Manitowoc Lincoln High School Principal Lee Thennes recently posted a video on YouTube where he addresses the students reading their new Standards-Based Learning Grading Scale.
In the video, he shows a graphic that visualized what this approach is all about (which you can see above).
“Here’s the goal in the middle, your progress toward learning, meeting each standard,” Thennes explained. “Teaching where the teacher focuses on instructing these standards, learning, where you are practicing those skills to meet the standards, and assessing, where we find out what you know. Finally, that is communicating in a grade, where the teacher indicates where you are with the standard.”
While that all sounds very similar to what we all know as school, the big change came in the grading system, which now is shown on a scale of 0-4.
The principal explained what the numbers mean, saying “One beginning, two shows development, three is proficient, [which is] where we are looking to get, and four is advanced in your work. Notice that this translates pretty simply into A, B, C, and D.”
Thennes explained that with this new grading system, “your grades should reflect your learning more than ever before.”
The principal did not give a reason for the change in grading.
You can see the full five-minute-long video below.
