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Standard grade scales and descriptors

Last edited 93 days ago by Prerna Singh.

Standards-based grading focuses on evaluating student learning against defined learning standards.

Grade scales and rubric descriptors play a key role in this approach.

Grade scales define how student performance is measured on standards - using numbers (like 1–7), letters (like A–F), or performance levels (like Beginning, Developing, Proficient). Rubric descriptors describe what student work looks like at each level of the grade scale for a given standard.

What can I do on this page?

Use this page to set up how your school evaluates performance for each Standard set.

Link grade scales to standard sets:

Map one or more regular grade scales to each standard set.

Only regular grade scales can be linked to standard sets.

You can also use Bulk apply to map the same grade scale(s) to multiple standard sets at once.

Define rubric descriptors for standards

Add descriptors for each level of the linked grade scale.

These descriptors are used when teachers build standards-based rubrics and evaluate students through tasks or observations.

Adding descriptors here helps pre-populate rubrics automatically when teachers use these standards, saving time and ensuring consistency. Teachers can still make task-specific edits as needed.

Things to keep in mind

Descriptors can only be added for standards that are marked as graded.

Descriptor columns are generated based on the grade scale(s) mapped to the standard set.

If multiple grade scales are linked, you can switch between them while adding descriptors.

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