For years, math has been the most stressful subject for me – until Maneesha’s Algebra II class. This was the first time in years of math that I felt that I could make a mistake and I would be okay. My grade wasn’t going to plummet because I missed three points on a unit test.

This was all because of the Standards Based Grading system that the math department at CHS has adopted. Each assessment grades questions on a 4 point scale.

2 point: Problem Attempted.
2.25 points: Some understanding of the problem is shown, with algebraic errors.
3 points: Understanding of the problem is completely shown with minor algebraic errors.
4 points: Complete understanding is shown with no algebraic errors.

Maneesha Mankad, CHS Algebra II and Calculus teacher, spearheaded this new grading system at CHS. When I walked into her class on the first day of Algebra II, the first thing that she said to our class was that there is no way to learn math in an environment where you can’t make mistakes. She emphasized the idea that if you are willing to work hard and take risks you will find yourself being successful in her class.

Due to the nature of how the tests were graded, as a student, I felt a ‘safety net’ to make mistakes. When test day came, I was able to focus on the math itself and not the grade that I was going to get because I knew that there would be a way that I could fix a mistake that I made.

The feeling of having a ‘safety’ was reflected in my performance on the unit tests that I took. It helped me give myself a chance to perform well on the test before I started stressing about the grade that I was going to get on it, which looking back on it, caused me to make less mistakes overall when it came to the material and individual problems.

Another aspect of the new grading system is a program called, “Gradescope”. This application is an anonymous grading system where teachers can scan in student tests, students can view them and then go through and make corrections. Students who make “simple algebraic errors” on their test, don’t have to do in-person retake questions but can just re-do their work, and insert a new answer for the question.

This new grading system has allowed for students to expand their learning and be able to earn a grade based on the work that they are putting into their math classes, rather than single test grades.