1|Page
WGU D184 Standards-Based Assessment
Exam
Actual 2025 & 2026 Questions
With Full Solutions and Explanations
What is a benefit of a standards-based grading system for high-achieving students?
ANSWER: 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?
ANSWER: 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?
ANSWER: Performance of the rest of the class
What is a benefit of using standards-based grading compared to norm-referenced
grading?
ANSWER: 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?
ANSWER: Teachers are able to help students focus on learning goals and track
their progress.
,2|Page
A grading scale reflects the following details:
4 achievement levels — Advanced
3 achievement levels — Meets expectations
2 achievement levels — Partial mastery
1 achievement level — Little or no mastery
Which grading system does this grading scale represent?
ANSWER: Standards-based grading
How do standards-based grading systems support struggling students compared to
other common grading systems?
ANSWER: 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?
ANSWER: 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?
ANSWER: They do not reflect students' proficiency in soft skills such as time
management and creativity.
,3|Page
Which problematic assessment practice does standards-based grading help teachers
avoid?
ANSWER: Tagging multiple standards
Which statement is a criticism of standards-based grading systems?
ANSWER: Assessments are too narrowly focused.
How are measurement topics beneficial to teachers?
ANSWER: They help teachers identify a small set of themes to focus on during
instruction.
An English language arts teacher is unpacking the following standard:
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?
ANSWER: 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."
, 4|Page
Which focus statement reflects this standard? ANSWER: Knows about the
materials that contributed to an event and its outcome
Which focus statement represents procedural knowledge? ANSWER: Composes
sentences using a keyboard
Which focus statement represents declarative knowledge?
ANSWER: Comprehends who the antagonist is in a short story
Which focus statement represents procedural knowledge?
ANSWER: 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 (1776), the French Declaration
of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789), and the U.S. Bill of Rights (1791)"
(California Department of Education, 1998).
Which measurement topic aligns to the given standard? ANSWER: Historical
documents
A high school theater arts teacher is reviewing the following standard for the
curriculum and making note of the measurement topics:
WGU D184 Standards-Based Assessment
Exam
Actual 2025 & 2026 Questions
With Full Solutions and Explanations
What is a benefit of a standards-based grading system for high-achieving students?
ANSWER: 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?
ANSWER: 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?
ANSWER: Performance of the rest of the class
What is a benefit of using standards-based grading compared to norm-referenced
grading?
ANSWER: 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?
ANSWER: Teachers are able to help students focus on learning goals and track
their progress.
,2|Page
A grading scale reflects the following details:
4 achievement levels — Advanced
3 achievement levels — Meets expectations
2 achievement levels — Partial mastery
1 achievement level — Little or no mastery
Which grading system does this grading scale represent?
ANSWER: Standards-based grading
How do standards-based grading systems support struggling students compared to
other common grading systems?
ANSWER: 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?
ANSWER: 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?
ANSWER: They do not reflect students' proficiency in soft skills such as time
management and creativity.
,3|Page
Which problematic assessment practice does standards-based grading help teachers
avoid?
ANSWER: Tagging multiple standards
Which statement is a criticism of standards-based grading systems?
ANSWER: Assessments are too narrowly focused.
How are measurement topics beneficial to teachers?
ANSWER: They help teachers identify a small set of themes to focus on during
instruction.
An English language arts teacher is unpacking the following standard:
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?
ANSWER: 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."
, 4|Page
Which focus statement reflects this standard? ANSWER: Knows about the
materials that contributed to an event and its outcome
Which focus statement represents procedural knowledge? ANSWER: Composes
sentences using a keyboard
Which focus statement represents declarative knowledge?
ANSWER: Comprehends who the antagonist is in a short story
Which focus statement represents procedural knowledge?
ANSWER: 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 (1776), the French Declaration
of the Rights of Man and the Citizen (1789), and the U.S. Bill of Rights (1791)"
(California Department of Education, 1998).
Which measurement topic aligns to the given standard? ANSWER: Historical
documents
A high school theater arts teacher is reviewing the following standard for the
curriculum and making note of the measurement topics:
