What do you want grades to communicate? What do you want to be sure that your grading doesn’t do? When grades are used to teach life lessons, such as responsibility, or punctuality, the intrinsic value of learning for its own sake can be diminished. Does the lack of consistency among teachers’ use of grading create […]

Author, teacher, and education policy doctoral candidate, Sarah Morris, explores the research around teachers’ grading decisions. Many teachers have received little if any professional development that produces reflection on the impact of their grading practices. The inequity of some grading practices cannot be decreased without teachers’ realization of the impact of their practices and exploration […]

The author of, “I Used to Think I Was a Fair Grader. Now I look Back and Cringe,” Sarah Morris, shares the unconscious grading decisions she made as a teacher. As she learned about the impact of inequitable practices, she found changes she could implement that did not need any change in system policy. As […]

Many teachers get frustrated with students’ questions such as, “Does this count in my grade?” or “What can I do for extra credit?” Middle school math teacher, Crystal Frommert, shares strategies that teachers can implement to encourage students to focus on learning rather than “getting a grade.” Crystal’s goal: making grades more accurate, collaborative, and […]

Questions around the role and value of grading have been debated among teachers, administrators, parents and students for many years. In this podcast, Steve explores some of these questions and provides resources for further exploration. How much teacher effort is invested in grading student work, tests, and projects? To what extent does grading positively or […]

Co-author of Instructional Agility, Tom Schimmer, joins this podcast to share thoughts on the role of “real time” assessment in agile teaching. Like agile athletes, agile teachers make quick yet thoughtful decisions about what comes next. Tom examines how grading can interfere with the focus on assessment for instruction. Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders […]