Standards based grading and flip class

I am in my 20th !!! year of teaching and this is the first time I have used standards based grading.  I really wonder how I ever lived without it.  Here is the evolution timeline in our biology classrooms.

1. Principal sends us to meeting regarding formative and summative assessment.  We all agree that we all use both of them but not in any formal manner (Formative anyway).

2. We continue to try to record a grade of some kind EVERYDAY and be proud of it.  Then we have plenty of points for kids to show what they have done.

3. Principal sends us to Ken o'connor workshop on grading practices.  Teachers have an argument about what he says but there is general agreement that he has valid points (grade the work not the behavior is one).  

4. Principal convinces staff to begin using posted learning targets in all classrooms.  (This is extraordinarily important step I think)

5. Biology teachers decide to not only flip the classroom but institute standards (learning target) based grading in 9th grade biology classrooms.  

6. Teachers spend hours in the summer putting together learning targets and lesson plans for flipping.

We believe that true SBG is only possible if you flip the classroom.  If a teacher lectures for 30 minutes per day, there is no time for true remediation.  This is especially true in the science classroom where you must do labs and other hands-on activities.  Now when I give a summative test, instead of it looking like this:

I. Multiple Choice  

II. Short Answer

III. Essay

IV. diagrams

It looks like this:

I. I can diagram the digestive system 

II. I can describe how nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine.

etc.

When it is graded and entered, now a student (and instructor) can see exactly what they need to be remediated on.  This is because grades for a test are not entered as one grade but as several, one grade for each learning target.  This is more work but the tradeoff is that we are not entering a grade every day anymore but rather a few grades all at once.  We have many less "points" per semester but we have a much better handle on what students know and do not know.

We think we are just scratching the surface of this.  The next evolution (maybe as soon as next year) is to allow students to pace themselves in biology.  They will obviously have to be done with a certain number of learning targets at the end of each quarter but how and when they get there can be up to them.  This autonomy alone will be a great motivator for kids.  Our challenge will be to provide materials that challenge the "fast" workers who right now are being slowed down by the masses.  The kids who if allowed could learn so much more in a year but have to spend much of their time waiting for others who don't learn the same way or at the same rate.  With SBG and flipped classroom, this is possible in a way that has never been before.