Boolean Logic Gates: A New Method of Grade Calculation for Standards-Based Grading

Standards-based grading (SBG) has emerged as a reform movement aimed at improving the accuracy, equity, and transparency of grading systems. SBG involves grading at two levels: the overall course or subject area, and individual standards. This article examines multiple methods for calculating grades for individual standards in SBG systems, including logic rules, reliance on most recent evidence, various types of means, power law projections, and frequency-based approaches such as mode and bi-modal matrices. Each method is analyzed based on four criteria: quantity of assessment evidence, recency of assessment evidence, how easily and transparently students can track their own progress, and whether students who learn content more slowly are disadvantaged by the grading method. A novel method, Boolean logic gates, is proposed for determining a student’s level of proficiency on an individual standard. By systematically incorporating conditional logic, Boolean logic gates are a promising and innovative grade calculation method that has the potential to provide educators with nuanced and actionable representations of student learning.