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Standards Based Grading

During the 2025-2026 school year Oak Creek will be changing the ways that we will be assessing, grading, and reporting student understanding of learning standards. While we hope this information, as well as the recorded message by Dr. Weber and communications from classroom teachers at Back to School Night and during parent conferences answer your questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Dr. Weber with any additional questions.

At Oak Creek Elementary School, we are committed to effective communication and a partnership between home and school.  Communicating your child’s progress toward learning grade-level standards is a critical component of this partnership.  Below is a summary of the guiding principles for our assessment, grading, and reporting practices.

Student Proficiency on Grade Level Standards is Communicated

  • Standards and Learning Targets:  Your child’s teacher will clearly communicate the grade level standards using student-friendly language (or learning targets).  Your child’s teacher will help them answer these questions throughout the learning process: “Where am I going?” (What are my learning goals?) “Where am I now?” (Where am I in relation to my learning goals?) and, “How can I improve?” (What resources or feedback might I use to improve my learning?)
  • Communicating Progress with Proficiency:  Your child’s teacher will communicate student progress using the below proficiency scale in combination with specific feedback.  The goal is for all students to reach proficiency (3) or higher on grade level standards by the end of the school year.  It is important to note that reaching proficiency means your child is meeting grade level expectations.  Excelling means that they are demonstrating a deeper understanding of their grade level expectations. Depending on your child’s grade-level, there may be some foundational standards that can only be demonstrated up to a level of proficiency (3) and not to a level of excelling (4).
    • Excelling (4): Demonstrates a deep understanding and application of the standard
    • Proficient (3): Demonstrates an adequate understanding and application of the standard
    • Developing (2): Demonstrates a basic understanding and application of the standard
    • Beginning (1): Demonstrates a limited understanding and application of the standard

Grades Accurately and Consistently Communicate Student Progress

  • Gradebook Communication:  In addition to emails, conferences, and work samples, your child’s teacher may use an electronic gradebook to communicate your child’s academic progress (Teachers in grades 4-6 will use Aeries to communicate progress).  Information entered in the gradebook will indicate how your child is progressing throughout the learning process. 
  • Report Card Communication:  When it is time for your child’s teacher to communicate grades on a report card, they will look at the more recent or frequent evidence of performance to communicate where your child is at the time of reporting in relation to the end-of-year standards; performance levels can change after the time of reporting. The standards that appear on the report card do not represent all grade level standards taught throughout the year, and instead provide a snapshot of the most essential standards for their grade level.  Additional information about your child's progress can always be found by communicating with your child’s teacher directly, through work samples, or in the gradebook.

In grades 4-6, we will no longer be reporting a holistic A-F letter grade.  Instead, we will be providing your child’s current level of proficiency on a four point scale (1-4). This has been the practice in grades PK-3 and now will provide a consistent experience throughout all grades in elementary school. Middle schools and high schools will continue to use the 1-4 scale in the gradebook and an A-F grade on the report card.

It is expected for a child to start at a beginning (1) or developing (2) level at the beginning of the school year, with the ultimate goal of reaching proficiency (3) or excelling (4) levels of understanding by the end of the year. 

Assessment and Grading Practices Build Hope and Efficacy in Learning

  • Safe Practice:  Your child will engage in many learning activities that are not formally graded.  This provides students a safe place to practice new skills, and provides teachers with valuable information about where a student needs additional learning support.
  • Opportunities for Growth: Your child’s teacher will have opportunities for students to reflect, relearn, and reassess.  This system of reteaching promotes a growth mindset and encourages continuous learning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Students will not have the opportunity to achieve a 4, or “Excelling,” with all standards or learning targets. For example, knowing all letter names or letter sounds or all math facts in the areas of addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division can only be achieved at the level of a 3, or ‘Proficient.” 

It is most common that assessments are administered one-on-one or in small groups in the primary grades to ensure the accuracy of the evidence that is gathered regarding students’ understanding of standards or learning targets. Group administered assessments are the norm in the upper grades.

While we expect students who are newer to English to learn at the same levels of students who are more proficient with English, we also recognize that students who are relatively new to English may experience difficulties with demonstrating mastery of standards or learning targets. We will communicate with you when mastery of standards or learning targets is impacted by proficiency with English through the comments section of the report card and will always strive to find ways of alternatively assessing understanding of standards or learning targets whenever possible. Students who are very new to English will have learning recorded using an alternative report card.

Letter grades (A, B, C, D, F) are not currently reported on report cards within the primary grades. Parents can expect that points and percentages will decreasingly be reported to students and parents on assessments. It is true that the principles and practices of standards-based grading are already largely present in our practices of assessing, grading, and reporting in PK-3 but some subtle changes will occur.

All IUSD schools are implementing Standards-Based Grading, including the middle schools (South Lake and Lakeside) and high school (Woodbridge) which our students attend and all other elementary, middle and high schools in the district. Letter grades will still appear on report cards at the middle and high schools.

Students and parents will notice that the standard or learning target aligned to each item appears on the assessment. You will notice highlights or other indicators of where errors or mistakes occurred. There will not be points, percentages, or letter grades, and an assessment will not receive an overall score. Instead, a level of understanding (Excelling ‘4’, Proficient ‘3’, Developing ‘2’, or Beginning ‘1’) will be reported for each standard or learning target.

There are several benefits of this way of assessing, grading,  and reporting: 1) By moving from a focus on letter grades toward a level of understanding of each standard or learning target, and 2) by embracing a growth mindset and the reality that our level of understanding will improve as we continue to put in the effort, and 3) by striving toward developing a level of understanding that may earn your child an “Excelling,” students will benefit from this shift to standards-based grading.

The reporting of your child’s understanding of specific standards or learning targets will be much more targeted with a standards-based grading approach. Teachers will be providing feedback to students and parents through learning target trackers related to summative assessments and also through formative assignments and assessments such as classwork, homework, and quizzes. 

As students, families, and parents transition to standards-based grading, most grade levels will only be using the method in math. Grades 5 and 6 have been using this approach to assessing, grading, and reporting for a few years.

The report card will report a score of 1-4 for each standard or learning target; on the report card, the meaning (Excelling ‘4’, Proficient ‘3’, Developing ‘2’, or Beginning ‘1’) of each number will be explained.

This is a common question all the way through high school. Students will receive feedback and a score on ‘formative’ assessments (classwork, homework, and quizzes) even if they do not factor into a student’s score or grade. We will consistently encourage students to give their very best at all times, and we should all encourage students to realize that success on formative assessments will lead to their success on summative assessments (chapter, or end-of-unit tests or assessment), or in other words, lack of effort, completion, or success of formative assignments will likely lead to lower grades of the standards or learning targets on summative assessments.

This is possible; the level of understanding that a student shows on an early assessment may indicate, for example, that they demonstrate a comprehensive understanding and application of the standard and they would receive a Proficient (3). If subsequent assessments or evidence-gathering opportunities reveal that only a basic understanding and application of the standard is now being demonstrated, then the score may change to a Developing (2). 

The learning target trackers for summative assessments, and the report cards themselves, will specifically detail the standards or learning targets that are assessed for each subject.

First…a score of Proficient (a ‘3’) on a learning target is a good score - it means the student has shown a level of understanding that indicates that they have met grade level standards. To earn a score of Excelling (a ‘4’), students will demonstrate that they understand the standard or learning target at a greater level of depth, and/or that they have provided a rich explanation, and/or that they have provided detailed descriptions of how they solved a problem or arrived at an answer, and/or that their answers and responses go above and beyond the standard. And as noted, there are some standards or learning targets (e.g., knowing all letter names or sounds or sight words or competently adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing numbers) for which a Proficient (a ‘3’) will be the highest score possible.

Students will be given the opportunity, or will be required, to show their understanding on subsequent assessments when they need to, or would like to, show a greater level of understanding. These additional opportunities will occur after students have received additional support and after they have completed more practice. The additional opportunities may be alternate versions of the assessment, or test corrections, or other ways of demonstrating that their understanding has improved. This promotes a growth mindset and encourages students to deepen their levels of learning.

The short answer is that they don’t. Scores of Excelling ‘4’, Proficient ‘3’, Developing ‘2’, or Beginning ‘1’ do not correlate or correspond to letter grades of A, B, C, D, and F. This new way of assessing, grading, and reporting, as noted, is different and more accurate and fair that traditional grading. Parents can help by reminding students that we will not be assigning letter grades anymore and that proficiency levels (Excelling ‘4’, Proficient ‘3’, Developing ‘2’, or Beginning ‘1’) are a totally different way of providing feedback on their levels of understanding.

These formative assessments of understanding (classwork, participation, effort, or quizzes) do not factor into the level of understanding reported for each standard or learning target. The only factors contributing to the score (Excelling ‘4’, Proficient ‘3’, Developing ‘2’, or Beginning ‘1’) reported for each standard or learning target is the summative assessment of student understanding. In almost all cases, students will be provided with multiple opportunities to demonstrate understanding.

Report cards in PK-3 will look the same. Report cards in 4-6 will also look nearly identical, except that there will not be letter grades (A, B, C, D, F) assigned for overall content areas, as occurred in the past.

Teachers will continue to provide feedback to students and parents in the ways with which you have become familiar. In addition, you will begin to see feedback provided in relation to specific standards and learning targets on Learning Target Trackers. Examples have been shared in the presentation that was recorded and sent with you via email.

Parents can support their child at home by promoting a positive, growth mindset. At Oak Creek, we embrace the power of YET, as in, you haven’t reached the level of understanding that you and we want…yet. Given that there will be multiple opportunities for students to demonstrate their increasing levels of understanding, please encourage your child to persevere and keep exerting the effort necessary to achieve. Additionally, please encourage your child to transition from thinking about letter grades (A, B, C, D, F) to viewing their level of understanding of a specific standard or learning target as Excelling ‘4’, Proficient ‘3’, Developing ‘2’, or Beginning ‘1’. Lastly, you can regularly ask your child these questions:

  • What are you working on right now?
  • What would it look like if you did an awesome job on this?
  • How do you think you're doing so far?
  • What’s going great, and what’s been a little tricky?