What if all your homework, quizzes, and tests were only out of 4 points? Well if you’ve had math teacher Bob Cashill, then this has been your reality.
For those of you who haven’t, this form of grading is called standard-based grading. This system is known for being more student- friendly, and some think it is the grading system of the future.

Standard-based grading is used to help students, through ongoing assessment, understand their progress toward success. Current methods of grading often are very arbitrary and do not accurately indicate what a student knows and is able to do. This way measures a student’s progress toward the attainment of a standard. Standard-based grading offers clear communication between students and teachers – the student knows what the particular skill is and whether he/she has mastered it or not.

Everything is graded on a 4 point scale in increments of 0.25. In order to keep student’s grades realistic, Mr. Cashill transfers grades to the 100 point scale that other teachers use. He does this by multiplying a student’s standard-based score by 14.5, and then adds 42 to that number. If a student gets a 4.0, then when Mr. Cashill transfers the grade, it should equal 100.

There is the also the opportunity for do-overs. This allows students to really learn the material rather than move on even though both the teacher and student have evidence that the skill was not mastered. This ensures that grades reflect what a student knows and is able to do.

Advocates of this type of grading suggest that it shows true mastery. They believe that too often students can attain good grades through simple compliance with the rules and procedures of the class and the adequate and timely completion of assignments regardless of whether they show true mastery.

This new way of grading is a large improvement to the outdated traditional system and hopefully will take the rest of VHS by storm.