Beyond the Numbers: Exploring the Gradeless Classroom Experience
The history of grades goes back well over a century and has been well documented within the gradeless community. Grades have been and are currently used to assess behaviors such as promptness of work, work completion, participation, and many others—as well as mastery of skills and understanding of concepts.
Over the course of the past seven years, I have transformed my classroom into a gradeless classroom with the support of like-minded educators across the globe. My intent for going gradeless was to shift away from debates about points deducted and grades received, and toward a mindset of learning and growth. I wanted students to develop an understanding of the learning process and the strategies that empower them to succeed in their current classes and beyond.
In this post, I explore the benefits of a gradeless classroom for students, teachers, and parents. In addition, I explain my rationale as to why going gradeless made sense for me and my classroom.
The traditional grading system carries numerous drawbacks and limitations, a reality that became particularly evident to me this summer as I took on teaching the high school credit recovery. In just 12 brief days, I gleaned insights into the unique stories of each student who found themselves attending summer school while attempting to recover credit for a failed science class. During this time period, I welcomed 127 students through my classroom door, each possessing a different story for their circumstances. What they shared in common, however, was an experience marked by traditional assessment methods, all of which led to unsatisfactory outcomes.
Among those who attended were students who had fallen short by a mere 1%. The concept of accurately grading within such a narrow margin baffled me. As I engaged in conversations with these students, I discovered their ability to articulate their learning from the previous school year in various levels of depth.
With the online credit recovery module provided, students were able to progress through various units, demonstrating mastery of the material and passing their courses in a timely manner. It was evident, however, that the label of "failing" had taken a toll on their motivation and self-esteem. I encountered numerous instances of students expressing negative self-perceptions or viewing themselves as inadequate. It was a simple reminder that traditional grading methods can inadvertently hinder students, causing them to stumble under the weight of poor grades and leading to a loss of hope and engagement. Unfortunately, these factors take away from the fundamental purpose of school—to facilitate learning and growth.
The online curriculum was designed to bridge learning gaps and enable students to recover credits lost during the school year. While its intent was positive, it still had its flaws. Lab experiences were glaringly absent. It was disconcerting to witness a student go through two semesters of Chemistry without ever handling a test tube or donning a pair of safety goggles. Additionally, the curriculum lacked opportunities for collaboration and meaningful discussions. Finally, it relied exclusively on a single mode of assessment—multiple-choice questions.
In order to assess the progress of 127 students, my colleagues and I had to use a weighting system for three categories: quizzes (5%), tests (5%), and the final exam (90%). To pass the class, students needed to score at least 60% on the final exam. The online curriculum did incorporate pretests for each section, allowing students to test out of the section if they scored 80% or higher. However, this allowance fell short of being a true mastery-based approach since students could progress past the unit regardless of their quiz and test scores. It retained traditional grading elements with its emphasis on weighting and percentages, all contributing to a cumulative grade that rendered student mastery or failure of particular learning objectives invisible.
This grading quandry posed critical questions about fairness and accurately gauging student knowledge. Faced with this challenge, I chose to use the flawed quantitative data as a starting point to genuinely understand student learning through conversations. For example, for students who fell just short of passing the final exam (scoring between 50-59%), I conducted verbal assessments of various topics, allowing them to articulate their understandings and demonstrate competency. For those who passed the final but had overall percentages that inadequately reflected their true knowledge, I used their final exam score as their grade for the class. In numerous conversations with students, I learned about the barriers they encountered throughout the year, their initial knowledge when entering summer school, and the growth they had achieved within their brief time with me. Despite the constraints imposed by percentages, I found myself constructing verbal portfolios of learning, providing students with diverse ways to demonstrate understanding and recover their credit.
This experience served as a reminder of why I departed from traditional grading practices in the first place. The summer school curriculum, with its emphasis on percentages and weighting, closely resembled the dynamics that had unfolded in my own classroom prior to my shift toward a gradeless approach. It reinforced my awareness of the following drawbacks inherent to traditional grading:
Insufficient genuine feedback
One-size-fits-all approach
Limited ways to demonstrate of overall understanding
Encouragement to “game” the system
Focusing on points/percentages vs. genuine learning
In contrast, a gradeless classroom (while it might vary from one teacher to the next) would emphasize the following core principles:
Evidence-based knowledge
Feedback
Self-assessment
Growth
By centering these core principles, I have seen students develop a deeper understanding of topics, increase their willingness to take risks, improve their metacognition, and become more proactive in seeking out feedback. Descriptive, qualitative feedback naturally puts the focus on growth and learning. Students are less likely to “give up” as the quarter progresses because they know they can continue to develop mastery all the way up to our end-of-quarter student-led conferences.
Not only does the gradeless approach offer benefits for students, but also for teachers. Using a gradeless approach allows teachers to spend less time grading papers and spend more time providing feedback, as well as modifying and creating new learning opportunities for students. The dialogue I have with students enables me to understand their strengths, growth, and areas of challenge better than I ever achieved in a traditional graded classroom. In addition, I find myself fulfilled reading student reflections, midterm- and end-of-term self-assessments, as well as participating in student-led portfolio conferences. These strategies allow students to focus on their learning, growth, and the processes that contribute to their success.
Caregivers also benefit from the gradeless approach as it enables their child to communicate their learning in depth, at least once every two weeks. Many parents have reached out multiple times in response to their child’s reflections and self-assessment, sharing how these tools spark valuable conversations at home. While this innovative approach might initially seem scary, with time and increased understanding, the majority of parents are grateful for the valuable insights they gain about their child’s learning.
What does the research say about gradeless environments? A recent study concluded that, although higher-achieving students may experience something of an “identity crisis” in a gradeless setting, the following benefits outweigh the challenges:
No decline in student achievement or decrease long-term academic performance
Enhanced soft skills
Increased intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Reducted “strategic” surface learning
All of these findings are worthwhile to consider both when defending or shifting to a gradeless classroom. For me the most noteworthy takeaway is that a gradeless classroom reduces strategic surface learning, in other words, “playing the game of school.” By shifting student attitudes toward learning from gaming the system to curiosity and collaboration, I feel I am providing students with the skills they will need to navigate our ever-changing world.
Although there is no solid data to support what percentage of teachers use a gradeless approach is gaining increased attention lately. Portfolio platforms such as Unrulr, gotLearning, and the Mastery Transcript are emerging to support the gradeless approach. In my own setting, I used to be the only gradeless teacher, but last year I successfully encouraged the majority of our science department and a language arts teacher to take the plunge. While each of our entry points and perspectives vary, what unites us is a shared desire to challenge traditional practices and strive for something different for ourselves and our students.
As I reflect on my desire to break free from traditional grading, I recall the frustration of seeing over half of my science students consistently fail. Traditional assessments produced poor results, leaving both students and me dissatisfied. Exploring growth models, incorporating peer feedback, and undergoing National Board Certification gradually shaped my journey. The NBPTS process in particular emphasizes reflection and self-assessment, aligning with my newfound principles. This led me to Twitter and the Teachers Going Gradeless community, connecting me with like-minded educators. Engaging with teachers—mostly language arts at first—allowed me to adapt and customize their resources for my middle school science classroom, forming the basis for my current practices.
Transitioning into a gradeless approach is possible. Shifting your classroom away from grades is powerful, benefiting both you and your students as you pave a way to a more engaging learning journey.
Rachael Kettner-Thompson is a National Board Certified Teacher and has been teaching middle school Science for the majority of her 20 years in public schools in Arizona, Idaho, and Washington State. She currently teaches 7th and 8th grade Science just outside of Spokane, WA.