A traditional grading system for teachers involves the use of points on assignments. However, students have become masters at “playing the game of school” to earn points on assignments. Students will do whatever it takes to get an A, even if that means they sacrifice their own learning. This has prompted me to entirely rethink my own teacher grading system. Let me share with you how I think we can improve the grading system for teachers which will ultimately optimize student learning and success in the classroom!

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The problem with the current teacher grading system

When I first started teaching, I began grading using a point-based system. I made up point values for each assignment. Each question would be worth a certain amount of points to get me to the total for the assignment. A student was scored based on how many points were earned out of 100. This is the system I grew up knowing as a student so I thought this was the best system to use as a teacher. 

But a few years into using this system, I knew this grading system was not working. I hated the process of grading itself because I never felt confident in my ability to determine how many points a question was worth. Was this question worth 1 point, 2 points, 5 points, etc.?? I just did not know what I was doing. I knew I was arbitrarily assigning these point values to questions.

Another problem I was finding with this grading system was that students became good at “playing the game of school”. My students knew how to easily earn points to achieve high grades. They would cheat their way through assignments or cram for a test to “get a good grade”. But true learning was never actually taking place. They could not retain information after a test or even after taking the course.

Deciding to switch up my grading policy

So one year, we had a brand new assistant principal at our school. He had come from a district where teachers were implementing a standards-based grading system to get students to achieve mastery. When he started talking about what grades are supposed to mean and the process of grading, I knew that this was possibly a solution to my grading frustrations. 

I began researching the ideas of standards-based grading and was instantly hooked. Standards-based grading (SBG) is a shift in education to get students to focus on learning over grades. With SBG, the content of a course is divided into standards that students should master by the end of the year. The student learning is tracked by teachers so that they can provide mastery-oriented feedback to students to help improve their learning.

I wanted my grades to be a true reflection of a student’s mastery of the standards for the course. This would mean that I was no longer grading individual assignments using points but rather grading students on their ability to master a standard. This would completely change my grading system moving forward.

Coming up with an easy grading system for teachers that actually works

Step 1: Use a grading scale for teachers that works

The biggest problem I had with the traditional grading system for teachers was that I was using points. Assessments were graded on a 100-point scale and a student’s grade was calculated by taking the number of points earned and dividing it by how many points total. 

But this grading scale makes it so there is so much room for error. I needed to come up with a new grading scale that removed the error in grades. I threw out the 100-point scale and now use a 4-point scale.

With this new grading system for teachers, you are using a mastery-based grading scale that makes it so there is significantly less room for error in assigning grades. A level 4 score indicates the student has mastered the standard being assessed. Think of this quality of work as being outstanding. The student clearly knows the content or demonstrates a skill in a new and creative way.

A level 3 score indicates the student is meeting the standard. This means that they can recall information or meet expectations without going above and beyond. A level 2 indicates the student is approaching the standard. Most students will fall into this category, especially early in the learning process. Level 1 indicates the student is not there yet. 

Step 2: Save time by grading tasks for completion

In this new grading system for teachers, the goal is to only truly grade standards. Because of this, we will call any assignment that is not a true assessment of a standard a “task”. I like the use of the phrase task instead of assignment because it strongly implies that it is something the student needs to complete.

You assign tasks because these types of assignments are meant to help students practice a standard or skill. By completing them, students should hopefully be learning. This means that they do not need to be assessed for mastery but rather assessed for completion.

In the grade book, these tasks should not factor into the grade for the course. I “grade” all tasks out of zero points and use words to communicate their completion. I will give a student a grade of “done” if they have successfully completed the task. Students earn a “missing” if they did not complete the task and an “incomplete” if they did not fully complete the task. 

This way I am still communicating to home about a student’s work completion but it does not factor in their class grade. Generally speaking, students that miss multiple tasks struggle to achieve the meeting or mastering scores on assessments. 

Step 3: Other grading tips for teachers

To save yourself the most time with this new grading system, it is important to use rubrics as much as possible. Rubrics will help make grading on a mastery level significantly easier. Traditionally you think of using rubrics for projects but rubrics can be used for quizzes or tests alike.

Because I frequently assess students with quizzes, I have a rubric that I include at the top of the quiz that clearly outlines what is needed to achieve a level 4, 3, 2, or 1. To earn the mastery score (level 4), then they must get all multiple-choice questions correct and need the majority of the open-response questions correct. 

Keep a bank of rubrics that can be used time and time again. I especially love the single-point rubric. If your students are well aware of the difference between the quality of work for mastering, meeting, approaching, and not there yet, then you do not need to outline all of this in the rubric. In my rubrics, I state the standard being assessed. Then I will assign what level was achieved and then include feedback about why they earned that level.

Check out these resources for even more grading tips

How to move away from percentage grades to help improve student learning

Why you should use rubric grading to make your life as a teacher easy

How does standards based grading work in a successful high school classroom

Standards-based grading policy

I absolutely love sharing my ideas about my standards-based grading system and hope that you find my ideas helpful for your classroom! After reading this, if you feel you are ready to take the plunge into standards-based grading in your high school classroom, sign up for my free guidebook to become an expert at standards-based grading! It may just change your whole view on the current grading system for teachers!