by Natalie Jones ¹

For the 2026-2027 school year, Standards-Based Grading is being implemented in all Eau Claire Area School District secondary schools. Instead of earning letter grades, students will be graded on how well they exemplify learning targets. They will be graded by a 4-point grading scale. In addition, the school district will also be transitioning to Infinite Campus instead of Skyward for their grading platform. 

This new grading system was decided on by the school board. This decision has been confusing for students. An anonymous student confirmed that many students are concerned because, “people that aren’t connected to the students are deciding what’s going to happen to us.” On the other hand, school board members feel confident that this change will bring more transparency for students, and that this decision will better student life and experience in the education system.

This decision is also concerning for many students because of the way it may affect their future plans. When applying for colleges, upperclassmen are concerned that it will be difficult for admissions offices to compare them to other applicants that use other grading systems. Although many universities do have their own systems, and will convert grades to their systems when comparing one application to another, it will still be difficult for students to compare themselves and understand how they could improve. 

Conversely, the district states that the new grading system will help students grow. Pa Thao, a member of the ECASD Board, states that she feels, “it will help students better understand their strengths, identify where they need support, and feel more connected to their educational growth.” This could help students better prepare for their future endeavors because they will better understand how they grow and learn. 

Another reason for concern from the student body is the comparison from our current letter-grade system to the 4-point grading system. The grade composition in Standards-Based Grading will be based on essential learning targets which students will have to display their mastery on, graded over multiple assignments. However the letter-grade A, for example, does not have a clear equation in the new standard. Will a 4 be equal to 100% on an assignment? This new standard is purely based on the student’s ‘mastery’ of the topic, which could be subjective. 

Still, we are not sure what each number will equate to for overall grades. At the end of the semester, each student’s grade will be translated into a letter grade. An anonymous student verified that students are confused by the metrics teachers will use, “to be able to determine what they learned and what they haven’t.” This learning will purely be based on exemplifying learning targets. 

Pa Thao focuses on the aspect of clarity that the new system will bring to students. She appreciates that, “this system focuses on what students actually know and can do, rather than relying on points, averages, or behaviors that don’t always reflect true learning.” Using this new grading system, “students and families can see exactly which skills or concepts have been mastered, which removes the guesswork that often comes with traditional grading.” 

However, some believe that removing the aspect of work ethic that traditional grading includes will allow students to graduate High School without learning how to manage deadlines or do work that they dislike. A counterpoint to this, obviously, is the fact that many students do graduate with high GPAs without learning to manage work even in the traditional system.

Another factor that would worry students about this grading system would be the impact on Grade Point Averages and class rank. Especially for students who are going into Sophomore, Junior, or Senior year in the 2026-2027 school year and have attended Memorial and gotten used to the traditional grading system, concerns about how this will alter in their grade point averages are cropping up. Many are concerned that a drastic change in their GPAs could occur and make universities less interested in accepting them. This comes mostly from the higher side of the 4.0 scale: students who have excelled in a system that values test scores and studying, rather than prioritizing learning. 

One student says, “I think my biggest issue is that, yes, we should be prioritizing learning in our school systems, but the truth is that many universities care more about how we appear in terms of work ethic and effort to score high. I also worry that this devaluing of class work will lead to students being unprepared to actually do that work in their adult lives – although, you could say the same for the current system’s basis on tests… I think, really, the whole system needs to be reevaluated, and a change to the High School level won’t necessarily change much of anything for anyone in a system that, as a whole, doesn’t really value learning. It’s archaic, and there are things that need to change. But we’re putting the cart before the horse, and potentially putting those who are headed to higher education at risk of losing opportunities. Although, I don’t really know how this will shake out for us yet, so we’ll see if it does affect acceptances.”

“I would like [the School Board or administration] to point out where this has worked before; where have we seen this grading system being a successful thing in other schools?” says another.

Taylor Herpel, who was so passionate about this that they put together an entire PowerPoint presentation unpacking their concerns, had this to say: “I think that the school district is implementing it too fast, and without the proper steps to ensure that it goes smoothly. Based on the studies that I’ve read, a lot of schools that go down this path end up abandoning it within a few years due to their lack of preparedness.”

It also seems that many teachers do not have all of the information on this new grading system, either. A lot of people are extremely confused as of now. New information is constantly being pushed around as to what this means for the future. Because of this uncertainty, people are also concerned that the money being spent on this endeavour will go to waste if it is abandoned. School districts in America have to be careful about where spending goes, and some believe that we could be using funds for underfunded programs in World Languages or Arts, or even simply to upgrade facilities.

Some evaluations certainly do show that a lack of preparation and clear goals when implementing Standards-Based Grading often leads to its downfall. The ambiguous nature of the system often leads to confusion and miscommunication. For this system to work, it must be very intentionally implemented. We have yet to see how this will happen in our district. We have faith that the next semester will allow enough time for administration to clearly explain their plans, but only time will tell.

It is reassuring to know that board members feel that this change is in students’ best interest. Tim Nordin, the Eau Claire Area School Board President, assures us that, “[o]ther than a better focus on where each student needs to develop, I wouldn’t anticipate big changes to students’ classroom experience.” 

1. All quotes came from students, most of whom chose to remain anonymous, and do not reflect the views of the Talon or Memorial student body as a whole. We seek only to share student voices. ↩︎