The current grading system doesn't provide equal opportunity for low-income students and that leads to grade inflation, high dropout rates, productivity loss, and more. To help all students succeed, and promote equity in learning, vast changes in grading policies and scheduling are needed. In this research-based resource, the authors examine why current grading practices are ineffective for fostering a growth mindset, including the effect poverty has on student achievement. Beyond the Grade present an evidence-based case for switching to an equitable, standards-based grading system that improves student achievement for diverse student populations. Use this book as a schoolwide study guide to ensure all staff fully understand the school variables that can influence student motivation and enhance achievement for all learners. Benefits Ascertain the school variables that can influence student motivation and enhance achievement, including absenteeism, early literacy education, and more. Explore the disadvantages of traditional grading practices and the advantages that come from the equity of implementing standards-based grading practices. Receive guidance on providing students with the extra time and help they require to meet their learning needs and build a growth mindset. Access a list of questions that can help bring focus to your discussions about grading practices and overcome opposition to the implementation of standards-based grading. Gain resources, including sample schedules, for implementing standards-based grading practices in elementary, middle, and high schools to engage students, foster a growth mindset, and promote learning. Contents Introduction Part I: Assess Problems in Traditional Grading Practices Chapter 1: Why It's Time to Reassess Chapter 2: Flawed Grading Practices and Policies Chapter 3: Poverty Creates Variables That Affect Achievement Part II: Solutions to the Problems Chapter 4: Improved Grading Practices and Policies Chapter 5: Strategies That Effectively Address Poverty and Its Variables Chapter 6: Rethinking Scheduling Epilogue: The Power of a Teacher

Try counting how many different types of texts you read each day. Now count how few your students read in class. Michael Opitz, Michael Ford, and Matthew Zbaracki argue that if we want children to meet our literacy expectations, we must do more than supplement basal reading or anthologies with a few books here and there. What kids need to grow into lifelong readers is true variety in a print-rich classroom, teaching that values their out-of-school literacy as well as their in-school literacy, and an emphasis on what works, instead of what's mandated. Books and Beyond is a book of big ideas and smart, useful strategies. Opitz, Ford, and Zbaracki suggest ways to model literate behaviors so that students come to understand that reading is not reserved for the classroom but permeates everything adults do. They describe step by step how to use ten distinct types of outside-world text in your reading program, including a wide range of genres and media. They offer specific advice and instructional alternatives for each kind of text and answer key instructional questions about it such as: Why use it? How can it be used in the classroom? How does it work with different age groups? What are examples that are appropriate for students? What websites are good for researching it? Books and Beyond has everything you need to create a reading program that truly offers students choice alongside a strong sense of how and why we use reading in our everyday lives. And with tips for working around the obstacles of basals, suggestions for reforming the attitudes that have left many real-world texts undervalued, ignored, or even banned from classroom use, as well as methods for using alternative texts to increase student interest and motivation, it's got enough savvy to help you make the transition to a balanced reading program without making waves. If you or your students struggle with banal basal programs, or if you'd simply like to open children's eyes to a wider world of genres, texts, and literature, read Books and Beyond. You'll find a whole new world of reading instruction at your fingertips.