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Going Gradeless, Grades 6-12
Shifting the Focus to Student Learning
- Elise Burns - High School Science Teacher
- David Frangiosa - High School Science Teacher
Foreword by Jon Bergmann
March 2021 | 184 pages | Corwin
Reform assessment, reduce stress, and strengthen learning
Great things happen when students are able to focus on their learning instead of their scores. However, assessment reform, including standards-based grading, remains a hotly debated issue in education. Going Gradeless shows that it is possible to teach and assess without the stress of traditional grading practices.
Sharing their successful shifts to alternate assessment and their perspectives as experienced classroom teachers, the authors show you how to remove the negative impacts of grades while still maintaining a high level of accountability. Readers will find concrete examples of how these approaches can be developed and applied, plus:
• Sample assessments and rubrics
• Student work samples from all grade levels
• An accountability checklist
• A review of collected data
It is possible to go gradeless! Focusing less on letter grades allows students to interact with the content more deeply, develop better relationships with their teachers and peers, and gain confidence in the classroom, school, and beyond.
Great things happen when students are able to focus on their learning instead of their scores. However, assessment reform, including standards-based grading, remains a hotly debated issue in education. Going Gradeless shows that it is possible to teach and assess without the stress of traditional grading practices.
Sharing their successful shifts to alternate assessment and their perspectives as experienced classroom teachers, the authors show you how to remove the negative impacts of grades while still maintaining a high level of accountability. Readers will find concrete examples of how these approaches can be developed and applied, plus:
• Sample assessments and rubrics
• Student work samples from all grade levels
• An accountability checklist
• A review of collected data
It is possible to go gradeless! Focusing less on letter grades allows students to interact with the content more deeply, develop better relationships with their teachers and peers, and gain confidence in the classroom, school, and beyond.
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Chapter 1: Why?
Chapter 2: A Discussion About Equity
Chapter 3: Educational Theory That Grounds Our Model
Chapter 4: Development of the Model, 2015–2020
Chapter 5: Creating Language for the Learning Progressions
Chapter 6: Assessments
Chapter 7: Aligning Progress With a Traditional Model
Chapter 8: Our Evidence
Chapter 9: A Step-by-Step Guide to Going Gradeless
Resources A: Assessing Student Work
Resources B: Student Progress and Setting Benchmarks
Resources C: Some Full Rubrics
References
Index
"This book shows there is a way to hold students accountable while allowing them to step away from the stress of traditional grading. What a win for moving education forward! It shows evidence that going beyond traditional grading can push students to the next level without the stigma of that letter grade. We can teach and assess with out the stress! In our ever-changing world, we have to find ways to take our students to the next level. Going Gradeless will allow students to focus on their learning and free their minds to explore the content at a deeper level without the fear of failure."
Waycross Middle School
