The move to do away with grade levels throughout the Adams County School District began three years ago. Standards-based learning, as it’s called, is founded on the belief that every child learns in different ways and at different speeds. With the school district on an academic watch list, educators here were eager to reverse the slide. “Every single student is getting an individualized education,” said Hodgkins Principal Sarah Gould, who helped usher in the reform at her school two years ago. “We are giving our kids exactly what they need when they need it.” Children work at their own level in each subject and must demonstrate proficiency in various learning targets, achieving a score of 75% or higher before they’re allowed to move on to the next level. (via School teaches by ability, not grade level – CNN.com
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