September 2023

Going Gradeless! My Personal Story of Moving to a Gradeless Classroom. - By Kate Craig

The very first time I heard about "gradeless" teaching was when I was in the teacher credential program at HSU (now Humboldt Cal-Poly) way back in 2009. As a new teacher who still thought more like a student than an educator, I initially thought the idea was crazy! The process they were teaching us at the time involved narrative reporting of where students were at, and it sounded like a lot of extra work. As a student who struggled with tests, I was used to being able to "game" the grading systems that teachers used to work for me. I worried that students like me would struggle more under this system.

Then I started teaching, and everything changed. In my first job as an RST, I worked in a resource room providing special needs students with additional help. I soon realized how problematic our percentile system was and how much one zero on an assignment could hurt a student's grade. A student could demonstrate that they understood a subject, but still fail or, at best, get a C because of very few missed assignments.

When I moved to teaching high school history, I implemented a 4 point system (each "point" representing the letter grade A-F) which helped mitigate many of the problems with the math in a percentile grading system. That system worked much better, but after four years using it, I was still unhappy. This time, I realized that the problem was with giving a single grade for a course. I had two students who were very different types of learners, with different skills and abilities, but had the same grade. What was the use of that grade if it didn't really tell people anything about that student? For example, I could have one student who did every assignment but only demonstrated a basic level of understanding of the material, and another student who completed only a few assignments but showed an advanced level of understanding, and they would both get a "C." What was the purpose of giving a "C" if it didn't communicate what the student could actually do?

My next step was to move away from giving grades on assignments altogether. Instead, I gave grades on the skills/knowledge that students were able to display. In my grade book, where there was traditionally a list of assignments, I put the skills/knowledge I wanted students to have learned in my class. This included historical knowledge and analytical skills, but it also included soft skills like "coming to class prepared" and "completing tasks." At this school, students and parents were able to access the grade book and see what grades were given. Now my students and parents could see where they needed to work on content or soft skills. But I still had the issue that at the end of the course, all of the information was boiled down to one letter that didn't convey much about what the student could actually do.

The school I worked with at that time required a single letter grade and "all or nothing" credits to be assigned at the end of a course, and I was not able to change that. So when I was asked to start the high school program for Mistwood, I was excited to create a transcript that would actually convey real and valuable information about students to potential schools, colleges, and employers.

I began to research alternatives to traditional grading systems and, in the process, read the book "Grading for Equity" by Joe Feldman. It was then that I realized that the traditional grading system is not only ineffective at accurately communicating information, but it can also be extremely harmful to students. Our traditional grading system can lead to unfair grading and biased evaluations, as well as discourage students who may be struggling in a particular area. Traditional grading creates a competitive and stressful learning environment, where students are more focused on achieving high grades than on actually learning and understanding the material. This can result in a lack of creativity and critical thinking, and can have negative impacts on students' mental health and self-esteem.

I was ready to through out grades all together! But I still needed a way to provide our graduates with a transcript. The solution was that we would create a transcript that listed all the skills and knowledge we would expect a graduating senior to have. Each of these skills would be given "grade" (using a 0-4 point system) when a student met them. If they exceeded that "grade" later the "grade" would be updated. Day to day in the classroom and even at the end of a course students would receive "gradeless" feedback on their work/learning. This feedback that told them specifically what they did well, what they might have struggled on and what the next steps in there learning should be. 

I am still learning, and still working on creating a system that can work best my students. Years of experience with different grading systems led to the creation of a new approach, providing feedback on skills and knowledge while avoiding traditional grades. This allows for more individualized learning, promoting growth and development, and creating a transcript that accurately represents a student's abilities and achievements. Ultimately, the goal is to move away from the traditional grading system and towards a more equitable and effective approach that benefits students and promotes their success.