{"id":63399,"date":"2022-04-11T08:54:05","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T14:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/ctl\/?p=63399"},"modified":"2025-07-08T16:13:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T22:13:27","slug":"alternative-grading-frameworks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.boisestate.edu\/ctl\/blog\/2022\/04\/11\/alternative-grading-frameworks\/","title":{"rendered":"Alternative grading frameworks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Although what we think of as a \u201cstandard\u201d standard approach to grading has been around for nearly a century, more and more people are adopting alternative grading frameworks.  Rather than directly assigning points to each piece of student work, these grading systems are built to focus on student learning and the work that students do along the way.  This approach incorporates a growth mindset, offering students greater autonomy, and providing more transparency in terms of how a student\u2019s grade is determined.  Some of these approaches are summarized later on, but let\u2019s begin with some background on grading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the history of grading?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Library, students studying, finals week, Photo Patrick Sweeney<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently)<\/a> by Jeffrey Schinske and Kimberly Tanner includes a great history of grading in higher education. In the 1850s, several universities were experimenting with grades, but most didn\u2019t keep formal records of student performance.  The letter grades used now gained widespread popularity in the 1940s \u2013 and little has changed since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why do we give grades?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In Teaching More by Grading Less (or Differently)<\/a>, Jeffrey Schinske and Kimberly Tanner suggest the following potential purposes for grades: (1) grades as feedback on performance, (2) grades as a motivator of student effort, (3) grades as a tool for comparing students, and (4) grades as an objective evaluation of student knowledge.  It is worth considering if the grading approach used in your class is meant to serve any of these purposes \u2013 and the degree to which it might do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s wrong with traditional grading?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Alternative Grading: Practices to Support Both Equity and Learning by Adiana Streifer and Michael Palmer highlights some of the problems with traditional grading. Not only are grades problematic for students (e.g., by dampening motivation to learn and creating an adversarial relationship with their instructor), grades negatively affect instructors as well. In addition, traditional grades bear little relationship to learning. Perhaps most importantly though, traditional grading schemes can reinforce historic and continuing inequities in higher education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how else might we approach grading?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are numerous alternatives to standard grading practices. The easiest to adopt might be a shift from norm-referenced grading (for example, grading on a curve or imposing a particular distribution of grades such that not everyone in the class can earn an A) to criteria-referenced grading (grading all students against a predetermined standard such that all students who meet a given standard can earn a certain grade in the course).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re ready for something which strays from the standard approach even more, some of the alternative grading frameworks to consider include the following (see the references list for more information about each):<\/p>\n\n\n\n