How Does It Work?
SBG is a completely different way of assessing what students know. What you're used to is "Assignment Based Grading." Students are given a grade on a given assignment, like a test, quiz, or worksheet. Let's say it's a worksheet that was assigned as homework. Instead of giving an overall grade, such as "82%", or "B", the assignment is given a "grade" (a better term would be "rating" or "score") on several different categories (standards). The student may have gotten 4/5 on one standard (like "understands the difference between the 3 subatomic particles"), but a 1/5 on another standard (like "can determine the number of each subatomic particle in a given element").
SBG gets into the details of grading and a student's abilities. This informs the student where they are are needing more work and practice, and it helps the teacher identify problem areas that need to be addressed with more support.
Every assessment is still graded just as rigorously as before (if not more so), but they are given multiple grades - one for each standard that the assessment covers. If a quiz measures two different skills, then students are given one grade for each skill.
What's Wrong with Regular Grading?
Think back to your high school and collegiate experiences with the diversity of teachers and professors you had. Some teachers were considered "hard" or "easy" teachers. Some graded homework rigorously, some didn't. From some, you learned a lot, from some you learned very little. Think about their grading practices. What was required to get an "A"? For some, you simply had to participate in class. Others required you to memorize a ton of material. For still others, you just had to beat your peers because everything was graded on a curve. You get the point.
Traditional grading has so much variation that the grades are not reliable measures of future success or current skills and knowledge. An "A" from one teacher is not the same as an "A" from another, and especially not the same as an "A" from another school. Some teachers give points for good behavior, some give extra credit, some give points for only tangentially related projects. In a lot of classrooms, to pass simply means you have to jump through all the hoops the teacher has set up for you, you don't have to actually learn anything.
What About Report Cards?
This is the stickiest part about the whole thing and the source of a majority of the debate. No one is against being more transparent with students about what they do and do not know. People are against changing GPAs and report cards because it affects college admissions. There is much debate about how SBG will end up affecting report cards and GPAs. The ultimate goal of SBG is to eventually transition to report cards that report students' abilities in a variety of skills and content knowledge, rather than reporting just a single letter to represent all of what the student knows in a given area.
Skill 1: B
Skill 2: A
Content Knowledge 1: A
Content Knowledge 2: B
Content Knowledge 3: D
Content Knowledge 4: B
Option 2:
Class Grade: B
Here's my take on it: Which option gives the student, teacher, and parent information that is actually useful? Which option seems to be a more reliable, accurate measurement of what the student knows? I think the choice is obvious.
Want More?
SBG is the result of years research. Rick Wormeli, Thomas Guskey, Robert Marzano, and Douglas Reeves are all educational researchers and authors that have put forth more research, explanations, and support for SBG in the last decade or two. Much research has been done that has shown SBG to be just as or more effective than traditional grading practices. Here are a few places to start reading if you have further questions or doubts:
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