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Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead)
The moment is right for critical reflection on what has been assumed to be a core part of schooling. In Ungrading , fifteen educators write about their diverse experiences going gradeless. Some contributors are new to the practice and some have been engaging in it for decades. Some are in humanities and social sciences, some in STEM fields. Some are in higher education, but some are the K–12 pioneers who led the way. Based on rigorous and replicated research, this is the first book to show why and how faculty who wish to focus on learning, rather than sorting or judging, might proceed. It includes honest reflection on what makes ungrading challenging, and testimonials about what makes it transformative. CONTRIBUTORS:
Aaron Blackwelder
Susan D. Blum
Arthur Chiaravalli
Gary Chu
Cathy N. Davidson
Laura Gibbs
Christina Katopodis
Joy Kirr
Alfie Kohn
Christopher Riesbeck
Starr Sackstein
Marcus Schultz-Bergin
Clarissa Sorensen-Unruh
Jesse Stommel
John Warner
Aaron Blackwelder
Susan D. Blum
Arthur Chiaravalli
Gary Chu
Cathy N. Davidson
Laura Gibbs
Christina Katopodis
Joy Kirr
Alfie Kohn
Christopher Riesbeck
Starr Sackstein
Marcus Schultz-Bergin
Clarissa Sorensen-Unruh
Jesse Stommel
John Warner
269 pages, Paperback
Published December 1, 2020
About the author
Alfie Kohn
47 books495 followers Alfie Kohn writes and speaks widely on human behavior, education, and parenting. The author of fourteen books and scores of articles, he lectures at education conferences and universities as well as to parent groups and corporations.
Kohn's criticisms of competition and rewards have been widely discussed and debated, and he has been described in Time magazine as "perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of education's fixation on grades [and] test scores."
Kohn lives (actually) in the Boston area with his wife and two children, and (virtually) at www.alfiekohn.org.
Kohn's criticisms of competition and rewards have been widely discussed and debated, and he has been described in Time magazine as "perhaps the country's most outspoken critic of education's fixation on grades [and] test scores."
Kohn lives (actually) in the Boston area with his wife and two children, and (virtually) at www.alfiekohn.org.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
May 22, 2021
In general I liked this book and want to try out some of what the authors wrote about. I am still a bit of a skeptic. Most of the authors wrote mostly on the philosophy of upgrading and the detriment of a traditional grading system which I was completely on board for. Few however delved far into the "what ifs?" What do these systems look like in a sequential course where a student tries but fails and needs to repeat so they're prepared for the next level? What is the solution for students who don't want to be in the class or learn the content? I like the philosophy and idea of it but would like some more concrete stories and information about what day to day life in the classroom is like. Many of the authors seemed focused on presenting a rosy picture of their philosophy rather than a nuts and bolts description of their practices which is what would have been more convincing to me.
February 18, 2024
My senior year of high school, I attended an innovative program: the Center for Self-directed Learning. We had no grades or organized classes, although faculty or students could create learning groups. Our only restriction was that somehow we needed to meet our state's graduation requirements. I remember attending groups on speculative fiction and radical movements in the US, respectively meeting my English and History requirements, as well as a more formal Mathematics course. This was one of the most powerful experiences in my educational career. I went from being a marginal (bright) student, contemplating not going to college, to one who gobbled down books, courses, and ideas.
What made the difference? I think it was moving from extrinsic motivators and goals to more intrinsic ones. When I returned to a graded, typical curriculum in college, I arrived with a different mindset and, quoting Robert Frost, "that has made all the difference."
I don't use ungrading in my own teaching, although I have taken tiny baby steps in that direction across time. I have taught between 60 and 140 students a semester – while doing all sorts of other job-related tasks (e.g., writing, service, advising, admin). I don't really think I can pull off ungrading well under such a system, one where I rarely feel that I can put my feet up and contemplate where I'm going. Still, reading Ungrading gets me thinking about what strategies I can adopt to offer my students greater control, choice, autonomy, and intrinsic motivation. I'm not just teaching content; I want to help my students learn how to learn, to learn how to approach learning and life with passion. Alfie Kohn's foreword and Joy Kirr's and John Warner's chapters and were especially exciting and got me thinking about how I could take bigger steps in this direction.
* * *
I listened to about 40% of Ungrading, complaining most of the time. Kohn narrated his wonderful foreword, but the other narrators sounded arrogant or like AI-generated speech. I'm glad that I had access to a print copy or I would have tossed Ungrading aside. That would have been a pity.
What made the difference? I think it was moving from extrinsic motivators and goals to more intrinsic ones. When I returned to a graded, typical curriculum in college, I arrived with a different mindset and, quoting Robert Frost, "that has made all the difference."
I don't use ungrading in my own teaching, although I have taken tiny baby steps in that direction across time. I have taught between 60 and 140 students a semester – while doing all sorts of other job-related tasks (e.g., writing, service, advising, admin). I don't really think I can pull off ungrading well under such a system, one where I rarely feel that I can put my feet up and contemplate where I'm going. Still, reading Ungrading gets me thinking about what strategies I can adopt to offer my students greater control, choice, autonomy, and intrinsic motivation. I'm not just teaching content; I want to help my students learn how to learn, to learn how to approach learning and life with passion. Alfie Kohn's foreword and Joy Kirr's and John Warner's chapters and were especially exciting and got me thinking about how I could take bigger steps in this direction.
* * *
I listened to about 40% of Ungrading, complaining most of the time. Kohn narrated his wonderful foreword, but the other narrators sounded arrogant or like AI-generated speech. I'm glad that I had access to a print copy or I would have tossed Ungrading aside. That would have been a pity.
July 14, 2022
Grading is the worst part of teaching, and for those of you who don't teach, when I say "grading," I don't mean reading and commenting on my students' work. That can be interesting and useful and entertaining. I'm talking about the part where you have to decide whether that interesting writing is, like, a 90% or more of an 88%, and how will that show up in the gradebook and what will that do the student's overall grade and what are their parents expecting from them (you) and how will this impact the way they come into the room tomorrow and how will this impact your overall relationship with them. Now do that again and again 125 times.
AND GRADES AREN'T REAL. We act like they're a natural element of the planet earth. But they're not. A B+ in my room doesn't mean the same thing as it does in other English teachers' classes -- let alone history or, like, science classes. As Susan D. Blum puts it, "Is a student who enters already knowing a lot, continues to demonstrate knowledge at a high level, misses an assignment because of a roommate's attempted suicide, and ends up with a B+ the same as someone who begins knowing nothing, works really hard, follows all the rules, does quite well, and ends up with a B+?" (55). Like, what does the grade MEAN? What information is conveyed?
At the beginning of this last school year, I started reading Pointless by Sarah Zerwin, and I felt ✨ready to go.✨ I set up coaching appointments with two teachers at my school who didn't grade individual assignments. I started drafting a letter to student families. I figured I would start second semester after my juniors already trusted me and would buy-in.
And then life happened and I never finished Pointless and I didn't change a thing and it's July and I still feel guilt over a kid that didn't pass my class two months ago.
But I also have more time to think about all of these things, so my summer wheels are turning.
AND GRADES AREN'T REAL. We act like they're a natural element of the planet earth. But they're not. A B+ in my room doesn't mean the same thing as it does in other English teachers' classes -- let alone history or, like, science classes. As Susan D. Blum puts it, "Is a student who enters already knowing a lot, continues to demonstrate knowledge at a high level, misses an assignment because of a roommate's attempted suicide, and ends up with a B+ the same as someone who begins knowing nothing, works really hard, follows all the rules, does quite well, and ends up with a B+?" (55). Like, what does the grade MEAN? What information is conveyed?
At the beginning of this last school year, I started reading Pointless by Sarah Zerwin, and I felt ✨ready to go.✨ I set up coaching appointments with two teachers at my school who didn't grade individual assignments. I started drafting a letter to student families. I figured I would start second semester after my juniors already trusted me and would buy-in.
And then life happened and I never finished Pointless and I didn't change a thing and it's July and I still feel guilt over a kid that didn't pass my class two months ago.
But I also have more time to think about all of these things, so my summer wheels are turning.
November 26, 2020
I've re-discovered my people! Seeing the variety of educational settings where people are teaching without grades reminded me of what I loved about teaching and why I am now so frustrated because I was drawn back into a system of grading. Reading about these experiences and considering the examples has me energized to return to the way I teach most effectively. I have not been so excited to restructure my courses in a very long time! Thank you for sharing your experiences!
June 10, 2022
I really appreciate getting to think in a more formal way about grades and assessment. The strength of the book is the diversity of perspectives. There’s a little bit of everything. However that is also it’s weakness. It’s a bit all over and I think could have benefited from more cohesion. It became clear to me as I read that the authors had different contexts, valued or devalued different aspects of education, and had varied assumptions about grades themselves These were often not acknowledged as underLying assumptions and the authors occasionally came across as patronizing. I don’t know that I would recommend for readers unfamiliar with the topic.
January 8, 2021
This collection of essays about the ways in which K12 and higher ed instructors have incorporated principles of ungrading into their courses is nothing short of revolutionary. It centers our focus -- as it should be -- on student learning. Traditional systems of assessment/grading often work really well ... at DEmotivating students and stifling learning; these ungrading methods reverse those trends and help faculty create engaged, enthusiastic, learning-centered classrooms.
Frankly, I had always felt more than a little bit uncomfortable when I heard colleagues talking about "ungrading," because I couldn't fathom how students could possibly be trusted to account for their own learning. At the same time, I walked around convinced that I was the rare instructor who empowered students and trusted them to do the right thing. This book shed light on my own cognitive dissonance for what it is -- fear.
It was Jesse Stommel's chapter, and in particular this sentence, that really forced me to change my perspective and dive into this book with an open mind: "I've long argued that education should be about encouraging and rewarding not knowing more than knowing." (p. 32) My copy of the book has this sentence highlighted, with the margin note: "O. M. G." Thank you, Jesse.
Frankly, I had always felt more than a little bit uncomfortable when I heard colleagues talking about "ungrading," because I couldn't fathom how students could possibly be trusted to account for their own learning. At the same time, I walked around convinced that I was the rare instructor who empowered students and trusted them to do the right thing. This book shed light on my own cognitive dissonance for what it is -- fear.
It was Jesse Stommel's chapter, and in particular this sentence, that really forced me to change my perspective and dive into this book with an open mind: "I've long argued that education should be about encouraging and rewarding not knowing more than knowing." (p. 32) My copy of the book has this sentence highlighted, with the margin note: "O. M. G." Thank you, Jesse.
March 9, 2022
I'm just dipping my feet into the idea of changing the way I grade and assess my students, and this was a great starting point. At this juncture, it is the only point I have, though, so my opinion is apt to change.
This book is a collection of essays by various educators from seventh grade (I think that was the lowest in the age range of students) through university graduate students. There were lots of things that I can see myself using in class immediately, but mostly I see the value of this book as a slew of ideas worth pondering.
I am definitely going to have to think carefully about how I would implement this in my classes. At this point in their education (mostly juniors in high school for me) the grading system is so ingrained that taking that out completely without a lot of pondering on my part would be disastrous. I was met with incredulity and nervous laughter for just floating the idea to students of doing away with grades and what that would look like. 'There's no way I would do something I wasn't being graded on' was a fairly typical response.
We'll see!
This book is a collection of essays by various educators from seventh grade (I think that was the lowest in the age range of students) through university graduate students. There were lots of things that I can see myself using in class immediately, but mostly I see the value of this book as a slew of ideas worth pondering.
I am definitely going to have to think carefully about how I would implement this in my classes. At this point in their education (mostly juniors in high school for me) the grading system is so ingrained that taking that out completely without a lot of pondering on my part would be disastrous. I was met with incredulity and nervous laughter for just floating the idea to students of doing away with grades and what that would look like. 'There's no way I would do something I wasn't being graded on' was a fairly typical response.
We'll see!
June 30, 2022
This is a life-altering book, or a career-changing book, or a paradigm-shifting book. I attended a professional conference for educators where it was mentioned in a session on equitable grading practices, and one of the other conference participants talked a bit about her experience after a year of using practices she developed for her own courses from the resources in this.
It blew me away, totally recommended reading for literally every teacher.
It blew me away, totally recommended reading for literally every teacher.
August 29, 2021
A must read for educators, parents/guardians, students, policymakers, and truthfully anyone who is actually invested in learning and education in any capacity.
February 19, 2023
I'm super glad I've read this book. It's been on my bookshelf for several years and I've never read it even though I write about this topic. I would give this book five stars but it doesn't seem to account for students with disabilities until like the last page and even there they're lumped in.
I'm having my students read the third chapter in the foundation section and we're going to have a discussion on grades and learning very soon.
Here are some chapters that stand out to me chapter 3 by Susan Blum chapter 4 by Starr Sackstein, I think chapter 9 by Clarissa Sorensen Unruh, all the chapters in the reflections section including the most excellent chapter in that section, chapter 13 by John Warner, and Blum's conclusion.
I've opened the door to my students to talk about potentially changing the syllabus and the grading policy in this class. I don't know if any of them will want to do this but, I do. I am convinced that grades do not measure learning and I really am interested in student learning. I have one student that emails me nearly every class day to tell me he wants to do well in the class and what he means is that he wants a good grade. It doesn't seem like he cares about learning at all. I'm over the grading part, I want to facilitate learning and if I don't get to do that, I don't think I want to do this at all.
Finally the irony of reading this book on a scale of five, essentially giving it a grade, is not lost on me.
I'm having my students read the third chapter in the foundation section and we're going to have a discussion on grades and learning very soon.
Here are some chapters that stand out to me chapter 3 by Susan Blum chapter 4 by Starr Sackstein, I think chapter 9 by Clarissa Sorensen Unruh, all the chapters in the reflections section including the most excellent chapter in that section, chapter 13 by John Warner, and Blum's conclusion.
I've opened the door to my students to talk about potentially changing the syllabus and the grading policy in this class. I don't know if any of them will want to do this but, I do. I am convinced that grades do not measure learning and I really am interested in student learning. I have one student that emails me nearly every class day to tell me he wants to do well in the class and what he means is that he wants a good grade. It doesn't seem like he cares about learning at all. I'm over the grading part, I want to facilitate learning and if I don't get to do that, I don't think I want to do this at all.
Finally the irony of reading this book on a scale of five, essentially giving it a grade, is not lost on me.
June 12, 2021
Great read! Reviews the history of grading and why grades are so problematic, as well as numerous examples of how to use ungrading in a variety of disciplines and K-12, plus college. I’m going to give it a whirl this summer and see what I and the students think.
June 4, 2023
Most of the book was about the “why” even though it was divided into 3 parts: Foundations, Practices, Reflections. Every “chapter” is actually a separate teacher’s account of their personal experience with ungrading, and it felt extremely repetitive as each chapter started with each teacher’s personal “why.” I get it, I’ve read the research, let’s please move on to the implementation part of it, which is only touched on partially in the “practices” section. I did get a lot of good tips for creating my own personal implementation in the future, though. I would have preferred way more concrete examples, however.
May 22, 2021
Posted from my blog at :
http://www.quentinlewis.com/blog/2021...
Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead)
edited by Susan D. Blum
Finished 5/15/21
A book exploring alternatives to grading in classrooms, based on the premise that grading, as traditionally practiced, hinders learning.
I'm not primarily an educator, though I've spent a lot of time in classrooms as a student and as an instructor. But like the contributors to this book, I want my few experiences as a teacher to be meaningful and help the students I work with learn skills, facts, and ways of thinking that will stay with them throughout their lives. The educators who wrote chapters of this book are drawn from K-12 and collegiate environments, as well as from across science and humanities disciplines. What they have in common is a dissatisfaction with grading as a means of evaluating and promoting learning, and a diverse set of alternatives to grading.
The dissatisfaction stems from Three basic problelms. First, grading leads to a focus on metrics rather than learning. Both students and teachers focus on grades and performance rather than content or enrichment, leading to least-cost strategies and for getting through classes, including cheating, plagiarism, and short-term memorization over engagement. Second, grading is a poor way to evaluate course performance. Grading all performance along a single metric (letters, percentage, etc...) flattens student experience and background--i.e. a student with pre-existing subject knowledge slacks off in a class and gets the same grade as a student with no knowledge who works their butt off. In other words, there is no clear consensus about what grades are actually measuring. Third, grades transform the complexity of student-teacher relationships into an abstract one that can produce anxiety, suspicion, rule-making and rule-evasion. The hierarchy inherent in grading leads even the best educators to force students to treat them as an oppositional gatekeeper, rather than as a partner in learning, growth, and enrichment.
The chapters of the book, written by a diverse group of educators, articulate different practical solutions to these problems, but all under the broad umbrella of doing away with grades entirely, or as much as possible in a given institution. What generally replaces individual grades on classroom assignments is a narrative or qualititave evaluation of student work, most often in consultation with the student. The goal is constructive improvement of existing skills and knowledge rather than a finalized and abstract assessment of work. It also requires building a relationship with each student such that they embrace or at least accept some responsibility for guiding themselves through the class rather than an instructor taking them from graded-assignment to graded-assignment. In several cases elaborated here, instructors have students choose their grades, based on their own assessment of their performance rather than one externally derived from a syllabus, rubrics, and instructor evaluation of both.
Several chapters in the book include excerpts of syllabi, evaluative material, and assignments to provide a framework for how to practically implement nongrading. Others discuss ungrading in philosophical or historical terms, locating it within progressive or radical pedagogical frameworks. All in all, it was a very inspiring collection, and got me thinking about how to utilize its insights in the small amount of teaching that I do.
Leaving aside the idealism and morality of ungrading as a pedagogical goal, there are a number of tensions and uncertainties in the implementation of ungrading. First, every chapter made clear that ungrading, no matter how it's done, is a lot of work. The simplicity of grading makes it relatively straightforward, particularly for large classes--you build a grading rubric, students submit their assignments or tests, and you assign them a ranked number or letter based on how well they fit that rubric. Redesigning a class around qualitative assessment and regular feedback is daunting in its own right, and then actually doing it for large classes sounds completely exhausting, especially for instructors who are already burning every candle at both ends. Every contributor talked about how much work they put in, though all spoke of how much more rewarding such classes eventually became upon doing the work.
Another point of tension was around instructor autonomy versus the hierarchical nature of educational institutions. Many instructors worked in institutions where grading formed an integral part of student experience and instructors who wanted to implement ungrading were forced to do so quietly or in a limited way. And all of that is leaving aside contingent or employment-insecure instructors who have little control over what they teach and how. In other words, ungrading seemed to work best for instructors who already had some kind of institutional power to change their pedagogy. Others, with less power, might find a book like this of little use.
Third, the book's attempt to flatten the hierarchy of instructors and students might not find receptive ears for students who see education as a commodity, purchased with the goal of future employment. The neoliberalization of higher education in particular (not to mention the standardized testing that has been institutionalized in US K-12 education) has had the cultural effect of making education into an exchange of tuition for grades, and many students have embraced this (entirely reasonable though contridictory) logic in their dealings with instructors. Beyond this, the neoliberal model of higher education has increased the total number of college students, decreased tenured faculty, and increased contingent/adjunct faculty, leading to an exascerbation of all of the previous problems heretofore mentioned. I came from reading this book inspired by the righteousness and genuine humanity of the contributors, but daunted by the prospect of implementing their vision in an increasingly inhumane and hierarchical higher education landscape.
Finally, (and perhaps most pettily), many of the contributors are from humanities and social science backgrounds where narrative and qualititative evaluation of student work is already commonplace. I can imagine that for STEM educators, or technical educators finding ungrading a more complex task, though both groups are represented among the contributors and offer novel solutions to ungrading in those contexts. Still, it's an easier sell for people who are already doing some of the methods described.
All in all, I came away impressed and inspired, and found myself wondering about how to do ungrading strategies in some of my teaching contexts. I suspect others who find themselves frustrated with their experiences with students or unhappy in their pedagogical methods will relish the opportunity to rethink or reflect on them using ungrading as a framework.
http://www.quentinlewis.com/blog/2021...
Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead)
edited by Susan D. Blum
Finished 5/15/21
A book exploring alternatives to grading in classrooms, based on the premise that grading, as traditionally practiced, hinders learning.
I'm not primarily an educator, though I've spent a lot of time in classrooms as a student and as an instructor. But like the contributors to this book, I want my few experiences as a teacher to be meaningful and help the students I work with learn skills, facts, and ways of thinking that will stay with them throughout their lives. The educators who wrote chapters of this book are drawn from K-12 and collegiate environments, as well as from across science and humanities disciplines. What they have in common is a dissatisfaction with grading as a means of evaluating and promoting learning, and a diverse set of alternatives to grading.
The dissatisfaction stems from Three basic problelms. First, grading leads to a focus on metrics rather than learning. Both students and teachers focus on grades and performance rather than content or enrichment, leading to least-cost strategies and for getting through classes, including cheating, plagiarism, and short-term memorization over engagement. Second, grading is a poor way to evaluate course performance. Grading all performance along a single metric (letters, percentage, etc...) flattens student experience and background--i.e. a student with pre-existing subject knowledge slacks off in a class and gets the same grade as a student with no knowledge who works their butt off. In other words, there is no clear consensus about what grades are actually measuring. Third, grades transform the complexity of student-teacher relationships into an abstract one that can produce anxiety, suspicion, rule-making and rule-evasion. The hierarchy inherent in grading leads even the best educators to force students to treat them as an oppositional gatekeeper, rather than as a partner in learning, growth, and enrichment.
The chapters of the book, written by a diverse group of educators, articulate different practical solutions to these problems, but all under the broad umbrella of doing away with grades entirely, or as much as possible in a given institution. What generally replaces individual grades on classroom assignments is a narrative or qualititave evaluation of student work, most often in consultation with the student. The goal is constructive improvement of existing skills and knowledge rather than a finalized and abstract assessment of work. It also requires building a relationship with each student such that they embrace or at least accept some responsibility for guiding themselves through the class rather than an instructor taking them from graded-assignment to graded-assignment. In several cases elaborated here, instructors have students choose their grades, based on their own assessment of their performance rather than one externally derived from a syllabus, rubrics, and instructor evaluation of both.
Several chapters in the book include excerpts of syllabi, evaluative material, and assignments to provide a framework for how to practically implement nongrading. Others discuss ungrading in philosophical or historical terms, locating it within progressive or radical pedagogical frameworks. All in all, it was a very inspiring collection, and got me thinking about how to utilize its insights in the small amount of teaching that I do.
Leaving aside the idealism and morality of ungrading as a pedagogical goal, there are a number of tensions and uncertainties in the implementation of ungrading. First, every chapter made clear that ungrading, no matter how it's done, is a lot of work. The simplicity of grading makes it relatively straightforward, particularly for large classes--you build a grading rubric, students submit their assignments or tests, and you assign them a ranked number or letter based on how well they fit that rubric. Redesigning a class around qualitative assessment and regular feedback is daunting in its own right, and then actually doing it for large classes sounds completely exhausting, especially for instructors who are already burning every candle at both ends. Every contributor talked about how much work they put in, though all spoke of how much more rewarding such classes eventually became upon doing the work.
Another point of tension was around instructor autonomy versus the hierarchical nature of educational institutions. Many instructors worked in institutions where grading formed an integral part of student experience and instructors who wanted to implement ungrading were forced to do so quietly or in a limited way. And all of that is leaving aside contingent or employment-insecure instructors who have little control over what they teach and how. In other words, ungrading seemed to work best for instructors who already had some kind of institutional power to change their pedagogy. Others, with less power, might find a book like this of little use.
Third, the book's attempt to flatten the hierarchy of instructors and students might not find receptive ears for students who see education as a commodity, purchased with the goal of future employment. The neoliberalization of higher education in particular (not to mention the standardized testing that has been institutionalized in US K-12 education) has had the cultural effect of making education into an exchange of tuition for grades, and many students have embraced this (entirely reasonable though contridictory) logic in their dealings with instructors. Beyond this, the neoliberal model of higher education has increased the total number of college students, decreased tenured faculty, and increased contingent/adjunct faculty, leading to an exascerbation of all of the previous problems heretofore mentioned. I came from reading this book inspired by the righteousness and genuine humanity of the contributors, but daunted by the prospect of implementing their vision in an increasingly inhumane and hierarchical higher education landscape.
Finally, (and perhaps most pettily), many of the contributors are from humanities and social science backgrounds where narrative and qualititative evaluation of student work is already commonplace. I can imagine that for STEM educators, or technical educators finding ungrading a more complex task, though both groups are represented among the contributors and offer novel solutions to ungrading in those contexts. Still, it's an easier sell for people who are already doing some of the methods described.
All in all, I came away impressed and inspired, and found myself wondering about how to do ungrading strategies in some of my teaching contexts. I suspect others who find themselves frustrated with their experiences with students or unhappy in their pedagogical methods will relish the opportunity to rethink or reflect on them using ungrading as a framework.
June 1, 2022
I love the idea of "ungrading." I have implemented in one class and plan to implement it from now on.
Ungrading is a collection of essays by teachers who have tried some form of ungrading. I appreciated the varied perspectives, but I found most fell short of what I was looking for in the book. Each gave a taste of what the teacher did to ungrade, but many lacked specific details that would help someone actually implement it. Other essays felt written too early in a teacher's ungrading journey...several contributors had only tried ungrading once and needed another year of ungrading experience to hear more about their adaptations to the process. One contribution was an incomplete series of blog posts that just ended without much resolution.
That all being said, I think this book works well as an introduction to understanding where all of the unrest surrounding grades comes from and what some teachers are doing to push against the system and promote learning over grades. I recommend it for anyone who wants to figure out what this movement is all about or to brainstorm ideas of how to implement it.
However, if I were to recommend one book on progressive grading, it would be Point-less by Sarah Zerwin. She goes pretty in-depth into a system of ungrading (or "point-less" grading) that worked really well for me in one of my classes. She's an ELA teacher, so her book is focused on that subject area, but her husband Paul Strode has a lengthy blog post about how to go gradeless in a science class.
Whatever book you read on this topic, good luck in your journey to de-emphasize grades and promote learning!
Ungrading is a collection of essays by teachers who have tried some form of ungrading. I appreciated the varied perspectives, but I found most fell short of what I was looking for in the book. Each gave a taste of what the teacher did to ungrade, but many lacked specific details that would help someone actually implement it. Other essays felt written too early in a teacher's ungrading journey...several contributors had only tried ungrading once and needed another year of ungrading experience to hear more about their adaptations to the process. One contribution was an incomplete series of blog posts that just ended without much resolution.
That all being said, I think this book works well as an introduction to understanding where all of the unrest surrounding grades comes from and what some teachers are doing to push against the system and promote learning over grades. I recommend it for anyone who wants to figure out what this movement is all about or to brainstorm ideas of how to implement it.
However, if I were to recommend one book on progressive grading, it would be Point-less by Sarah Zerwin. She goes pretty in-depth into a system of ungrading (or "point-less" grading) that worked really well for me in one of my classes. She's an ELA teacher, so her book is focused on that subject area, but her husband Paul Strode has a lengthy blog post about how to go gradeless in a science class.
Whatever book you read on this topic, good luck in your journey to de-emphasize grades and promote learning!
May 14, 2021
I would give this book a 4.5 ⭐️ if I could, because I loved this book and it gave me much to think about as a teacher; however, I wish there would have been more examples from performing arts teachers (art, music, and p.e). I feel like they were overlooked for the more traditional gen Ed classes.
I do see myself implementing many of the strategies discussed in the book - it makes so much sense as an art teacher to do away with traditional grades. I already utilize feedback in most (if not all) of my assignments. I check in with my kids frequently and the have sketchbooks as a way of documenting progress and acts kind of like a portfolio of sorts, but I want to lean into it even more next year.
This book made me question so many aspects of our education system and challenged me to look into other forms of assessment. I also purchased more books that were recommended readings in the book to further bolster this idea further in my career.
Every teacher should read this and reflect on what role grades have in their classrooms and evaluate their effectiveness in gauging the true level of learning that is occurring/not occurring.
I do see myself implementing many of the strategies discussed in the book - it makes so much sense as an art teacher to do away with traditional grades. I already utilize feedback in most (if not all) of my assignments. I check in with my kids frequently and the have sketchbooks as a way of documenting progress and acts kind of like a portfolio of sorts, but I want to lean into it even more next year.
This book made me question so many aspects of our education system and challenged me to look into other forms of assessment. I also purchased more books that were recommended readings in the book to further bolster this idea further in my career.
Every teacher should read this and reflect on what role grades have in their classrooms and evaluate their effectiveness in gauging the true level of learning that is occurring/not occurring.
December 3, 2022
I am convinced by the evidence that grading causes problems (it's not objective, it demotivates students, it doesn't truly measure learning--it doesn't account for the student who comes into the course writing A material and learns nothing or for the student who comes into the course writing F material and improves to a D, and a whole host of other issues).
I am not necessarily convinced that dispensing with grades solves those problems.
This book certainly gives me a great deal to think about and some good idea for how to adjust self- and peer-assessment exercises; I am all about the metacognition in my classes.
I am not necessarily convinced that dispensing with grades solves those problems.
This book certainly gives me a great deal to think about and some good idea for how to adjust self- and peer-assessment exercises; I am all about the metacognition in my classes.
January 11, 2021
As a PhD student trying to rethink how I grade the course I teach, I really loved this book. It provided practical advice/suggestions/ideas without being prescriptive, and it is so reassuring to know that I’m not going through these struggles alone. I appreciated that all of the contributors shared both the positives and negatives in such a sincere way. It made me feel inspired by their successes without making me feel inadequate about my own struggles while implementing some of these strategies.
January 7, 2022
I was already familiar with a lot of the practices and principles in this book (I've been following Jesse Stommel on Twitter for a while, for example), but having a lot of the research and examples in one place was really helpful!
Frankly, one of the biggest takeaways for me are the ones that have apparently been known for DECADES - that just feedback, no grades has better learning outcomes; grades are a known detriment to authentic learning (thanks, cognition!); and so on.
I'm still having a fight within mysellf about some things - will students do the work if there's no marks attached? is a smaller challenge, but the biggest one is my tension with being an expert. Although I appreciate the framing of learning together and students applying metacognition to their own work, I don't know that I'm ready to say "yes student, evaluate your own work and tell me what mark you deserve" because frankly, based on what I see in my classrooms...some just don't have the knowledge or skills to do so.
BUT, is that also based on me creating an antagonistic grade-atmosphere in my class and not teaching metacognition / self-reflection / evaluation / engagement?! It's almost definitely part of it!
So, if you want to read a bunch of accessible pieces, largely free of jargon, about removing the negative aspects of grades as much possible, I highly recommend! It also doesn't have to be all-or-nothing (though some writers expressed frustration that they didn't go all in, since halfway was harder).
Recommended for any / all teachers (including in the sciences - there are pieces in here about chem, math, and compsci, not just humanities/writing classes!)
Frankly, one of the biggest takeaways for me are the ones that have apparently been known for DECADES - that just feedback, no grades has better learning outcomes; grades are a known detriment to authentic learning (thanks, cognition!); and so on.
I'm still having a fight within mysellf about some things - will students do the work if there's no marks attached? is a smaller challenge, but the biggest one is my tension with being an expert. Although I appreciate the framing of learning together and students applying metacognition to their own work, I don't know that I'm ready to say "yes student, evaluate your own work and tell me what mark you deserve" because frankly, based on what I see in my classrooms...some just don't have the knowledge or skills to do so.
BUT, is that also based on me creating an antagonistic grade-atmosphere in my class and not teaching metacognition / self-reflection / evaluation / engagement?! It's almost definitely part of it!
So, if you want to read a bunch of accessible pieces, largely free of jargon, about removing the negative aspects of grades as much possible, I highly recommend! It also doesn't have to be all-or-nothing (though some writers expressed frustration that they didn't go all in, since halfway was harder).
Recommended for any / all teachers (including in the sciences - there are pieces in here about chem, math, and compsci, not just humanities/writing classes!)
January 25, 2022
Are grades the death of education? The authors of the pieces collected in this book believe they are. What should we do about it? Ungrade! Which means adopting new ways of working with students to cultivate their learning and provide feedback that motivates improvement. Not to worry--you need not reinvent the wheel. Many people have been working at it, or rather at various wheels suited to K-12 and undergraduate classrooms, in math, coding, philosophy, and writing.
The book starts with several chapters in which the authors tell you why grading is bad and life is better since they dropped the habit. Three or four essays in I was getting frustrated, because I wanted to learn concretely what you do when you ungrade. Then, about halfway through, more detailed accounts of practical strategies started showing up. These give a lot more to chew on. It's particularly helpful that teachers working in different fields and classrooms share their varied approaches. They don't shy away from the difficulties, either. Students and parents have responded positively in most cases.
You have to have at least some doubt about grades and interest in alternatives to get through this book. The authors are fully convinced that grades undermine learning, but they aren't concerned with providing the evidence to dispel a reader's doubts. You'll have to follow their citations. I for one am not convinced that grades always and everywhere undermine learning, but I am curious to find out more about the evidence they say is there. And to try some of the techniques they share. Still, given the constraints of where I am at, I'm not quite ready to take the leap.
The book starts with several chapters in which the authors tell you why grading is bad and life is better since they dropped the habit. Three or four essays in I was getting frustrated, because I wanted to learn concretely what you do when you ungrade. Then, about halfway through, more detailed accounts of practical strategies started showing up. These give a lot more to chew on. It's particularly helpful that teachers working in different fields and classrooms share their varied approaches. They don't shy away from the difficulties, either. Students and parents have responded positively in most cases.
You have to have at least some doubt about grades and interest in alternatives to get through this book. The authors are fully convinced that grades undermine learning, but they aren't concerned with providing the evidence to dispel a reader's doubts. You'll have to follow their citations. I for one am not convinced that grades always and everywhere undermine learning, but I am curious to find out more about the evidence they say is there. And to try some of the techniques they share. Still, given the constraints of where I am at, I'm not quite ready to take the leap.
March 26, 2022
This collection of essays by educators in almost every sort of classroom--high school, community college, university--is a must-read for anyone whose responsibility it is to educate students. The bibliographies will lead one to the mountain of evidence, accruing since 1912 (very close to the disastrous debut of the A-F grade scale) showing that not only do grades not do what they claim--accurately gauge a student's learning--they are in addition harmful to students, causing anxiety, stress, cheating, a buffet of damage. The educator looking to defend grading as a fair and beneficial practice is in the same boat as the person looking for specious "studies" by crank climatologists "proving" that global warming isn't real. In a word, embarrassing, and, second word, dishonest.
All the contributors share their experience with going gradeless in an environment that requires a final grade be given to students, and the passion and creativity and effort is inspiring. They discuss exactly how they carried out their approach to ungrading, the challenges they faced, what worked, what could be changed. Any review that claims these writers were vague or self-indulgent is a review that isn't being fair about the specificity of detail included in each essay. And the approach does scale: there's at least one essay that describes an approach that worked for eighty-plus students at once. As someone who has gradually chipped away at the importance of grades in his classroom, minimizing their damage where possible, I can't wait to go full gradeless with the guidance provided here.
April 17, 2022
Más que ungrading es un libro sobre "alternative grading", y discursos de motivación al respecto. No dice nada que cualquier educador decente con más de un par de años de experiencia no haya pensado por sí mismo. Como siempre en este tipo de textos, las propuestas concretas y generalizables escasean, mientras que abundan anécdotas irreproducibles (e inútiles).
Cosas negativas:
Normalizar aspectos de la precariedad y el abuso laboral en términos del tiempo que se dedica a la calificación (que sólo aumenta con el "ungrading").
Según un autor, la subjetividad de las notas que trae las diferencias entre profesor y profesor es inherentemente mala, como si "ungrading" tuviera como propósito uniformizar criterios (pienso que es todo lo contrario).
Muchas alternativas al "ungrading" son neutrales respecto a (o empeoran) las brechas de desigualdad, dado que premian a las personas más extrovertidas, con más confianza en sí mismas, con más habilidades de comunicación, en fin, personas que por sus privilegios han podido desarrollar habilidades blandas vs. estudiantes de entornos menos favorecidos.
Sin embargo, sí se me quedaron/inspiraron algunas ideas que quiero implementar:
Tener un diálogo al inicio de clases sobre expectativas e intereses de los estudiantes.
Hacer autoevaluación cualitativa (esquema p. 69).
Usar datos sobre competencias que buscan empleadores como benchmark para autoevaluación (p. 146).
Esquemas de ejercicios voluntarios a medida del estudiante.
Si el feedback busca mejorar habilidades blandas, añadir información específica sobre cursos/libros/videos más allá del currículo en el feedback.
Cosas negativas:
Normalizar aspectos de la precariedad y el abuso laboral en términos del tiempo que se dedica a la calificación (que sólo aumenta con el "ungrading").
Según un autor, la subjetividad de las notas que trae las diferencias entre profesor y profesor es inherentemente mala, como si "ungrading" tuviera como propósito uniformizar criterios (pienso que es todo lo contrario).
Muchas alternativas al "ungrading" son neutrales respecto a (o empeoran) las brechas de desigualdad, dado que premian a las personas más extrovertidas, con más confianza en sí mismas, con más habilidades de comunicación, en fin, personas que por sus privilegios han podido desarrollar habilidades blandas vs. estudiantes de entornos menos favorecidos.
Sin embargo, sí se me quedaron/inspiraron algunas ideas que quiero implementar:
Tener un diálogo al inicio de clases sobre expectativas e intereses de los estudiantes.
Hacer autoevaluación cualitativa (esquema p. 69).
Usar datos sobre competencias que buscan empleadores como benchmark para autoevaluación (p. 146).
Esquemas de ejercicios voluntarios a medida del estudiante.
Si el feedback busca mejorar habilidades blandas, añadir información específica sobre cursos/libros/videos más allá del currículo en el feedback.
September 24, 2021
I was able to apply several of the ideas in this book directly to my teaching practices this semester. On the first day of class, upon hearing about the planned contract grading policy, one of my senior undergraduates said "this sounds like it would be good for student mental health" and the rest of the class nodded and laughed. So far, the students are really enjoying the semester.
My main points of dissatisfaction were that there seemed to be a repetitive obsession with Alfie Kohn's work (I get it, but could the editors have addressed it?) and that the stem undergrad example was such a complicated mess of over grading that it wasn't helpful. That format would have left me so confused and frustrated as a student. I get that it was meant to contribute to metacognition, but isn't one of the points of ungrading that grading itself is arbitrary? Giving students bonus points for getting close to what YOU think should be their grade is a bit narcissistic in my opinion.
I listened to this as an audiobook. Sometimes the narration was a bit frustrating. Some of the pronunciation by the female narrator was awkward and randomly nasal (in a weird way) at times. And the male narration seemed to make every author sound full of themselves and a touch condescending. Overall it wasn't bad narration - just occasionally unsatisfactory.
My main points of dissatisfaction were that there seemed to be a repetitive obsession with Alfie Kohn's work (I get it, but could the editors have addressed it?) and that the stem undergrad example was such a complicated mess of over grading that it wasn't helpful. That format would have left me so confused and frustrated as a student. I get that it was meant to contribute to metacognition, but isn't one of the points of ungrading that grading itself is arbitrary? Giving students bonus points for getting close to what YOU think should be their grade is a bit narcissistic in my opinion.
I listened to this as an audiobook. Sometimes the narration was a bit frustrating. Some of the pronunciation by the female narrator was awkward and randomly nasal (in a weird way) at times. And the male narration seemed to make every author sound full of themselves and a touch condescending. Overall it wasn't bad narration - just occasionally unsatisfactory.
July 10, 2022
Some very interesting ideas presented here. Since this is a concept that is not easily applied to a traditional formatted school, it is hard to fully jump on board. However, I found several interesting ideas that I feel I can adapt to work within my own classroom.
Yes, I would love to see learning be at the forefront of my students minds. But in reality they tend to be grade driven. Or need the threat of failing the class to get them to produce the work.
My big takeaways in no particular order:
Attendance should not be a huge factor in the final grade.
Allowing lenient deadlines to allow the student to work under less pressure is a benefit.
Feedback, when read by students and applied, is the best way for them to grow in their skills.
Providing students with the opportunity to apply the feedback and resubmit assignments is key.
Learning is essential, and students need to be pushed until they get it
When they don’t get it – we have to figure out why and then help them get there.
Great ideas in this book but not practical for me:
Individual conferences with students twice a semester. This will not work with 130 students.
Incorporating peer editing.
Very hard to do in an online format.
— online high school English teacher
Yes, I would love to see learning be at the forefront of my students minds. But in reality they tend to be grade driven. Or need the threat of failing the class to get them to produce the work.
My big takeaways in no particular order:
Attendance should not be a huge factor in the final grade.
Allowing lenient deadlines to allow the student to work under less pressure is a benefit.
Feedback, when read by students and applied, is the best way for them to grow in their skills.
Providing students with the opportunity to apply the feedback and resubmit assignments is key.
Learning is essential, and students need to be pushed until they get it
When they don’t get it – we have to figure out why and then help them get there.
Great ideas in this book but not practical for me:
Individual conferences with students twice a semester. This will not work with 130 students.
Incorporating peer editing.
Very hard to do in an online format.
— online high school English teacher
July 10, 2023
The book presents solid reasoning for the pitfalls of grades and why involving students into the process is beneficial. I agree that rubrics, standards, and grades are limiting but the idea that they alone don't communicate anything really ignores that all of the essays still give grades in the end. And while pass/fail is certainly generous that doesn't really communicate anything to me about the levels of understanding that happen. Students certainly focus on grades and will try to game the system no matter how one approaches evaluation, as one essay admits that all his students chose As and Bs and even with the caveat that the teacher has the right to change the grade, most humans will still default to living in Lake Wobegon. In the end, it seems until we radically adjust the system to allow student choice in learning paths and universities can figure out how to choose students not based on GPA and standardized tests, then we are left with grades. However, the essays' points about evaluation is only useful with feedback, student input, conferencing, and the ability to redo assignments will always be true.
March 9, 2022
I'm just dipping my feet into the idea of changing the way I grade and assess my students, and this was a great starting point. At this juncture, it is the only point I have, though, so my opinion is apt to change.
This book is a collection of essays by various educators from seventh grade (I think that was the lowest in the age range of students) through university graduate students. There were lots of things that I can see myself using in class immediately, but mostly I see the value of this book as a slew of ideas worth pondering.
I am definitely going to have to think carefully about how I would implement this in my classes. At this point in their education (mostly juniors in high school for me) the grading system is so ingrained that taking that out completely without a lot of pondering on my part would be disastrous. I was met with incredulity and nervous laughter for just floating the idea to students of doing away with grades and what that would look like. 'There's no way I would do something I wasn't being graded on' was a fairly typical response.
We'll see!
This book is a collection of essays by various educators from seventh grade (I think that was the lowest in the age range of students) through university graduate students. There were lots of things that I can see myself using in class immediately, but mostly I see the value of this book as a slew of ideas worth pondering.
I am definitely going to have to think carefully about how I would implement this in my classes. At this point in their education (mostly juniors in high school for me) the grading system is so ingrained that taking that out completely without a lot of pondering on my part would be disastrous. I was met with incredulity and nervous laughter for just floating the idea to students of doing away with grades and what that would look like. 'There's no way I would do something I wasn't being graded on' was a fairly typical response.
We'll see!
January 25, 2024
2.5
this book was kind of disappointing? i read this for my pedagogy bookclub and ended up being bored way before the halfway point. i think this book brought up really good points about why ungrading is necessary and about how it can look like in practice. however, it was all very american, and little of it was of relevance for me, and, in turn, difficult to apply. then it got insanely repetitive. every chapter is written by someone else, so it makes sense to have some overlap, but it really felt like we had already consumed the subject of the book in the first 30 pages. i expected way more emphasis on the history of grading and how we can rather decolonize the curriculum, but it was kept very surface level. i also would have appreciated more focus on discussions about the current system and how to improve it in a more general way, but maybe it’s because im not the target audience?
overall this lacked substance :(
this book was kind of disappointing? i read this for my pedagogy bookclub and ended up being bored way before the halfway point. i think this book brought up really good points about why ungrading is necessary and about how it can look like in practice. however, it was all very american, and little of it was of relevance for me, and, in turn, difficult to apply. then it got insanely repetitive. every chapter is written by someone else, so it makes sense to have some overlap, but it really felt like we had already consumed the subject of the book in the first 30 pages. i expected way more emphasis on the history of grading and how we can rather decolonize the curriculum, but it was kept very surface level. i also would have appreciated more focus on discussions about the current system and how to improve it in a more general way, but maybe it’s because im not the target audience?
overall this lacked substance :(
August 20, 2023
A great book examining the usefulness of abolishing grades from the classroom. I think the most surprising fact was that the combination of grades and feedback induced less learning than just feedback!! This is a strong case that grades are not only arbitrary and needlessly stressful, but outright harmful to the learning process. The book does a good job of exploring several journeys to remove grades altogether. Although the book is admittedly mostly geared toward writing classes and I think modifications are necessary in classes which serve as a foundation for later work like math or intro science, the results are encouraging. I think that with some modifications any class could pick up these ideas, although implementation and acceptance are difficult barriers to cross.
December 15, 2021
This collection of essays by pioneering educators at all levels has fundamentally changed my thinking on teaching and learning. The arbitrary application of grades and the dangerous authority of teachers are both challenged here in a way that made me want to jump right in. To paraphrase Blum paraphrasing Kohn, revolution comes from daily action. My five-week "ungraded" experiment in AP English last January showed me that removing rating and sorting from the learning process allows for freedom, flexibility, variety, and even joy in student learning. I am grateful to the contributors who have shown that learning can be individual and communal, serious and joyful, planned and unexpected.
February 3, 2022
First and foremost, this book is for people in the teaching profession who are looking for ways to remove grades from the classroom. It is an anthological exploration of the different ways that diverse teachers from diverse settings have implemented, discovered, and reflected on the topic of ungrading. It’s been instrumental in guiding my hand in the development of curriculum and student-learning measurements for the non-profit youth program I work with. If you are an educator who wants to Ungrade but don’t know where to start, reading this book will give you so many ideas, methods, and motives that you’ll know quite well what you want to do.
March 15, 2022
I began reading this book skeptical of the concept, and finished it by reconsidering many of my previous assumptions of things that are/are not required in a class. While I'm not sure I'll be able to go completely gradeless right off the bat, I thought that the book's suggestion of incremental steps to make towards fewer grades was a good one. I'm excited to take the summer reviewing and rethinking my course syllabus to try and start to implement some of the suggestions. Some of the aspects that I see as potentially fitting in to my class are formative vs substantive assessments, portfolios, and student self assessments.
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