Special Edition: Mastery Grading
September 24, 2018
Dear Brooklyn Collaborative Families,
At Brooklyn Collaborative, all core classes utilize a mastery grading system where grades start at “Not Yet” and move up.
At the beginning of the semester, teachers enter the course learning targets and the semester’s assessments for each learning target into IO Classroom (our online grading system).
Each course learning target is assessed at least three times, including one on-demand assessment. As the semester progresses, a student’s grade only moves up from Not Yet (45).
In partnership,
Scill, Amanda, Imani (BCS School Leaders)
Tracey (BCS Parent Coordinator)
HERE ARE TWO WAYS WE DESCRIBE THE "NOT YET AND UP" SYSTEM OF MASTERY
- Think about a child learning to ride a bike. The child might fall down over and over again at the beginning, but at the end of the learning process, the child can ride a bike and that’s what ultimately matters. Learning in many ways is like riding a bike.
- At Brooklyn Collaborative, your grades are based on the degree to which you have mastered the skills and content of each class (course learning targets) and Habits of Scholarship.
- At Brooklyn Collaborative, our goal is to approach learning like we approach riding a bike. When you have mastered the course learning targets, you are able to “ride the bike” independently.
- Think of your grade as a cup that you fill with water.
- At the beginning of the semester, the cup is empty because you have not yet learned the content and showed evidence of your skills.
- As you turn in work that shows your skills, you are pouring small amounts of water in the cup, and little by little, it adds up over the semester.
- When we finish the semester, how much “water” in your cup is your final grade—the level of the water is your mastery level.
BROOKLYN COLLABORATIVE MASTERY GRADE SCALE
Brooklyn Collaborative reports a student’s progress using the mastery levels above.
Progress reports are distributed in November/April.
Report cards and transcripts are distributed in January/June.
Progress reports, report cards, and transcripts are issued using a numeric grade.
The mastery levels correspond to the following numeric ranges:
Exemplary (90-100%)
Accomplished (80-89%)
Competent (70-79%)
Beginning (65-69%)
No Mastery Yet (55-64%)
Not Yet (45-54%).