Standards-Based Grading: What the 1 to 4 Scores Mean

What It Means

Standards-based grading reports a student's progress on each learning standard, the specific skills a grade or course is meant to teach, using a short set of levels. A report card might show separate marks for, say, adding fractions and explaining a fraction in words, where a traditional card would average everything into one math grade. States and districts that use it describe the levels on a proficiency scale, and the New York State Education Department trains teachers to build grade books around those scales.

Try It: Read a Standards-Based Score

An example four-level scale. Slide to a score and read what it usually means. Your district's key sets the real words.

Score on one standard

Level2

2, Progressing: some of the skill is there, with help or with errors.

Ask the teacher whether levels are judged against where students should be by the end of the year.

How Parents Say It

"He got a 3 in reading, which apparently means he's right on track."
"Our district dropped letter grades in elementary school."
"What's the difference between a 2 and a 3?"

The Breakdown

An example scale

Level	Example label	What it usually means
4	Exceeding	Goes beyond the standard
3	Proficient	Meets the standard independently
2	Progressing	Partly there, with support or errors
1	Beginning	Just starting on the skill

ERIC-indexed papers on standards-based grading describe four-level scales like this, which some schools fold into three (below, meeting and exceeding the standard). Your district's key may use other words, numbers or letters.

Stages through school. A district can grade one way in elementary school and another in middle or high school, where courses and a GPA come in. Check what your child's school does at each level, especially when your child changes buildings.

Reading it alongside a letter grade. On the example scale, a 3 means the skill is where it should be, so try not to read it as a middling score.

When to talk to the teacher. If a standard stays at 1 or 2 across two reporting periods, ask what your child can do now, what the next step looks like, and how you can practice it at home.

Good to Know

Standards-based grading is a choice each district or school makes, and the scales, labels and timing differ. Look for the key printed on the report card or in the district's grading guide before reading the numbers. The New York State Education Department's materials on standards-based grading focus on standards-aligned grade books and proficiency scales, which is a useful thing to ask your own school about: which standards are graded each term, and how a level is decided.

FAQ

What does a 3 mean in standards-based grading?

On a typical four-level scale, 3 means proficient: your child meets the standard on their own. Check your district's key, since labels vary.

How is standards-based grading different from traditional grading?

Traditional grading averages work into one letter per subject. Standards-based grading reports a separate level for each skill, so you can see which ones are strong and which need work.

Can standards-based grades convert to letter grades?

That's up to the district, and the levels measure something different from an averaged percentage. Ask your school whether it converts them and, if so, how.

Do It in Buhata

Calendar, Reminders

When the report card comes home, add a Task in Buhata for each standard still at 1 or 2 and set a Reminder to ask the teacher about them at the next conference.

Open Buhata

Related Terms and Categories

Report card
(1) The school's periodic report of a student's grades to parents; (2) the yearly public report on school and district results that ESSA requires states and districts to publish.
Progress report
(1) A school's update on a student's grades partway through a grading period; (2) the periodic report on an IEP's annual goals that IDEA requires.
Formative assessment
Quick, frequent checks a teacher uses during lessons to see what students understand and adjust teaching while learning is still under way.
Summative assessment
A test or project at the end of a unit, course or school year that measures what a student learned against the standards that were taught.
Common Core
A set of K to 12 learning goals in English language arts and math, released in 2010 by state leaders' groups, that each state chooses whether to use.
Parent-teacher conference
A short scheduled meeting between a parent and a child's teacher to talk about how the child is doing in school and how to help at home.

School and education for parents

Sources

New York State Education Department, "Implementing Standards-Based Grading"; "A Didactic Explanation of Standards-based Grading" (journal article indexed in ERIC, U.S. Department of Education)

Last updated October 1, 2026.