Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Standards Based Grading topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
District presents standards‑based instruction and grading pilot, outlines training and gradebook changes
Summary
District staff and teachers described a multi‑year rollout of standards‑based instruction and grading, pilot sites, rubrics and training strategies; presenters also discussed moving the official gradebook back into Synergy and concerns about inconsistent adoption across classrooms.
District staff and classroom teachers led a work session April 22 for the Bend‑LaPine Administrative SD 1 Board of Directors on the district’s multi‑year effort to implement standards‑based instruction and grading.
Steven Duvall, executive director of middle schools, introduced the session and said teachers and instructional coaches are “doing the work in our system” to implement standards‑based grading and instruction. He and teacher‑leaders outlined training, pilot sites and classroom examples used to support the change.
Katie Lyons, science teacher at Cascade Middle School and a part‑time grading TOSA, described a “roadmap” for rollout and said the district is roughly at “level 3” of progress toward full implementation, with a target of full implementation in 2026–27. Lyons summarized supports the district has provided, including a train‑the‑trainer model, quarterly meetings for instructional teams, substitute time for planning, a shared resource drive and an IT mirror of the district gradebook for teacher practice.
Sarah Traxallis, chemistry teacher at Caldera High School and a pilot teacher, described classroom practice under the model and said standards are skill‑focused in science. Traxallis said standards‑based grading has changed instruction for her and that students respond by analyzing their own progress in class and at conferences.
Presenters addressed common staff concerns during Q&A. Lyons said facilitators helped teacher teams unpack priority standards and build rubrics for a level‑3 (proficient) anchor, then extend to higher levels. When asked about rubric coverage, Lyons estimated “ballpark, a 100% of all our core required classes” would have ready rubrics, and “probably 60 to 70%” of remaining elective courses; she characterized those figures as ballpark and iterative as teams continue revisions.
The group also discussed gradebook platforms. Presenters said Synergy is the district’s grade‑of‑record and that district staff are working to bring standards‑based scores into Synergy so data for attendance, behavior and grades can be combined for MTSS and early‑warning reports. Presenters said Canvas was adopted rapidly during the pandemic and has been useful as a learning management system, but it “cannot do standards based grading the way that we need to get it done,” and teachers should expect grade records in Synergy.
Board members and staff participated in a calibration exercise during the session, scoring anonymized student work against rubrics. Presenters and board members described calibration and peer conversation as central to making rubrics reliable across sites; they also acknowledged uneven adoption across teachers and sites is a current source of student and parent confusion.
No formal board action or vote was taken during the work session; presenters sought feedback and described pilot progress, training plans and reporting capabilities for future board updates.
