As and Fs: What works for schools implementing standards-based grading?\u003Cbr>Matt Townsley\u003Cbr>University of Northern Iowa, [matt.townsley@uni.edu](matt.townsley@uni.edu)\u003Cbr>Tom Buckmiller\u003Cbr>Drake University, [thomas.buckmiller@drake.edu](thomas.buckmiller@drake.edu)\u003Cbr>Follow this and additional works at: [https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations](https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations)\u003Cbr> Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Educational Leadership Commons, and the Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons\u003Cbr>\u003Cbr>This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. |  |\n\nRecommended Citation  \nTownsley, 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  \nThis 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).  \nLosing As and Fs: What Works for Schools Implementing  \nStandards-based Grading?  \nMatt Townsley and Tom Buckmiller  \nWhile school leaders often think that pedagogical and curriculum improvements will provide the  \nmost leverage for systemic change in school reform efforts, innovative educational leaders are  \ncoming to understand the critical role that assessment plays in the teaching and learning process.  \nWhen failing to close the loop, so to speak, or thinking about improving the grading/assessment  \npiece, the optimism of reform efforts may not come to fruition and schools most likely will  \ncontinue to spend money, time, and effort searching for the next “silver bullet.”  \nA guaranteed and viable curriculum is the foundation for any school improvement effort  \n(DuFour & Marzano, 2011). This includes an alignment of what’s written (curriculum), what’s  \ntaught (pedagogy) and what’s tested (assessment) . If schools fail to pay attention to the  \nassessment component of this triad, the likelihood of misalignment is greater and thus the data  \nthat school leaders gather and use for instructional decisions may be deplorably inaccurate.  \nThe directives of schools have changed since the time when our great-grandparents were in  \nschool. Instead of a system that sorts and selects students, modern schools are now charged with  \neducating all students (i.e., No Child Left Behind, Every Child Succeeds Act) . Unfortunately,  \nschool 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  \nschools continue to put blind faith in antiquated, arbitrary, and unsubstantiated methods of  \ntraditional grading.  \nThe Common Core State Standards have focused schools’ efforts to clarify student learning  \ngoals. Regrettably, traditional grading practices are not advanced enough to accurately  \ncommunicate 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  \nKansas and other states are moving away from letter grades and adopting standards-based  \ngrading which separately report learning goals from work habits (Bisaha, 2019) .  \nThe purpose of this essay is to document what works when K-12 schools implement standards  \nbased grading through a deep dive into related literature and to suggest areas for future  \nconsiderations. To ignore what others ","cbCaiiQL0CNS9P2X","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiiQL0CNS9P2X","pdf",244637,11,"English","# Losing As and Fs: What Works for Schools Implementing Standards-based Grading?\n## Educational Considerations\n## The History of Grading","[{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose of the essay on standards-based grading?\",\"answer\":\"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.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the essay emphasize the role of assessment in school reform?\",\"answer\":\"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.\"},{\"question\":\"How does traditional grading relate to standards like the Common Core?\",\"answer\":\"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.\"}]","Losing As and Fs: What Works for Schools Implementing Standards-based Grading? - Article 3 - Volume 46 | PDF",1792093788,28]