Standards-based Grading | Center for Teaching and Learning

Emphasizing Learning and Deemphasizing Grades

What It Is

Standards-based grading (SBG) is connected to mastery learning. SBG is different from traditional grading practices and exemplifies these elements:

Students are provided with a list of clear course learning objectives (known as standards).
Students’ work is graded using a form of pass/fail grading instead of points.
Students are given several opportunities to reassess/reattempt mastery of any standard.
Only the most recent and/or consistent evidence of a student’s understanding should count toward the course final grade.
Final course grade is based on how many standards a student mastered

How It Works

Determine and clarify learning objectives/targets or standards

Use the backward design (Wiggins and McTighe, 2005) approach to write assessable standards.
Frame standards as “I can…statements” or big questions.
Explicitly organize course instruction and resources around standards.

Establish a grading system

Use a binary rubric “mastered” or “not mastered.” Do not give partial credit.
Use the EMRF (Excellent, Meets Expectations, Revision Needed, Fragmentary / Not Assessable) or a 0-4 point scoring rubric to assess each standard.
Use scores to communicate mastery and how students may reassess.

Determine components of course grade

Include requirements for content mastery (product goals) and behavioral incentives (process goals).
Report students’ performance on process goals separately from content mastery (product goals).
Align tests and projects and feedback from assessments with specific learning objectives/standards.

Plan assessments and reassessment attempts

Manage assessments and reassessments efficiently. Schedule regular reassessment times.
Have students complete a reassessment contract to initiate reassessment.
Adjust tests to maintain academic integrity.
To manage reassessments in large classes, make exams cumulative; build reassessments into existing assessments such as quizzes, unit exams, and final exam (Zimmerman, 2020).

Benefits

Alignment of standards and assessments provides greater clarity of course expectations.
Reassessments allow students to reflect on and correct errors in their understanding.
Conversations with instructors tend to focus on content instead of concerns over partial credit.

Advice

The best place to start SBG is with questions.
Students may be new to SBG, clarify the components of the system consistently throughout the term.
If SBG is not feasible, use 4 simple ways to ease the spotlight off points. Also, make your assessments help students learn.

References

Beatty, I. D. (2013). Standards-Based Grading in Introductory University Physics. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 13(2), 1–22.

Clark, D. (2022). Case study: How Joshua Bowman uses Standards-Based Grading in Calculus 1. Grading for Growth.

Elsinger, J., & Lewis, D. (2020). Applying a Standards-Based Grading Framework across Lower Level Mathematics Courses. PRIMUS, 30(8–10), 885–907.

Scarlett, Michael. (2018). “Why did I get a C?”: Communicating Student Performance Using Standards-Based Grading. InSight: A Journal of Scholarly Teaching. 13. 59-75. 10.46504/14201804sc.

Stutzman, R. Y., & Race, K. H. (2004). EMRF: Everyday Rubric Grading. Mathematics Teacher, 97(1), 34.

Talbert, R. (2025, December 22). How to write clearly defined standards, revisited. Grading for Growth.

Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd ed.). Pearson.

Zimmerman, J. K. (2020). Implementing Standards-Based Grading in Large Courses across Multiple Sections. PRIMUS, 30(8–10), 1040–1053.