When a teacher assigns a final grade, it is a high-stakes reporting of a student’s performance and has major implications for our students’ identity and sense of self, but also is used to make high stakes decisions about them—course placement, extra-curricular eligibility, scholarships and financial aid, college admission, etc. Our grades are the most formalized expression of our professional judgment and expertise, yet unfortunately, and ironically, we teachers receive almost no education or training in how to grade.

The last 2-½ years of the global pandemic have shone a bright spotlight on the weaknesses and harms of our century-old traditional grading practices–practices which we see more clearly hamper effective teaching and learning and harm students. How do many of our common grading practices unintentionally reward students with more resources and penalize those with fewer supports, thereby perpetuating achievement and opportunity gaps? How can teachers dedicated to equity and using culturally-sustaining and liberatory instructional practices for their classroom ensure that their grading practices align with, rather than undermine, their beliefs? How can we grade in ways that support the range of instructional models as well as reduce students’ (and our own) stress? How must we not revert to pre-pandemic “normal” grading when those practices have always harmed our students of color, those with special needs, whose first language is not English, and whose families have fewer resources and privilege?

Join us for the 3rd Annual Grading for Equity Virtual Institute on August 2 - 4, 2022 for teachers or August 2 - 5, 2022 for school and district leaders from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm PST (12:00 pm - 4:00 pm EST) for an interactive and expertly guided examination of the theory, skills, mindsets, and practices necessary to improve grading to be more accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational for all students. We will explore how more equitable grading and assessment can be a lever for creating stronger teacher-student relationships and more caring, engaging classrooms, and improve achievement for all students, particularly those historically underserved.

Participants of this Institute will:

• Understand the history of our current approaches to grading, and recognize the ways in which our continued use of those practices undermines equity and restricts how we want our students to experience learning and how we want to teach
• Learn about equitable grading practices that are more accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational, and envision the challenges and opportunities of implementing the practices into our classrooms and contexts
• Reflect on previous experiences and beliefs with grading, and find connections and disconnections between those experiences and more equitable grading practices
• Envision ways to begin (or continue) more equitable grading practices in our classrooms, schools, and districts

What this is NOT:

• This is NOT a train the trainer workshop. Participants will not be prepared to teach the content to others; it is an intensive introduction to the why, what, and how of equitable grading
• This is not a “credentialing”, self-contained training. While the Institute can be a springboard for future work at the classroom, school, or even district level, it is not “spray-on” professional development where participants leave with expertise or are “fully-formed” experts of equitable grading practices.

Design

This remote event will blend online and offline experiences so that participants have time and space to learn, reflect, pause, and engage meaningfully with the content and colleagues. The four-hour session each day will include online synchronous breakout groups and short presentations as well as offline readings, exercises, and videos. After an extended break, a 1-hour session is for assigned groups to work together to understand and apply content, and to prepare for the next day’s learning.

Credit

This Grading for Equity Institute translates into a two-unit course (or approximately 15 hours of professional development), although it is up to each school or district to make that ultimate determination. Each participant will be provided a Certificate of Completion.