Contract Grading & Philosophy

What is Contract Grading?

The grading philosophy for this course may be different from what you've seen in the past. At first it may feel a little confusing, but I hope to demystify grades as we work together and focus on assignment feedback and your learning instead of a score. The purpose of a writing course is to help you become a stronger critical thinker, a more effective writer, and ultimately to leave feeling more confident in your writing abilities. If we think of our course like that, then the grades feel more arbitrary. If we are really honest, the grades don't mean much; they don’t teach you anything. But the feedback you receive helps you improve and grow. Ultimately, if you are improving in skill, your scores will naturally go up. So in this course, we will focus on your skills and your development. The scores will follow that development.

Contract Grading Focuses on Feedback & Skill Building

How many of you skip over the feedback and go straight to the grade? Maybe you don't even look at the feedback at all. This course places an emphasis on the importance of that feedback and less of an importance on your actual grade. For some of you, this will mean a shift in how you think of your coursework. And because of how academia works, we can't eliminate grades. They will help you transfer to four-year universities, maybe move on to grad school, and they may even help you earn a scholarship. I also understand that you may have certain goals or a GPA you are striving for. But, they also should not hold the sole value of what we are doing in this class.

This means we will shift our thinking from grades to asking ourselves, "how well am I learning and demonstrating the skills in this course?" If you are demonstrating Mastery of skills, going above and beyond the level of just completion, then your grades will reflect that Mastery level.

Focus on the Feedback

Feedback is one of the most vital steps to effective writing and idea development. This will be a key component of our course throughout the semester and you will be encouraged to share your ideas on your own work and your peers’ in the spirit of improvement.

Drafting

No great work was written in a single draft. In order to achieve each essay assignment’s learning objectives (and receive full credit in the course) you will be encouraged to complete all levels of the writing process, submitting each draft, and actively participate in peer editing.

Instructor Feedback Schedule

Skill Building Assignments: Written feedback and comments will be provided in the comment section of the grade book and often directly on the submission within Canvas 1 ½ weeks of due date. Canvas Tutorials are available to find these comments and annotations.
Discussion Boards: I will sprinkle in responses throughout the semester during the discussion period. Grades will be submitted within Canvas 1 ½ weeks of due date.
Peer Editing Drafts: Extensive feedback will be provided on each Essay draft. These will be on the paper itself, in the comment box, and/or in the rubric comment boxes. This will be by Friday morning of the drafting week.
Final Drafts: Because I take a lot of time and read final papers very closely, grades will be received within 2 ½ weeks of the due date with rubrics and scores. Comments will be limited given the extensive feedback provided on peer editing drafts.

The Grading Chart

The chart below shows you what assignments you need to complete in order to get an A, B, or C. As you can see, if you want an A by the end of the semester, you will need to complete 9 of the discussion boards. If you want a C in the class, you need to complete 7 out of the 10 discussion boards and actively participate in at least 3 drafting & peer editing sessions. Most importantly, note that peer editing and the paper drafting process are vital to your skill building and a passing grade.

In order to help you achieve your individual goals in this course, please use the chart below:

Are you taking a ton of classes and are hoping to show enough skill to pass? Then, how will you show competence in the course objectives?
Do you want an A in the course? How will you show you have mastered the skills in this class?
More importantly, what outcomes do you want to get out of this class? Do you want to have a mastery of essay writing and argumentation?

**Use this Assignment Tracker to keep track of how many of each assignment you have completed and your grades. Open the link. "Make a Copy" and save to your school's google drive account.

Rubrics & Assignment Outcomes

You'll notice though that you also have to complete the work according to the rubrics or outcomes. This means if you complete a paper or discussion board and you want a B in the class, you need to have done the work at an Advanced level according to the rubric. If you would like a C in the course, you would use the rubric and show Competence in each of the categories.

2 = C, not a 50%. This is the most challenging notion to look beyond as our natural instinct is to equate 2/4 as 50%. Please try to remember that a 2 is a passing grade, showing understanding an competence of the current skills being practiced.

Level Up Opportunities

Level Up Your Grade

Your success is your choice and I am here to help you reach your goals! But one paper will also not decide your fate! If you score a 3 on one paper and are hoping for an A in the course, this is still possible! Just Level Up!

And, if life gets in the way and you start falling behind in one of your contractual obligations, you can use Level Up Opportunities to help fill in these gaps. If you are trying to achieve Mastery of skills but you miss 3 Skill Builders, use the Level Up Opportunities to show your skills and fulfill your contractual obligations. Missing a few too many discussion boards and want to maintain Competency? Or falling behind in more than one area? Level Up with a Research Poster & Recorded Presentation!

Level Up your Grade through Resubmissions and Revisions

Skill Builders: These activities are for you to practice or build skills. This means the work doesn’t have to be perfect because we are practicing a skill we will use in an upcoming essay.

Grade of “Complete” – Give a meaningful attempt at the assignment and skill being practiced
Grade of “Incomplete” – Assignment seems rushed or lacks significant aspects of the skill being practiced
Revision Opportunity – You can attempt the skill again and resubmit the assignment within 3 days of your grade receipt or keep the “incomplete.” It is up to you! But remember, you must complete your work on time and in full in order to Level Up.

Essay Revisions: Because the purpose of our time together is to help you grow and develop as a writer and critical thinker, you will have the opportunity to revise any of the first 3 papers that do not achieve the paper objectives, resulting in less than 2 - Competency, or the skill level you were aiming for.

**Note: more than 1 paper scoring less than a 2 will result in a non-passing grade.

Because of the pace of the course and purpose of the revisions:

All papers resulting in a 1 should be revised and resubmitted.
Submit revisions to Canvas (the original assignment page) within 3 days of your final paper grade receipt.
Revisions will also include ½ page explanation of the feedback your revisions addressed and how you made those changes.
Original submissions must be submitted on time and meet the minimum page/word count and source requirements in order to Level Up.
Paper #4 cannot be revised and resubmitted

"Incomplete" Assignments and Leveling Up

In the spirit of focusing on growth and development, assignments (except Discussion Boards) receiving an incomplete can be resubmitted for a "complete."

Review the rubric and/or comment feedback.
Use that feedback to make any corrections
Resubmit the assignment within 3 days of your grade receipt. It is your choice. You can keep the incomplete, or Level up!
Original submissions must be submitted on time and meet the minimum requirements in order to qualify to Level Up

So what does this mean for late work?

My role is to support your learning experiences. Therefore, should any issues arise while you're in this class, please know that you can (and should!) reach out to me. Every assignment has a due date and rubric to help keep you on track and ensure you know what is expected for each assignment. Due dates are not punitive but are the guide to scheduling and preparing throughout the semester. In order to be successful, students should submit assignments on or before the assigned due date. This also allows me enough time to provide feedback to help you as you build towards the next assignment.

Because of the design of the course and how each assignment builds off of previous work, this means that late work just can’t be accepted as it puts me and you too far behind. With that said, I recognize that you are more than a student and have responsibilities beyond our classroom. I understand that things can happen while you're taking classes that can interfere with your success.

You can advocate for your success by communicating with me via email or “stopping by” my in person or virtual office during office hours.
If an unforeseen event has occurred and you need an extension on an assignment, please reach out at least 12 hours before the assignment is due so we can create a plan for your success.
Remember, if you stop participating in the class, there's no way for me to know if something's going on with you or if you've just been forgetful. So reach out!
Please view our detailed Plagiarism and AI policy.
Students can submit 1 Paper up to 3 days late, No Questions Asked.
Late work is not eligible for Level Up Revisions/Submissions

Grades

The only letter grade you will receive is the one on your transcript at the end of the semester; everything else is about growth, risk, learning, feedback, and revision. Therefore, each assignment is graded on a 4 pt scale as follows:

4pts: Mastery of assignment objectives.

Excellent work exemplifying the requirements for each assignment and demonstrating mastery of each of the Learning Objectives required for this course. Student goes beyond the minimum requirements and does an excellent job on both discussion and writing assignments, participates actively, and has completed every major assignment.

3pts: Advanced completion of assignment objectives

Demonstrating advanced skill of each of the Learning Objectives required for this course. Student goes beyond the minimum requirements and does an excellent job on both discussion and writing assignments, participates actively, and has completed every major assignment.

2pts: Competence of assignment objectives

Student has completed EVERY major assignment, scoring no less than a 2 on all assignments, and shows competence of each of the Learning Objectives required for this course on writing assignments. Student sometimes participates. Remember, this is not a 50% or 2/4. This is a C, or passing score, that shows understanding of the skills

1pt: Developing assignment objectives

Student does not produce work that shows competencies in the Learning Outcomes of this course, does not meet the minimum requirements for each assignment, fails to participate, has missed at least one major assignment or earned less than a 2 on more than 1 essay, has not logged in for multiple weeks.

Methods of Evaluation

Discussion Boards & Peer Editing 10%
Skill Builders & 2 Library Workshops 10%
Reading Notes 5%
Paper #1 Narrative 15%
Paper #2 Argumentative Response 17%
Paper #3 Argumentative 20%
Paper #4 Argumentative Research 20%
Paper #4 Annotated Bibliography 3%

A: Mastery 4

B: Advanced 3

C: Competent 2

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