The Effect of Standards Based Grading on Student Achievement on Standardized Assessments: Is There a Programmatic Effect?
In recent years, there has been a shift back toward standardized assessment scores as an accountability metric for school districts from state policy makers. In response, Standards Based Grading has become a popular reform among school districts as a means to provide a greater predictability of student outcomes on standardized assessments. Problematically, previous literature had not found predictable links between SBG and student achievement on standardized assessments, nor had it produced a specific context within how to implement the reform. Additionally, research tends to focus on the teacher reaction and responsibility to make adjustments in the classroom as a response to the information gained from SBG in order to impact student outcomes, leading to a lack of knowledge as to whether SBG can itself have a programmatic effect. This study seeks to provide a specific context within which Standards Based Grading may be implemented and what impact there may be when controlling for a teacher effect. Results of this study showed that while there was a reduction in the mean rate of growth in both Math and Reading, that when controlled for a teacher impact, there was a positive effect on the rate of growth for students with lower rates of previous achievement in Math and all students in Reading, suggesting that the intervention of Standards Based Grading was related to the rate of growth on the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) assessment.
Educational administration, Education policy
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