The Grading Podcast

Sharona and Boz are joined by Dr. Adriana Streifer, Associate Professor and Associate Director at the University of Virginia’s Center for Teaching Excellence, to explore how specifications grading, course design, and institutional culture intersect with the broader movement to rethink grading in higher education. Adriana shares how her early experiences teaching writing led her to question the fairness and meaning of traditional grading and ultimately adopt specifications grading as a way to better represent the complex, process-based nature of learning.The conversation dives into the practical differences between specifications and standards-based grading, lessons learned from facilitating the Alternative Grading Institute, and how instructors can assess their readiness for grading innovation in light of institutional constraints and professional risk. Along the way, the discussion examines the difference between procedural and conceptual rigor, the ways grading systems shape pedagogy, and how identity and institutional culture influence the pushback instructors may experience when they change grading practices. The conversation wraps up with a look toward the future: designing grading systems that align with values, support real learning, and perhaps eventually move beyond grades entirely.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!From Expectations to Experiences: Students’ Perceptions of Specifications Grading in Higher EducationIs Specifications Grading Right for Me?: A Readiness Assessment to Help Instructors DecideRethinking Grading: An In-Progress Experience, by Jason MittellWhen Is A Number Not A Number, Grading for Growth BlogResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In this episode, Sharona and Boz talk with Dr. Lindsay Masland about how meaningful grading reform starts not with a particular system, but with intentional choices grounded in values, context, and care for students. Lindsay shares her path from questioning her teaching practices through universal design and course redesign work to fully rethinking grades after a powerful experience with a student in crisis. Together, they explore how alternative grading can open the door to deeper conversations about what we actually want students to learn, how we want them to feel in our classes, and whether our current practices align with those goals. The conversation also highlights the Alternative Grading Institute, the role of context in shaping what is possible, and why examining the assumptions behind traditional grading can create the productive dissonance needed for real change.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!ResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In “Too Many A’s,” Sharona and Boz revisit a popular media narrative about “grade inflation,” starting with a Harvard-focused story that treats “too many A’s” as a crisis—while quietly mixing two incompatible purposes of grading: ranking/sorting and communicating learning. They argue that if grades are meant to report mastery, “more A’s” isn’t a scandal—it’s the goal (with the important caveat that the bar still matters). From there, they dissect a recent viral article claiming “easy A’s” harm students’ long-term outcomes, and they do what they teach: go to the original research, separate correlation from causation, and interrogate definitions—especially a math-heavy “lenient grader” metric that depends on standardized tests and other inputs that may be misaligned, inequitable, or just plain bad proxies. Along the way, they call out how quickly commentary slides into storytelling (“the mechanism is not difficult to imagine”) and how often alternative grading gets blamed without evidence—ending with a clear takeaway: we can’t evaluate “too many A’s” until we’re honest about what grades are for, what evidence they should represent, and what data we’re willing to treat as trustworthy.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!One Solution for Too Many A’s? Harvard Considers Giving A+ Grades. (NY Times Gift Link)Easy A’s, Less Pay: The Long-Term Effects of Grade Inflation, Denning Et Al (Not Yet Peer Reviewed)Easy A’s, lower pay: Grade inflation’s hidden damage, New Article referencing the above articleThe True Cost of Grade Inflation at Harvard, article in Harvard MagazineEpisode 88 – Unearned Grades: Remaking the Conversation about Grade “Inflation”, The Grading PodcastResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Grade 7 math teacher Gabriel Despatie (Ontario) shares what happened when he tried to “overlay” standards-based grading onto nine years of refined tests—and why he ultimately scrapped his assessments after realizing they were packed with filler that measured rounding, formatting, and test-taking more than the actual learning goals. Gabriel walks through the system that finally clicked: a weekly “Learning Carnival” where students work one standard at a time with three backwards-compatible performance levels (mild/medium/spicy), two questions per level, and unlimited retakes that count as mastery whenever they happen. The conversation dives into practical logistics (tracking sheets, retake flow, managing chaos), the surprising motivational impact of gamified mastery markers (smiley faces and fist pumps), and what changed when he temporarily hid percentage grades—only to see retakes drop as soon as the numbers returned. Along the way, Gabriel connects alternative grading to Building Thinking Classrooms, shares how Open Middle tasks improved assessment quality (without punishing reading comprehension), and reflects on why meaningful grading reform takes time, iteration, and community support.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!Building Thinking Classrooms, by Peter LiljedahlModifying Your Thinking Classroom for Different Settings, by Peter LiljedahlResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Chris Sarkonak—high school physics and math teacher in Brandon, Manitoba and a PhD student in educational assessment—joins Boz and Sharona to describe his winding journey from traditional grading to standards-based grading, back again, and ultimately toward a student-centered, skills-focused, largely ungraded approach shaped by COVID-era conferencing, Building Thinking Classrooms, and the “ungrading” ecosystem of ideas. Chris shares how removing itemized grades reduced competition and unlocked real collaboration, how he structures learning with labs-first experiences, vertical whiteboards, “note-making” instead of note-taking, and spaced, skills-based check-ins, and how students co-create a “What does a grade look like?” document to anchor end-of-term self-assessment conferences with real criteria—not vibes. The punchline: his expanded, more diverse physics program isn’t “watered down”—students match (or beat) prior exam averages, earn strong AP Physics pass rates with minimal traditional test prep, and even crack provincial top-10 rankings in elite national-level contests, prompting colleagues to ask how to make their classrooms work the same way.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!The (Un)Grading Spectrum, by Chris SarkonakThis is How Learning Should Fell, by Chris SarkonakSkills-Based Grading (Simplified), by Scott Brunner, @BrunnerPhysicsHacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School, Starr SacksteinResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In this episode, Boz and Sharona explore how trauma-informed pedagogy and “teaching with kindness” intersect with alternative grading, especially through the often-overlooked impact of syllabus tone and classroom language. Sparked by Acacia Ackles’ “Teaching Through Trauma” post on the Grading for Growth blog and Cate Denial’s work on kinder syllabus design, they unpack how common “control” policies around devices, academic integrity, and participation can communicate suspicion and unintentionally amplify student anxiety. They connect key trauma-informed principles, such as safety, transparency, support, voice and choice, collaboration, and resilience, to familiar alternative grading practices like feedback loops, multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning, clear expectations, and structures that normalize help-seeking. Along the way, they wrestle with tensions like cold calling and behaviorism, arguing for approaches that reduce surprise, offer opt-outs when needed, and build environments where students want to participate. The episode closes with gratitude for a community willing to be vulnerable about what’s not working, and a reminder that shifting grading can be the “thread” that unravels deeper, more humane teaching practices.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!Teaching Through Trauma (Grading for Growth Blog)What Do Our Syllabi Really Say (Cate Denial's Blog - Pedagogy of Kindness)Trauma-Informed Pedagogy, from the University of OregonA Pedagogy of Kindness, Denial, CateResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Due to unexpected technical difficulties we were unable to record a new episode for this week. We will be back with new episodes next week! In the meantime, please enjoy this incredible conversation and deep conversation about alt grading in Physical Education, including the details! Join us as Sharona and Bosley talk about alt grading with Josh Ogilvie, a listener and a 22 year high school PE teacher in Canada. (Originally aired December 10, 2024).LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!PHE Canada​​Rebooting Assessment: A Practical Guide for Balancing Conversations, Performances, and Products (How to Establish Performance-Based, Balanced Assessment in the Classroom) by Damien CooperContact Josh Ogilvie:@joshogilvie4 on Twitter@joshogilvie.bsky.social on BlueskyJosh Ogilvie on LinkedInwww.jogilvie.com ResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In this episode of The Grading Podcast, Boz and Sharona dig into a 2025 longitudinal study that tackles a surprisingly practical question: should we show students the numeric grade on an assignment, or give feedback without displaying the score? Using a well-controlled design, the research tracks both academic performance and emotional responses as grades are introduced, removed, and reintroduced alongside written comments. The results complicate a lot of common assumptions while also highlighting how quickly students adapt to whatever grading environment they’re in. Along the way, the conversation connects the findings to feedback quality, Control-Value Theory, and the bigger takeaway the authors land on: consistency matters, and if grades must be used, students need explicit framing that links grades to learning outcomes.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!Impact of Displaying Grades Vs Not Displaying Grades on Academic Performance and Emotional Outcomes While Delivering Feedback Comments: A Longitudinal Study, Panadero, E. and Sánchez-Iglesias, I., 2025ResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

A new semester is days away—and Sharona is stepping back into teaching precalculus for the first time in about a decade, this time with today’s alternative grading practices (and one big new twist). Before the “math content” really ramps up, Sharona and Boz make the case for spending serious time up front on what actually makes the semester work: trust, collaboration, and shared understanding of how learning will be evaluated.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!The Three Gamers ActivityStudents as Partners in Learning AssessmentHow Much Can You WinCommunicating Effectively with Students about Alternative GradingThe SAFE Approach to Earning Buy-inInitial Draft of New Active Learning Activity Around Grading for Students - Laying the Groundwork for Collaborative GradingResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Grading reform has been a decades-long effort—but in this episode, Sharona and Boz argue that it’s now urgent. They explore what’s changed: post-pandemic student disengagement and distrust that grades reflect real learning, the way AI has shifted the conversation from “cheating” to “purpose,” and growing institutional pressure to demonstrate educational value. They frame grading as the linchpin that can either support or sabotage other reforms, then name what’s standing in the way—misconceptions about reform (“no deadlines,” “lower standards”), backlash from top-down policies without training, and the uncomfortable truth that traditional grading can let systems avoid accountability for actual learning. The episode closes with a call for listeners to help crowdsource next steps by emailing ideas to info at centerforgradingreform dot org.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!119 – When Flexibility Isn’t Enough: Alternative Grading and Neurodivergent Students – A Conversation with Emily Pitts Donahoe and Sarah SilvermanResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In this episode, Sharona and Boz discuss the recent grading controversy at the University of Oklahoma and use it as a launching point to focus on why rubrics matter so much to grading integrity, consistency and student learning. They reflect on how loosely defined criteria invite subjectivity, create wildly different grading outcomes for the same work, and leave students guessing about what “counts” as quality.Rather than debating the specific incident, they dissect the difference between scoring guides and true rubrics, the importance of clearly defined performance levels, and how rubric design shapes whether grades function as feedback or as punishment. The conversation emphasizes rubrics as communication tools—meant to make expectations visible, learning improvable, and grading decisions defensible.Ultimately, strong rubrics are not about compliance or point allocation, but about aligning assessment with learning goals, supporting revision and growth, and reducing the hidden curriculum that traditional grading too often creates.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!University of Oklahoma student claims religious discrimination over failed essay: What we knowOU Essay Controversy: What Happened in the Samantha Fulnecky CaseHow to Design Effective RubricsRubrics in higher education: an exploration of undergraduate students’ understanding and perspectivesSteps to Designing a Rubric (Video)Rubric for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Concert (A. Ransom)ResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Happy New Year! We are taking a small break this week from releasing new episodes, so please enjoy our most popular episode from 2025. We'll be back next week with a brand new episode!In this episode, Sharona and Bosley share some of the top line results of a direct comparison between traditional grading and alternative grading. In a tightly coordinated course with many instructors, sections and students, half of the sections used traditional grading and half used alternative grading. This is a fascinating dive into what does "traditional" grading mean, and how do those impacts show up in the classroom.ResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Happy Holidays! We're taking the week off from recording, so enjoy this replay about visionary leadership!!In this episode, Sharona and Boz interview Doug Wilson, principal of Avondale High School in Michigan, about his advice on implementing building-wide grading reform. This discussion touches on ways of being a visionary leader, how to move towards culture change around grades, and advice to administrators (and teachers!) on how to question our practices with an eye towards improving kids' learning. Join us for this fascinating conversation to move forward with grading reform.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!Materials from Doug Wilson supporting Grading Reform (Google Folder Link)Building Thinking Classrooms, by Peter LiljedahlResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Dr. Stephanie Valentine (University of Nebraska–Lincoln) joins Sharona and Boz to tell the origin story behind TeachFront—a grading-and-feedback platform she and her students built after getting buried in spreadsheets trying to make standards-based / ungrading-style systems work at scale.They dig into what shifted when grades stopped being “points to litigate” and became feedback for growth, what went wrong (and what finally worked) in those early semesters, and why most LMS gradebooks still force instructors to “hack” systems designed for averages. Stephanie explains how TeachFront supports iterative feedback, reassessments, flexible mastery scales (including specs-style checkboxes), and clearer student-facing progress visuals—without putting points front-and-center.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!TeachFront.comYoutube Webinar on Using TeachFrontEpisode 120 - Learning Takes Time with Wendy SmithResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

What happens to grading when AI can do so much of what we’ve traditionally asked students to do by hand? In this episode, Boz and Sharona talk with educator, author, and podcaster Derek Bruff about his three-stage journey into mastery-based assessment, from early test corrections to coordinated mastery quizzes to rebuilding exams in a cryptography seminar—then zoom out to the upcoming Alternative Grading Institute at UVA, where faculty will redesign courses around specs, standards-based, and collaborative grading in response to pandemic-era lessons, public skepticism about higher ed, and the rise of generative AI.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!Agile Learning - Derek Bruff's Blog on Teaching and LearningIntentional Teaching Podcast Interview with Robert Talbert and David ClarkIntentional Teaching Podcast Interview with Eden TannerThe Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching (forthcoming)The UVA Teaching HubCheating Lessons, by James LangResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In this episode, Boz and Sharona take on a big question: What should we be doing to our courses, right now, in an AI-saturated world—without losing the human relationships that actually keep students in school?Sharona shares her own urgency as she prepares to return to teaching precalculus for the first time in a decade, while hearing college students (including her own kids) question whether higher ed is “worth it” when AI can do so much of the procedural work. Together, she and Boz lay out five concrete steps instructors can use to rethink their courses immediately.Along the way, they connect AI, course purpose, practice standards, assessment design, and in-class activities back to what the research keeps telling us: students stay when at least one adult clearly cares that they’re there.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!The Future of Math Class: How AI Could Transform InstructionNCTM position statement on AI and Math TeachingHow AI is Reshaping Higher EducationHow artificial intelligence in education is transforming classroomsEpisode 66 of The Grading Podcast - Perseverance as a Critical Skill for Student Success in Alt GradingWhy AI may kill career advancement for many young workersThe Course Redesign CycleResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Happy Thanksgiving! We're on a break this week so enjoy this replay of episode 46!On this episode we welcome back the "sportscaster" of Alternative Grading, Dr. Matt Townsley, to talk about his new book Extinguishing the Fires within Assessment and Grading Reform. As Alternative Grading practices grow and take shape throughout the United States, efforts to resist these reforms are also growing. This incredible new book offers practical guidance to navigating the complexities of transitioning to alternative grading architectures and how to address the seemingly inevitable pushback that many of us are now experiencing. Based on the lived experiences of the authors, this book is a MUST READ for anyone concerned about advocating for grading reform.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!Extinguishing the Fires Within Assessment and Grading Reform, Garth Larson, Becky Peppler, Don Smith, Matt Townsley.ResourcesThe Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading (Please note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!):Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelGrading for Equity, by Joe FeldmanThe Grading Podcast publishes every week on Tuesday at 4 AM Pacific time, so be sure to subscribe and get notified of each new episode. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite SaturationCountry Rock by Lite Saturation is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In this episode, Sharona and Boz dive into a concept new to many educators — Teacher Assessment Identity — and explore how teachers’ beliefs, experiences, and professional contexts shape the way they design, interpret, and use assessments.Sharona introduces the idea after hearing about new research connecting assessment practices to teacher identity, and then leads Boz through a live, on-air reflective interview designed to help him uncover his own “assessment identity.” Together, they model how teachers can ask deep reflective questions about the why behind their assessment choices — revealing that grading and assessment reform are inseparable parts of the same professional journey.What follows is part self-assessment, part coaching session, and part exploration of how personal, disciplinary, and institutional identities influence assessment ethics, feedback, and student learning.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!How does assessment shape student identities? An integrative reviewAssess That Podcast - Episode 20Evidence of teacher assessment work and its relationship to their assessment identityChallenging Assumptions: AI and Teacher Assessment Identity FormationBeyond the gradebook: embracing the potentials of teacher assessment identity (TAI) in (re)shaping English language professors’ professional development and success in higher educationTeacher assessment literacy in practice: A reconceptualizationReconceptualising the role of teachers as assessors: teacher assessment identityResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In this episode, Sharona and Boz follow up on episode 121 and sit down with Dr. Sharon Stranford, Professor of Biology at Pomona College, to explore her journey from traditional grading toward ungrading and collaborative grading in STEM. Sharon shares how her experiences as a first-generation college student, a long-time practitioner of just-in-time teaching, and a pandemic-era educator led her to reimagine how feedback, mastery, and motivation intersect in the science classroom.She explains how she replaced numbers and letters with meaningful dialogue, feedback, and self-assessment, helping students shift from “What’s my grade?” to “What have I learned?” Along the way, she describes how personal goals, SMART reflections, and one-on-one mastery conversations help students develop agency and persistence—while also transforming the teacher–student relationship.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!Just-In-Time Teaching: Blending Active Learning with Web Technology, Novak, G. Et AlEnhancing and Undermining Intrinsic Motivation: The Effects of Task-Involving and Ego-Involving Evaluation on Interest and Performance.British Journal of Educational Psychology. Butler, R, Et AlResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

In this episode of The Grading Podcast, Sharona Krinsky and Robert “Boz” Bosley dive into what it means to co-create grading practices with students—especially in STEM disciplines where structure and sequence often seem incompatible with collaboration.Sharona shares her plans to implement a collaborative grading model in her upcoming Precalculus course at Cal State LA, inspired by Sharon Stranford’s research on Fostering Student Agency and Motivation: Co-creation of Rubric and Self-Evaluation in an Ungraded Course. The hosts unpack what it means to let students become genuine partners in assessment while maintaining academic rigor and course coherence.LinksPlease note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!Fostering student agency and motivation: co-creation of a rubric for self-evaluation in an ungraded courseStudents as partners in learning assessment: Co-Creating grading criteria in an alternatively graded STEM courseResourcesThe Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:The Grading for Growth BlogThe Grading ConferenceThe Intentional Academia BlogRecommended Books on Alternative Grading:Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David ClarkSpecifications Grading, by Linda NilsenUndoing the Grade, by Jesse StommelFollow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.If you would like to be considered to be a guest on this show, please reach out using the Contact Us form on our website, www.thegradingpod.com.All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.MusicCountry Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.