Feeling stuck when it comes to your AP classes grading scale? Make the switch from a traditional grading system to a standards based grading system to have the most effective AP class grading scale. Switching to a standards based grading scale from a traditional grading scale can seem really overwhelming and daunting at first, but I am going to show you my 5 tips that I think will help any AP teacher looking to make the switch. I have seen positive results in my classroom. My students have really begun to care about their learning. I hope you will find those same results in your classroom.

Before we jump into my 5 tips, if you are brand new to the idea of standards based grading in a high school classroom, then I may have just the right thing for you! Get started on your standards based grading journey with my free guidebook that outlines how to implement standards based grading in your high school classroom. I will walk you step by step as you set up your standards based grading system. Become a standards based grading rockstar today!

What is standards based grading?

Standards based grading (SBG) is exactly what it sounds like, you are grading students based on their demonstration of mastery of the standards. Grading in this manner is an attempt to shift the focus to learning rather than grades. Students are given multiple attempts throughout the term, semester, or year to demonstrate their mastery of content or skills.

Why should I switch?

In my first year of teaching, I was completely overwhelmed when it came to grading. I used a very traditional grading system, much like what I had seen as a student in school. I graded every assignment on a points system. For each assignment, I gave an allotment of points and students’ grades were based on how many points they earned out of the total number of points.

The issue that I quickly realized was that students were good at “playing the game of school”. Students knew exactly what they needed to do to earn points to for a “good grade” but they were not actually learning the material.

I saw that students were very compliant, doing the easy assignments to earn points, like homework, classwork, etc. But when it came time for an assessment like a quiz or test, they would not perform as well as they seemed they should. But because I had so many “easy” assignments that helped them accrue points, the students’ grades were in the A and B ranges. This really did not make sense to me at first but now it makes total sense when I think about the traditional grading system.

Using points rewards students for being compliant but it does not help them actually learn the content or skills that are needed to master the course. Students will even cram study before a big test just to be sure they earn the points they need for a good grade but then they walk away from the test not remembering a thing! Because I knew my students were not actually learning, I knew I needed to switch up my grading system.

I want my grades to be a true reflection of a student’s mastery of the course’s content and/or skills. By comparing standards based grading vs traditional grading, you see that the traditional grading system punishes students for behavior while rewarding the students who are compliant. A standards based grading system shifts the focus away from numerical grades to having deeper conversations with students about learning and mastery.

5 tips for a successful AP class grading scale

Now that you’re ready to implement standards based grading in your AP class, we need to get your grading scale for AP classes all set up. Below are my 5 tips that helped me in setting up my AP Environmental Science grading system. There is no one way to do this so take my tips and mold them to fit your class as needed.

Tip 1: Identify priority standards

Looking at the course and exam description (CED) for your AP course, there is certainly a lot of content to cover. There are so many learning objectives outlined and only about 8-9 defined units. With standards based grading, it is important to have clearly defined standards to guide the curriculum. 

Ideally, you need 12-15 priority standards that divide the content into manageable learning outcomes. This may mean that you need to combine multiple learning objectives into one single standard.

With the AP Environmental Science CED, there were 15 major “Enduring Understandings” that guided the different objectives. I used these EUs as a guide in making my 12 priority standards for the course. If you are short on time and teach AP Environmental Science, check out my ready-to-go APES priority standards click here.

Tip 2: Create a grading scale for AP classes

With any standards based grading system, you need to identify your grading scale. I recommend using a 4-point scale. All assessments are graded using this 4-point scale. A level 4 score indicates mastery of the standard, while a level 3 score indicates meeting the standard, level 2 indicates approaching, and level 1 indicates no evidence yet. 

Tip 3: Move away from traditional unit tests

This next tip may be controversial as most AP teachers are used to giving students announced unit tests, midterms, and finals. However, looking at what we talked about earlier with students cram studying for big tests, I feel that tests do not accurately paint a picture of student learning. 

Yes I know there is one big test waiting for the students come May. But I feel like if I can best prepare my students and make sure they have a solid understanding of the content or skills, then I do not need to use tests to prepare them for the AP exam.

Instead, I use frequent, smaller assessments. I give weekly quizzes in my AP classes. They are kind of like pop quizzes in the sense that they do not know what day of the week it is coming, but they do know that every week there will be a quiz. This takes away that cramming piece. Students no longer need to cram study because they are constantly being assessed.

I make sure my quiz questions reflect the style of questions used on the AP exam. This ensures that they become familiar with the format of the exam. Each quiz usually covers a single standard at a time but can cover up to two standards. If a quiz assesses two standards at a time, each standard will receive its own score (1-4). 

Because my quizzes are a combination of multiple-choice and FRQ-style questions, I have a rubric that I use to determine if a student has earned a level 4, 3, 2, or 1 on that standard. Generally, if they get all the multiple-choice and open-response questions correct they earn a 4. If they just get all the multiple-choice correct, but not the open response, they can earn only up to a 3. Any other combination is usually a 2 or lower.

Pro tip: Use AP classroom to generate quiz questions to save yourself SO much time. Search the question bank by topics (which are associated with your standard). You will have so many questions to pick from.

Tip 4: Use a standards based grading tracking sheet

One of the biggest barriers to using a standards based grading system in your classes may be your school’s grade book software. In my district, we use grading software that s focused on numerical grades for individual assignments. This makes it extremely hard to track student progress toward mastery of the standards.

To help keep track of student mastery of the standards, I created my own easy grading calculator. I use this standards based grading tracking sheet like a report card to monitor student progress on each standards. Each row represents one standard from the course and each column represents the scores earned for each attempt on that standard.

Over time you can track a student’s understanding of any given standard. It allows you to easily see which students are progressing and which students need more support. You can share the tracking sheet with the individual student so they can also clearly see which standards they understand versus which standards they may need extra help with. Overall, you and your students will start to have better conversations about what they know and don’t know in your course by looking at the standards based tracking sheet.

Tip 5: Determine your AP classes grading scale percentages

If your school is also like mine, then you still will have to assign percentage grades to your students. Therefore, you will need to come up with a conversion of the standards based scale to percentages. 

To determine a student’s percentage grade at any point in time (whether it’s at the end of a term, semester, or end of the year) I first need to determine where their current mastery level is for each standard. I look at the grade tracking sheet mentioned above and look at their levels over time. Their grade should be a reflection of their most current mastery of the standards. This means that if a student earned low levels early on in the learning process, they will not be penalized. For example, if a student earned the following 4 levels on standard #1: 2, 2, 4, 4, then their current mastery of standard #1 is level 4. 

I assign current levels of mastery for each standard assessed at that point. I then look to see how many 4s, 3s, 2s, and 1s this student has earned. If they have earned all levels 4, that is amazing and they have earned an A+ or 100%. If they are mostly 3s and 4s, then they earn a 95%, and so on. See my table below.

More AP classes grading scale ideas

AP Biology and AP Chemistry switch to standards-based grading for 2020-2021 school year

Standards based grading in AP U.S. History (APUSH)

Implementing standards based grading

I absolutely love sharing my ideas about standards based grading and the grading scale for AP classes. After reading this, if you feel you are ready to take the plunge into standards based grading in your AP class, register for my free guidebook to become an expert at standards based grading! I can’t wait to help you master the AP classes grading scale!