1 | Page
Standards-Based Assessment WGU D184
Questions and Answers
What is a benefit of a standards-based grading system for high-
achieving students?
Ans: Instruction can be easily adjusted to provide new, more complex
learning targets.
How is a narrative-based system different than a standards-based
grading system?
Ans: The standards-based grading system uses proficiency scores, but
the narrative grading system does not.
Which factor distinguishes norm-referenced grading from
standards-based grading?
Ans: Performance of the rest of the class
What is a benefit of using standards-based grading compared to
norm-referenced grading?
Ans: Standards-based grading is more focused on the learning targets
than norm-referenced grading.
Why do teachers only grade student work related to the
achievement of learning targets in standards-based grading
systems?
Ans: Teachers are able to help students focus on learning goals and
track their progress.
A grading scale reflects the following details:
4 achievement levels — Advanced
3 achievement levels — Meets expectations
2 achievement levels — Partial mastery
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1 achievement level — Little or no mastery
Which grading system does this grading scale represent?
Ans: Standards-based grading
How do standards-based grading systems support struggling
students compared to other common grading systems?
Ans: By allowing students to redo lessons and assignments as many
times as necessary
What is one difference between using criterion-referenced scoring
in standards-based grading systems as opposed to using norm-
referenced scoring?
Ans: Criterion-referenced scoring measures student progress toward
mastery of specific criteria, while norm-referenced scoring measures
progress relative to percentiles.
What is a criticism of standards-based grading systems?
Ans: They do not reflect students' proficiency in soft skills such as time
management and creativity.
Which problematic assessment practice does standards-based
grading help teachers avoid?
Ans: Tagging multiple standards
Which statement is a criticism of standards-based grading
systems?
Ans: Assessments are too narrowly focused.
How are measurement topics beneficial to teachers?
Ans: They help teachers identify a small set of themes to focus on
during instruction.
An English language arts teacher is unpacking the following
standard:
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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.10: "By the end of the year, read and
comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems for
grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently with scaffolding as
needed, at the high end of the range" (Common Core Standards
Initiative, 2021).
Which terms reflect the content of the standard?
Ans: Stories, dramas, poems
A teacher must determine a relevant focus statement based on
this standard for a U.S. history course:
"The student understands the differences between the economic,
technological, and human resources of both sides of a conflict."
Which focus statement reflects this standard?
Ans: Knows about the materials that contributed to an event and its
outcome
Which focus statement represents procedural knowledge?
Ans: Composes sentences using a keyboard
Which focus statement represents declarative knowledge?
Ans: Comprehends who the antagonist is in a short story
Which focus statement represents procedural knowledge?
Ans: Writes Roman numerals from 1 to 100
A 10th-grade world history teacher is reviewing the following
standard for the curriculum and making note of the measurement
topics:
HSS-10.2.2: "List the principles of the Magna Carta, the English Bill
of Rights (1689), the American Declaration of Independence
© 2025 All rights reserved
Standards-Based Assessment WGU D184
Questions and Answers
What is a benefit of a standards-based grading system for high-
achieving students?
Ans: Instruction can be easily adjusted to provide new, more complex
learning targets.
How is a narrative-based system different than a standards-based
grading system?
Ans: The standards-based grading system uses proficiency scores, but
the narrative grading system does not.
Which factor distinguishes norm-referenced grading from
standards-based grading?
Ans: Performance of the rest of the class
What is a benefit of using standards-based grading compared to
norm-referenced grading?
Ans: Standards-based grading is more focused on the learning targets
than norm-referenced grading.
Why do teachers only grade student work related to the
achievement of learning targets in standards-based grading
systems?
Ans: Teachers are able to help students focus on learning goals and
track their progress.
A grading scale reflects the following details:
4 achievement levels — Advanced
3 achievement levels — Meets expectations
2 achievement levels — Partial mastery
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 2 | Page
1 achievement level — Little or no mastery
Which grading system does this grading scale represent?
Ans: Standards-based grading
How do standards-based grading systems support struggling
students compared to other common grading systems?
Ans: By allowing students to redo lessons and assignments as many
times as necessary
What is one difference between using criterion-referenced scoring
in standards-based grading systems as opposed to using norm-
referenced scoring?
Ans: Criterion-referenced scoring measures student progress toward
mastery of specific criteria, while norm-referenced scoring measures
progress relative to percentiles.
What is a criticism of standards-based grading systems?
Ans: They do not reflect students' proficiency in soft skills such as time
management and creativity.
Which problematic assessment practice does standards-based
grading help teachers avoid?
Ans: Tagging multiple standards
Which statement is a criticism of standards-based grading
systems?
Ans: Assessments are too narrowly focused.
How are measurement topics beneficial to teachers?
Ans: They help teachers identify a small set of themes to focus on
during instruction.
An English language arts teacher is unpacking the following
standard:
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 3 | Page
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.7.10: "By the end of the year, read and
comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems for
grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently with scaffolding as
needed, at the high end of the range" (Common Core Standards
Initiative, 2021).
Which terms reflect the content of the standard?
Ans: Stories, dramas, poems
A teacher must determine a relevant focus statement based on
this standard for a U.S. history course:
"The student understands the differences between the economic,
technological, and human resources of both sides of a conflict."
Which focus statement reflects this standard?
Ans: Knows about the materials that contributed to an event and its
outcome
Which focus statement represents procedural knowledge?
Ans: Composes sentences using a keyboard
Which focus statement represents declarative knowledge?
Ans: Comprehends who the antagonist is in a short story
Which focus statement represents procedural knowledge?
Ans: Writes Roman numerals from 1 to 100
A 10th-grade world history teacher is reviewing the following
standard for the curriculum and making note of the measurement
topics:
HSS-10.2.2: "List the principles of the Magna Carta, the English Bill
of Rights (1689), the American Declaration of Independence
© 2025 All rights reserved
