Grading for equity: what it is, why it matters, and how it can transform schools and classrooms

Part I: Foundations

Chapter 1. What Makes Grading So Difficult to Talk About (And Even Harder to Change)?

Grading as Identify

Grading and Our "Web of Belief"

Who Is This Book For?

Blending the Technical and Theoretical

How Is This Book Organized?

A Final Word

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Chapter 2. A Brief History of Grading

The Twentieth Century Context

Impact on Schools

Grading in the Twentieth Century

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Part II: The Case For Change: How Traditional Grading Thwarts Effective and Equitable Teaching and Learning

Chapter 3. How Traditional Grading Stifles Risk-taking and Supports the "Commodity of Grades"

Risk-Taking, Trust, and the Teacher-Student Relationship

The "Commodity of Grades" and Extrinsic Motivation

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Chapter 4. Traditional Grading Hides Information, Invites Biases, and Provides Misleading Information

Traditional Grading Evaluates Both a Student's Content Knowledge as Well as Their Behaviors, and Invites Subjectivity and Bias

Implicit Bias and Traditional Grading

The "Omnibus" Grade: A Barrel-ful of Information in a Thimble

Size Container

A Tale of Two Students: Tangela and Isabel

Grade Hacks

The Impact of Variable and Unreliable Grading

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Chapter 5. Traditional Grading Demotivates and Disempowers

Disengagement and Disempowerment

Motivating Students to Do the Wrong Thing

So Where Do We Go From Here?

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Chapter 6. A New Vision of Grading

Supporting the Pillars: Coherence

A Measured Vision

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Part III: Equitable Grading Practices

Chapter 7. Practices That Are Mathematically Accurate

Pillar 1: Accuracy

The Zero

The 0-100-Percentage Scale: Early Use and Enduring Flaws

The 0-100 Scale's Orientation Toward Failure

Minimum Grading

The 0-4 Grading Scale

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Chapter 8. Practices That Are Mathematically Accurate (Continued)

The Problems With Averaging

Weighing More Recent Performance

Examining the Group Grade

Encouraging Productive Group Work Without A Group Grade

Our Accuracy Pillar: A Final Thought

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Chapter 9. Practices That Value Knowledge, Not Environment or Behavior

Pillar 2: Bias-Resistant

Examining Extra Credit

If the Work Is Important, Require It; If It's Not, Don't Include It in the Grade

Grading the Work, Not the Timing of the Work

What's the Alternative to Lowering Grades for Late Work?

Alternative (Non-Grade) Consequences for Cheating

Excluding "Participation" and "Effort" From the Grade

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Chapter 10. Practices That Value Knowledge, Not Environment or Behavior (Continued)

Homework

The Impact of Including Homework in the Grade: Student Voices and Copying

Reframing Homework

Grades Based Entirely on Summative Assessment Performance

Grades to Teach Students, Not to Control Them

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Chapter 11. Practices That Support Hope and a Growth Mindset

Pillar 3: Motivation

Our Understanding of Motivation

Grades and Their Impact on Student Motivation

The Role of Mistakes in Learning

Minimum Grading (A Revisit)

Renaming Grades

Retakes and Redos

Retakes: Frequent Approaches

Retakes: Common Concerns

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Chapter 12. Practices That "Lift the Veil"

The Veils in Our Schools, and "Hostile Attributional Bias"

Rubrics: What Are They, and Why?

Scoring Rubrics and Grade Book Entries

Using Rubrics to Empower Students

"Lifting the Veil" for Tests: The Opacity of Points

Beyond the Points: Standards Scales

The Effects of Standards Transparency

Standards-Based Grade Books

Veils, Rubrics, and the "Real World"

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Chapter 13. Practices That Build "Soft Skills" Without Including Them in the Grade

"Soft Skills"

Grading as Feedback

Preparation for the "Real World"

Whose "Real World" Are We Talking About?

Connecting Soft Skills to Academic Success

Two Grades: Academic and "Soft Skills"

The Twenty-First Century's Soft Skill: Self-Regulation

Creating a Community of Feedback

Student Trackers and Goal-Setting

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Chapter 14. Putting It All Together: Nick and Cathy

Nick: Rethinking Assessments: Getting Away From the Games, and Focusing on Learning

Cathy: A Clearer Vision of Excellence

Summary of Concepts / Questions to Consider

Epilogue: A Return to Mallory's School

Bibliography

Index