Opting out of Grading

world-shaker:

As an educator who abolished grading in 2004 and initiated a Grading Moratorium, I have an acute understanding for how grading sabotages learning. Because of this, I have drafted this letter for my daughter’s future teachers.

Dear teacher, 
Kayley loves to learn and is very excited to start school this year.  
Because the case against grades has a wealth of anecdotal evidence and scientific research, I am requesting that Kayley’s assessments and evaluations only include formative comments. This means that Kayley’s learning would never be reduced to a symbol (such as a number or letter). This includes individual assignments, quizzes, tests and her report card.
As a family that plays an active role in Kayley’s learning, the best feedback we can receive about Kayley’s learning is to see her learning. No reductionist data is required.
 If you are interested in learning more about the case against grades, I would be happy to provide you with these resources, and if your school’s assessment and reporting policies make this request problematic, I would like the opportunity to discuss this further. Feel free to e-mail me at joe.bower.teacher@gmail.com
I look forward to working with you to support Kayley’s natural intrinsic desire to go on learning. 
Sincerely, 
Joe Bower

Interesting. Thoughts?

I’d love to not grade. Not even close to being a possibility at my school.

Source: world-shaker

66 Notes/ Hide

  1. phone-spying reblogged this from world-shaker
  2. geofaultline reblogged this from iamlittlei
  3. edtechtrekker said: This is amazing! I You try to encourage students to do their best. They do it. Then, grade time comes and it’s blow to their gut when you’re not performing up to a standard that based on someone else’s idea relevance and mastery.
  4. humanbeing57 reblogged this from world-shaker
  5. jehwed reblogged this from jquizzz and added:
    Hmmmm. How does the system work??
  6. jquizzz reblogged this from world-shaker and added:
    So interesting. Definitely give this a look if you have the chance and definitely read the interviews with teachers who...
  7. samuelrsolomon reblogged this from world-shaker
  8. red-square reblogged this from iamlittlei
  9. coolcatteacher reblogged this from girlwithalessonplan and added:
    Alas, numbers are part of life at least if you are on salary. Formative assessment is vital but the decision he is...
  10. itsonrepeat said: I’ve been looking into this lately for a job task I’m working on. I completely agree and think it’s fantastic! The current educational system is not teaching the skills we need to move forward in today’s society
  11. life-raven reblogged this from world-shaker
  12. iamdfair reblogged this from girlwithalessonplan
  13. ghoulmann reblogged this from indielowercase
  14. privilegedwhitegirl reblogged this from iamlittlei and added:
    I hate grades, but at a certain point won’t Kayley need grades to get into college, or get a job?
  15. indielowercase reblogged this from ghoulmann and added:
    Narrative evaluations are where it’s at.
  16. valswei reblogged this from world-shaker
  17. ghoulmann reblogged this from girlwithalessonplan
  18. classroommagic reblogged this from girlwithalessonplan and added:
    I highly respect the process of evaluating student’s learning without grades, and I feel I have
  19. kelseyannie reblogged this from girlwithalessonplan and added:
    100% agree as a student. See my post about my semester without grades here.
  20. classygirl24 reblogged this from girlwithalessonplan
  21. girlwithalessonplan reblogged this from iamlittlei and added:
    We’ve been told MOAR GRADING: Homework doesn’t count. Formative assess up to three times/until 80% of students achieve...
  22. wincherella said: Honestly, I agree with this sentiment. I have started to return work with only feedback comments on it. I still grade it but enter it into my gradebook only for reports. The students can access it through a portal if they turn it in there.
  23. iamlittlei reblogged this from world-shaker and added:
    I’d love to not grade. Not even close to being a possibility at my school.
  24. angrylittledad said: Is it wrong to approach this as too “feelings-based” rather than “real world?” I’m not graded with letters, either, but for this approach to succeed, I would think it needs to be established from the top and not with us. I could get used to it.
  25. pumpkinpoopers reblogged this from world-shaker
  26. rhubarbic reblogged this from world-shaker
  27. itssnix said: As a teacher, I’d have less of a problem with this than my administration would.