#002 Grade this!😝

In this episode we start with a little about the history, the how and the why, of grading. (Did you know that grades were originally A, B, C, D and E?? Where did F come in?).  Then we get into grading practices used today and how they affect our students. We debate methods like percentage based, standards based, and narrative grading and how they might be implemented in real classrooms (How logical is narrative grading when many of us have 150+ students??).

We talk about:

• the subjectivity of grading,
  
• implicit bias,
  
• the varied ways teachers choose to grade
  
• grading’s effect on student motivation
  
• the lack of any training in how to grade
  
• what we wish parents knew about grading.
  

Ultimately, we come to the conclusion that there is no conclusion about grading.

What’s your take on this topic? Leave us a comment and add to the discussion.

Leave Voice Comments here,  or visit our website at TransparencyinTeaching.com to find links to resources and other materials (read Anne's Rant on grading) for this episode.

Please rate us on Apple iTunes and elsewhere! It helps others to discover this podcast and learn about these important topics. (and, frankly, we just want to feel popular)

Link to the story sent to us from our listener, Maria:

Teachers are walking away from their careers in Alabama because of unruly students

References used in this episode:

• Do no zero policies help or hurt students?
• Effective grading policies
• Test failures 
• Are Letter Grades Failing Our Students?
• What Traditional Classroom Grading Gets Wrong
• Why it’s Crucial and Really Hard to Talk about More Equitable Grading
• Call to Action for Equitable Grading
• An A Is Not An A Is Not An A: A History Of Grading
• Grading Systems - SCHOOL, HIGHER EDUCATION - Students, Grades, Teachers, and Learning
• Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently)