The Grading Podcast

Join us for one of the most fun origin stories we have had!!! On the pod this week we interview Annie and Ed Ransom, two K-12 educators who both use alt grading, while being married to each other! Hear how alt grading plays out in middle school and high school science and how it is both the same and different from high school Social Science.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!Seventeen Reasons Why Football is Better than High School, by Herb ChildressEP&Cs: Just One More Thing I Was Wrong About, by Annie RansomCollege, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State StandardsTeacher Spotlight: Annie RansomAnnie Ransom, LinkedIn ProfileResourcesThe 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.

Join Sharona and Bosley as we talk to Dr. Jack Schneider, one of the co-authors of the book "Off the Mark: How Grades, Ratings, and Rankings Undermine Learning (but Don’t Have To)". In this engaging conversation, we explore the origins of the book, discuss the authors' purpose in writing it, and continue to explore the ways in which current grading practices hurt student learning and how important changes can be made to improve things.LinksOff the Mark: How Grades, Ratings, and Rankings Undermine Learning (but Don’t Have To) by Dr. Jack Schneider and Dr. Ethan HuttHave You Heard Podcast?Massachusetts Consortium for Innovative Education AssessmentThe Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual by Jennifer C. Berkshire and Jack Schneider OffTheMarkBook.comResourcesThe 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 Bosley look at what some of the complications are when there is a mismatch between grades and actual learning. Based on some research coming out about grades not matching up with other measures such as standardized tests, we explore the ways in which grading schemes (both traditional and in some cases alternative grading schemes) can unintentionally cause miscommunication between teachers, schools, students and districts.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!First EducationThe STAGR Conference - Join us virtually on December 5, 2024!California Math Council - SouthEpisode 20 of The Grading Podcast - An Interview with Sean NankFalse Signals - a Report on Pandemic-Era GradesEpisode 48 of The Grading Podcast - Implementation Challenges and Opportunities with Becky PepplerEpisode 70 of The Grading Podcast - Reassessments with Becky PepplerEpisode 46 of the Grading Podcast - 46 - Extinguishing the Fires within Assessment and Grading Reform: with Dr. Matt TownsleyEpisode 18 of the Grading Podcast - 18 - The Sportscaster of Alternative Grading: An Interview with Matt TownsleyResourcesThe 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, Becky Peppler from the STAGR center returns to do a deep dive on how she did reassessments in her high school chemistry class. Everything from how many, when, and what students need to do before doing the retakes is discuss in great detail. If you've been looking for the steps to handle effective retakes - enjoy this wonderful conversation! And make sure to check out the upcoming STAGR conference!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 STAGR ConferenceTeaching More by Grading Less or Differently, Jeff Schinske and Kimberly TannerResourcesThe 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.

Let's discuss the role of homework (or other effort pieces of learning) in an Alternatively Graded course in more depth. In this episode, Sharona and Boz look at a recent research study about the inclusion or exclusion of a "homeworK' grade in the grading architecture of a high school geometry class and the impact it had on student completion of homework as well as their final grades. We distinguish between "product", "progress", and "process" grades and discuss their potential roles in different types of courses.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!What Is Standards-Based Grading, and How Does It Work? by Matthew StoneAssessing the impact of standards-based grading policy changes on student performance and practice work completion in secondary mathematics by Huey, Silvey, Vaughan and FisherEpisode 31 -The Role of “Effort” or “Work” in an Alternative Grading Architecture and the Relationship with Due Dates 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.

We've all heard them! The "criticisms" about alternative grading practices that don't seem quite "right" but are hard to debunk in the moment. This is the episode where Sharona and Bosley take on some common myths and misconceptions about alternative grading, as well as look at some of the history driving how the things behind the myths came to be a part of our grading systems.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 4 Common Myths about Grading Reform, Debunked by Matt Townsley and Sarah Morriss3 Common Myths About Standards-Based Grading by Kendell HunterOff the Mark: How Grades, Ratings, and Rankings Undermine Learning (but Don’t Have To) by Jack Schneider and Ethan HuttArtificial Scarcity: Reflecting on Artificial Limits in our Classes by David ClarkResourcesThe 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, Joe Zeccola joins Sharona and Bosley to discuss the interplay between discrete skills and more "holistic" skills, primarily in the discipline of writing. Utilizing some questions asked by Dr. Emily Pitts Donahoe in a recent blog post about Rhetorical Analysis, Joe, Sharona and Bosley explore the balance between assessing discrete individual skills and assessing more holistic processes and how that might play into the design of an alternatively graded course.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 Reading and Analysis with…Standards-Based Collaborative Grading? by Dr. Emily Pitts DonahoeTime for Meaning: Crafting Literate Lives in Middle & High School by Randy BomerReading/Writing Connection, The: Strategies for Teaching and Learning in the Secondary Classroom by Carol Booth OlsonThe Reading Apprenticeship frameworkPoint-Less: An English Teacher’s Guide to More Meaningful GradingDeveloping Assessment-Capable Visible Learners, Grades K-12: Maximizing Skill, Will, and Thrill (Corwin Literacy) by Nancy Frey, John Hattie and Doug FisherResourcesThe 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.

Discover how student perseverance can be a game-changer in achieving success. The hosts dive into research-backed strategies to build resilience in learners. They discuss the contrasts between traditional and alternative grading systems, emphasizing the importance of engagement and mastery. Personal anecdotes illustrate the challenges of health issues and productivity. Plus, they tackle the current shift towards online learning and the need for meaningful in-person experiences, advocating for a reimagined approach to education.

In this episode Sharona and Bosley sit down with Colin Madland, a listener of the podcast from Canada. Colin wrote us in response to a request on a previous episode to learn more about what is going on in Canada. In addition to sharing about the state of Alternative Grading in Canada, Colin also shared his expertise as a Ph.D. candidate in education technology whose research is in technology integrated assessment. He is also a former high school physical education teacher, so we get to explore alt grading in a discipline that was new to both Sharona and Bosley.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!About Colin:https://cmad.land https://bsky.app/profile/cmad.bsky.socialColin's Publications: Technology-Integrated Assessment: A Literature ReviewDeveloping the Technology-Integrated Assessment FrameworkBritish Columbia Education Reforms:K-12 Student Reporting Policy for British ColumbiaK-12 Student Reporting Information for Parents and CaregiversStudent Reporting Policy PilotColin's Ph.D. Committee: Valerie Irvine - University of Victoria: https://www.uvic.ca/education/curriculum/faculty-staff/faculty/about/experts/profiles/irvine-valerie.php, https://valerieirvine.ca/Chris DeLuca - Queens University Ontario: https://educ.queensu.ca/people/chris-deluca, https://research.qut.edu.au/c4ie/people/chris-deluca/Okan Bulut - University of Alberta: https://apps.ualberta.ca/directory/person/bulut, https://github.com/okanbulutSAMR Model - Integrating Technology Into Teachinghttps://taylorinstitute.ucalgary.ca/resources/SAMR-TPACKhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666557322000210The Six R's of Indigenous Education and Orange Shirt DayA Research Publication and Grant Preparation Program for Native American Faculty in STEM: Implementation of the Six R’s Indigenous FrameworkOrange Shirt SocietyResourcesThe 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 (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 Bosley speak with Mariah Muller, an English teacher at Santee Education Complex in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Mariah works with Bosley at his school and is in her second year of teaching. In this interview, we explore what it is like to start your teaching career from the beginning using alternative grading practices, and what Mariah's experience with grading has been like as she adapts to being a new teacher. We also thought that this would be an interesting contrast with last week's episode about a long term teacher who teaches new teachers!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 Learning Works: Eight Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching, by Susan Ambrose, et al.The Case Against The Zero, by Douglas ReevesEpisode 55 – Alternative Grading as a Healing Process Part 1 of 2: Exploring the Harmful Wordviews that Undergird the Letter Grading System, an Interview with Dr. Jeff AndersonEpisode 56 – Alternative Grading as a Healing Process Part 2 of 2: Exploring the Harmful Wordviews that Undergird the Letter Grading System, an Interview with Dr. Jeff AndersonResourcesThe 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.