Standard/Target Based Learning

              Today I went to the SD STEM Conference in Huron, SD. There were many great sessions, but the ones that interested me the most were the ones with the idea of standards based grading (SBG) or target based grading (TBG). I have never really been exposed to this kind of grading, since none of my teachers have used it. If you’re not familiar with SBG or TBG, standard based learning has to do with grading based on the standards and not as much on necessarily getting the right answer. Target based learning is very similar to standard based grading, but it mostly breaks down the standards into smaller “targets”. These two grading systems are also usually out of a 4-point grading scale.

              The TBG session was given by Mr. Kreie. He has just started using this system this school year. He says that this kind of grading focuses on “I can…” and “I understand…” statements. He gives his students a quiz about every week or so and each one usually has one or two targets on it. He then scores his students a score out of 3. Any student who received less than a 3 is expected to retake the quiz, which requires the student to reflect on their mistakes from the original quiz. In order for a student to get an anything above a 3 (which can be translated to an A), they have to go above and beyond and do an enrichment task. These quizzes and enrichment tasks take up about 80% of the student’s overall grade.

              I really liked this idea of standards based grading or target based learning because of the fact that it focuses more on the standards and making sure that every student is understanding what they are doing and the process of their work. This kind of grading also leads to students being more aware of learning targets/standards and reflecting on what and how they are learning. Mr. Kreie says that he also sees way more students going to other students for help and they are actually teaching and learning from each other! TBG and the way Mr. Kreie uses it also lessens the test anxiety for his students, since they aren’t taking tests and they can always retake a quiz if they don’t get the grade they want. Overall, I think that SBG or TBG has so many benefits and lead to students learning so much more. I am convinced that this could be a great option for me and others too.