What is Standards Based Grading and Why Do We Use It?

SWITCH. A screenshot of the new version of Skyward which will be implemented next year. Questions remain about how the new Skyward will affect grading. Photo courtesy of Noah Read.

If you go to Vashon Island High School, chances are you've heard of standards based grading (SBG). SBG is responsible for the untraditional 0 through 4 grading scale, the learning standards in the gradebook, and the notorious Skyward trend line. These grading concepts shape how our grading system works, so it's important to understand what they are, and why we use them in the first place. 

SBG is grounded in the idea that grades ought to measure a student's growth over the course of a semester rather than their proficiency at any given point. This is where the trend line comes from. The trend line is an equation that calculates students' grades by trending their scores rather than averaging them. 

This has some pros and cons. One, the trend line is much more difficult to predict than an average. While it is not impossible to calculate, it is far more complicated than an average, and few students even know how to do it. Two, it is manipulatable. Since the trend line attempts to measure growth, a student can do minimal work for most of the semester, work very hard for the last few weeks, and sometimes still get a high grade. The same concept applies to the inverse situation where a student works very hard for most of the semester before flunking a couple of big assignments in the last few weeks, giving them a worse grade than they deserve. 

Some teachers don't use the grade that the trend line suggests. A large portion of teachers manually adjust grades at the end of the semester if they feel it was unfairly calculated. If a student was helped by the trend line too much, teachers bring their grade down. If students were hurt by it too much, teachers might raise their grade. 

This introduces a new problem. Teachers can adjust grades, but when they decide to do so is entirely subjective. Some teachers do it often, and some don't do it at all. This is even more unpredictable than the trend line itself. It means that there is no way for students to calculate their grade.

As of the 2025-2026 school year, teachers have been given the option to turn off the trend line in Skyward and just use a simple average. Many teachers chose to do so. This means that our school is not on one universal grading system. This begs the question, is one grading system easier?

Heather Miller, a history teacher at Vashon Island High School, gives her thoughts.

"I don't know if I would say it is easier to get good grades in standard based grading, but I would say there's more opportunities. So maybe that means it's easier, right?"

As Miller explained, standards based grading does not necessarily mean that the class work is easier, or that grading scales are easier, but it does often provide more chances for students to show proficiency and earn a desirable grade. An example of this is how standards based grading is more lenient in terms of allowing test retakes. In practice, this usually makes it easier for a student to get the grade they want. 

The truth is Vashon Island High School has never used true standards based grading. It has always used a hybrid. True standards based grading would have no work habits grade and could allow retesting even after the end of the semester. 

"When we originally implemented this, we did change a lot of policies in terms of retakes and being able to go back and improve things later on. Maybe not after the class was over or the semester was over, but over the course of the semester," Miller recalled.

The recent change allowing teachers to turn off the trend line complicates the system. The variation in grading systems can distort students' and colleges' perception of which subjects the student accels in. For example, a student who is particularly good at math, but tends to struggle in English, could be given great grades in English and bad grades in math just because one of the classes uses the trend line while the other doesn't. This distortion of students' abilities could lead them to make poor choices on what to study in college, or what career field to go into.

"In my experience, all of my grades at the end of the year do end up at least seeming accurate to me to what the average should be, just overall, but that also partially comes from the fact that I've been in a couple classes where with the trend line turned off," sophomore Isabeau Johns shared. 

Given how recently teachers were given the choice to turn off the trend line, many are still working to find a good system that works for their classes. Things are changing from year to year. In fact, VHS will actually be switching to a new version of Skyward next year.

It is hard to say at this point exactly what changes the new Skyward will bring, but hopefully it will make student's grades easier to calculate and understand. 

Standards based grading has its strengths and weaknesses, just like anything, but over all it seems to work well at VHS. Hopefully the new Skyward will be a step forward in solving some of the issues students face today.