Bixby schools defend standards-based grading rollout amid teacher, parent concerns

BIXBY, Okla. — District leaders told the Bixby Board of Education on June 2 that the district will continue rolling standards-based grading into sixth grade after a difficult first year of common assessments and teacher pushback.

Cheryl, a district staff member leading the initiative, told the board the change is "really a mindset shift" from traditional percentage-based grades to reporting students’ proficiency on individual standards. She said the district created common, standards-aligned assessments and multiple versions to allow reassessment, but that implementing those assessments at scale produced "train crashes" that will be corrected in summer revisions.

The presentation outlined a multi-year timeline: the district began expanding standards-based grading in 2021–22, has been using it in pre-K through lower grades and planned the next step into sixth grade in 2025–26. Cheryl said teacher teams from every building helped write assessments and that 77 elementary teachers responded to a year-end survey about the rollout.

Why it matters

District leaders said the change is intended to give more precise, actionable feedback on what a student can do — for example, discrete math or reading standards — instead of a single composite grade. Supporters argued this can reduce situations where two students have the same percentage but very different skill profiles. Critics in the meeting said the shift has increased teacher workload, confused some parents, and created concerns about transitions to middle school and college admission.

What happened at the meeting

Cheryl described four core grading practices the district is adopting: not counting formative practice (homework) toward academic grades; allowing reassessment without averaging penalties; reporting nonacademic behaviors separately from academic grades; and reporting proficiency by standard. "Formative practice cannot be counted as an academic grade," she said.

She conceded the first year of common assessments produced problems: too many assessments, confusing item design in some assessments and heavy reassessment loads that strained teacher time. The district plans to revise or rewrite assessments this summer, reduce overlapping reassessment timing and provide additional training in August. Cheryl said the district will move the standards-based grade data into PowerSchool once a plug-in is activated so parents can view standards-based grades in the same system that shows traditional grades.

Board questions and concerns

Board members pressed on pacing and consequences. One member asked whether the district should pause rollout to fix problems before adding another grade; Cheryl said fifth-grade teacher representatives had reviewed readiness and that common assessments for sixth grade "are written, and they're ready to go." She added that secondary leaders are being prepared to receive students coming from standards-based report cards.

Parents’ questions about interpretation — for example what a 1, 2, 3 or 4 means — drew this explanation from district staff: a 1 indicates minimal or no independent mastery of the standard, a 2 indicates partial mastery or mastery with assistance, a 3 indicates independent mastery of the grade-level standard (the target), and a 4 indicates performance beyond the standard. District staff said they will continue producing parent-facing conversion guidance and examples to reduce confusion.

Instructional support and future steps

Cheryl said the district built reassessment options (multiple versions of assessments) so students get repeated opportunities to demonstrate mastery. The district will run targeted revision sessions this summer (pre-K/ K/first grade, second/third, fourth, and fifth grade meetings are scheduled) and continue coaching with outside trainers who led recent professional development.

The presentation noted that the move has been hardest at intermediate grades (fourth–sixth), where standards are more complex. Tanya Morgan, the district’s director of curriculum, was identified in the meeting as continuing work with secondary teachers to prioritize standards and write common assessments for secondary courses.

Ending

District leaders asked for patience while they revise items and scale support. "I can't promise it's going to be perfect next year, but it will be better than it was this year for sure," Cheryl said. Board members requested a six-month check-in to review the revision outcomes and parental communications.