Standards-Based Grading: Teacher Perceptions of the Implementation of an Educational Innovation at The Green School

Standards-based grading systems are gaining popularity in American schools (Iamarino, 2014; Schiffman, 2016; Scriffney, 2008). Proponents of standards-based grading claim that it promotes academic mastery, a growth mindset towards learning, intrinsic motivation for learning, and equitable grading practices (Brookhart & Nitko, 2008; Feldman, 2018; Guskey, 2014). Yet at The Green School, which adopted standards-based grading in 2019, teachers have indicated significant doubt in the school’s standards-based grading system. Why? How do teachers understand and articulate the goals of the school’s standards-based grading program? In what ways (if any), do they perceive those goals as being fulfilled or not fulfilled? What supports do they perceive as most helpful, and what impediments do they perceive as most challenging, in implementing standards-based grading? These questions, in addition to a review of the literature on standards-based grading, frame a qualitative exploratory case study that uses focus groups and semi-structured interviews to gather data about Green School teachers’ perceptions of the school’s standards-based grading system, and then develops findings and recommendations based on the data.