Season 1 -- EQUITABLE GRADING
Episode 1: We Need to Talk about Grading
Link to episode. Why is grading a "third rail" issue? Why do teachers and the larger education community rarely talk about it? Because it's personal and very complex. In this episode, Alex and John begin unpacking these essential questions. John also interviews Sarah Brown Wessling, 2010 National Teacher of the Year and the director of the National Teacher of the Year Program.
Sarah Brown Wessling recommends: On Being with Krista Tippett
What's Keeping us Going:
- Alex: The Academy Structure
- John: The Slowdown Podcast
Episode 2: What Do Grades Even Mean?
Link to Episode. Teachers have been using roughly the same grading practices for as long as we've had public schools, but we rarely examine the potential harm of these approaches. Alex and John define what they mean by "traditional grading" practices and begin to identify the damaging effects they can have on students. Also, John interviews Jim Burke, author of The English Teacher's Companion and many other books. Alex and John end with "What's Keeping Us Going," a little bit of good news in the world of education.
Jim Burke on Twitter @englishcomp. Recommends:
- How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo
- The Last White Man by Mohsin Hamid
- High Conflict by Amanda Ripley
What's Keeping us Going:
Episode 3: Is Homework Equitable?
Link to episode. With the first progress report grades submitted, Alex and John give some updates on how their approaches are going so far and then dig into the very contentious issue of homework. Neither John nor Alex is assigning homework in their classes this year, but they wonder about what is gained and lost in their choices. John then interviews Boston University professor Dr. Janine Bempechat, co-author of No More Mindless Homework. The episode ends with Alex and John answering the question, "What's Keeping Us Going?"
Dr. Janine Bempechat recommends:
- Remaking the Grade: A District’s Quest for Equitable Homework Policy
- Race at the Top: Asian Americans and Whites in Pursuit of the American Dream in Suburban Schools by Natasha Warikoo
What's Keeping us Going:
- Alex: Playground Physics
- John: Abbot Elementary and Sheryl Lee Ralph's Emmy Speech
- John's Sample Student Spreadsheet
Episode 4: Do Grades Actually Motivate Students?
Link to episode. Now at the end of the first marking period of the year, John and Alex provide an update on how it's going so far, including very frank feedback from some of John's students. Next, Alex and John explain why, in their experience, grades rarely provide the kind of motivation they're hoping for. Then, Timothy Klein, co-author of How to Navigate Life, joins to share what the research says about student motivation and he presents a much better path to motivation by focusing on the "science of purpose." Last, John and Alex share, as they always do, "what's keeping us going."
Books/Articles Discussed:
Interview: Timothy Klein
- How to Tell a Story: The Moth
What's Keeping us Going:
- Alex: Traffic Safety Reports in Physics
- John: Making Connections in School: CREW
Episode 5: What Do Students Think about Grades? A Student Roundtable
Link to episode. Nearing the end of the first semester, John and Alex provide an update on how their new grading practices are going with a discussion on the different ways that they approach revision. Then, some students from their classes join the podcast to share their often very frank, thoughtful, and surprising views of grades and grading. After they leave, John and Alex reflect on changes they will make based on what they heard.
Episodes 6: Do Some Grading Policies Hurt Students?
Link to episode. At the halfway point in the school year, Alex and John take some time to reflect on how their new approaches are going and have a discussion on why it might be appropriate to assign an "Incomplete" to a student rather than a "D" or an "F." Next, they talk about some very common grading practices: taking off points for late work, giving a "0" for plagiarism, assigning group grades, and grading for participation. Then, John interviews Dr. Sarah Zerwin, the author of Pointless, an English Teacher's Guide to More Meaningful Grading. And they end the way they always do with "What's Keeping Us Going," a little bit of good news in the world of education. John's Sem2 spreadsheet
Sarah Zerwin recommends:
- My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
What's Keeping us Going:
Episodes 7: What is the Most Equitable Way to Calculate Students' Final Grades?
Link to episode. Rapidly approaching the end of the school year, Alex and John turn to a key question: how to calculate final grades for students? It might seem like there’s an obvious answer, which is to take the average of all of the points earned and divide by the number of points possible. For generations of students and teachers, this was the ONLY way to calculate a final grade, and it is still the most common, but is it the most equitable? John and Alex share their approaches, and in the second part of John’s interview with Dr. Sarah Zerwin, the author of Pointless, an English Teacher's Guide to More Meaningful Grading, she describes her student-centered approach to determining a final grade, among other suggestions she has for more equitable grading. And they end the way they always do with "What's Keeping Us Going," a little bit of good news in the world of education.
Episode 8: Are Grades Biased?
Link to episode. With just a few weeks left in the school year, John and Alex reflect on some unanticipated consequences of their grading practices and then quickly move to the main topic of the episode: grading biases. Specifically, they discuss what causes these biases and, most importantly, what teachers can do to limit their impacts. Then, John interviews Dr. Tina Curry, a teacher and literacy coach in Chicago Public Schools about the impact of grading, specifically on our students of color. Last, they end the way they always do with "What's Keeping Us Going," a little bit of good news in the world of education.
Books/Articles Discussed:
Tina Curry recommends We Want to Do More Than Survive by Bettina Love
What's Keeping us Going:
Episode 9: What's a Better Way?
Link to episode. Recorded on the last day of their school year, John and Alex reflect on what they’ve learned through the process of focusing on their grading practices, and then they discuss their hopes for a better future with grading and with the larger education system. Next, John interviews Mike Flanagan, the CEO of the Mastery Transcript Consortium, about national trends in education reform with a specific focus on the work he is doing to reimagine the old-fashioned high school transcript. Last, John and Alex share why they are planning on sticking around in teaching with a segment they call “Why We’re Coming Back Next Year.”
Mastery Transcript Consortium Sample of what a different transcript could look like
Episode 10: A Teacher Roundtable
Link to episode. Recorded live at the College Board’s annual Advanced Placement conference in Seattle, John hosts an engaging roundtable of teachers from around the country who represent multiple disciplines and grade-levels about the challenges of grades and grading. The guests are Kate Cordes, an English teacher from Billings, Montana, Matt Ellington, a social studies teacher in Chino Hills, California, and Jim Morris, a professor of Biology at Brandeis University, near Boston. Thanks to BFW publishers for hosting this roundtable.
Our Favorite Resources About Grading
Grading for Equity by Joe Feldman
A Repair Kit for Grading by Ken O'Connor
Point-less by Sarah Zerwin
Going Gradeless by Elise Burns and David Frangiosa
"We Must Call Out Inequitable Grading Practices" by Tina Curry