{"id":19599,"date":"2024-12-10T10:21:56","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T15:21:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/?post_type=cw_post&p=19599"},"modified":"2024-12-10T10:55:11","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T15:55:11","slug":"equitable-grading-a-competency-based-education-entry-point-and-core-practice","status":"publish","type":"cw_post","link":"https:\/\/aurora-institute.org\/cw_post\/equitable-grading-a-competency-based-education-entry-point-and-core-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Equitable Grading: A Competency-Based Education Entry Point and Core Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

For anyone who has tried to improve grading \u2013 whether as a teacher in their classroom, a school leader among their faculty, or a district leader in their school communities \u2013 to say it is a bumpy path is often a gross understatement. Grading, to most teachers, represents their sense of identity in the classroom, how they relate to their students, and key beliefs about how students learn and are motivated. Regardless of how involved parents and families are in their children\u2019s education, grades represent access to post-secondary opportunities, fair competition, upward social or economic mobility, status, and a return on investment. When we want to improve grading, everyone has an opinion, because everyone has a stake.\"Teacher\"Teacher<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Teacher<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet this bumpy path is critically important, and one that increasing numbers of educators are willing to walk \u2013 whether directly through equitable grading or in the process of larger educational shifts, such as to a <\/span>competency-based education (CBE)<\/span><\/a> system \u2013 in order to improve learning outcomes for young people. In the ten years that my organization and I have been researching, advocating for, and supporting schools and districts with equitable grading, we have guided teachers and leaders on this path, helping them pivot around potholes. Fortunately, two factors make this path a bit smoother, or perhaps provide a tailwind to the journey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

First, decades of research, catalogued extensively in my <\/span>book<\/span><\/a>, overwhelmingly shows that traditional grading perpetuates achievement disparities, undermines effective teaching, harms students, and is often inaccurate. Recently, in the Equitable Grading Project\u2019s <\/span>review<\/span><\/a> of over 33,000 student grades, over 60% of grades did not match the student\u2019s understanding of course content on an external assessment. The best argument against improvements to grading is that those changes \u201cwon\u2019t work,\u201d but ample evidence from teachers shows that more equitable grading results in improvements to grade accuracy (both less grade inflation and less grade depression), fairness, and student motivation \u2013 particularly of those students historically underserved: students from families of lower income, with special needs, and who are Black or Latinx.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"TwoSecond, because few teachers receive any training or coursework on grading, in our experience they are often curious to learn about one of the most under-supported aspects of their profession. Filling this knowledge gap provides the opportunity for teachers to learn about the beliefs and inequities initially embedded into our current grading practices during the Industrial Revolution and how much those ideas conflict with our contemporary understanding about schools, effective teaching and learning, and what students are capable of. With this foundation, and despite trepidations, teachers are excited to try improved, more equitable, grading practice.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mapping the Connections Between Equitable Grading and CBE<\/span><\/h2>\n

One thing that engages teachers and leaders on this path, and that sometimes surprises them, is that by reflecting on grading practices, they necessarily encounter important questions not just about grading, but about our work as educators: What are our course outcomes? How do we transparently communicate those expectations and each student\u2019s position relative to those outcomes? How and what do we validly assess to confidently know each student\u2019s current understanding? How do we report that information accurately, fairly, and consistently?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the road toward more equitable grading, teachers make key decisions: to improve the grading scale to be more mathematically sound, to separate student understanding of course standards from their behaviors, to distinguish summative and formative assessments, and to give students multiple opportunities to demonstrate understanding. These decisions often prompt teachers to explore larger principles and strategies to improve their classrooms and schools, like those in <\/span>competency-based education<\/span><\/a>. For example:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n