Brian M. Stack's School Leadership Blog

Overview Sanborn Regional High School has used a competency-based grading and reporting system since 2010. During that time, teachers have used either a 100-point scale or a rubric-based scale to compute both competency and course grades for students in their classes. A rubric scale is different from a 100-point grading scale in the following ways: With a traditional 100-point scale, all grades typically start at 100 percent and deductions are taken by the teacher for missing or incorrect components to arrive at a final percentage score. These deductions can vary from assignment to assignment and teacher to teacher, and depend on the expectations that are set for each assignment. Many students think of this system as one in which they must accumulate a certain number of points over time to reach a passing (proficient) or high (exceeding) grade. A rubric is a chart that lists the criteria and a variety of levels that describe proficiency over the length of a course. Rubri...

I have a very compassionate boss. I spent several weeks working on my school’s budget for the upcoming year and I had been sending him updates on my progress throughout. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise to me, though, that on the week that the budget was due my high school had a series of unexpected student issues that consumed most of my time and resources. As important as that budget due date was, I knew I just wasn’t going to make the deadline. As much as I hated to admit defeat, I made the call to him on Friday afternoon to ask for an extension (or at the very least, forgiveness). He was quick to respond to me with this: “Brian, I know it has been a tough week for you. I know through our check-in meetings over the past few weeks that you have been actively working on it. It is ok if you need a little bit more time. Could you have it to me by the middle of next week?” As he uttered those words I could feel the weight of the world lifting off of my shoulders. “Of course I...