Going gradeless. Sounds so empowering, right? To go grades free means to reject an established and relatively universal method that reports learning outcomes and behavioral expectations of students. But for many teachers, going entirely gradeless is not a possibility in their teaching contexts. However, it is still possible to create a culture in your classroom that deemphasizes grades and emphasizes learning. 

In my own quest to go gradeless, I adopted a mindset and adapted practices that minimize the power of letter grades, points, and percentages despite the inability to totally eliminate traditional grades in my classroom. 

My Journey

In the fall of 2017, I switched schools. Prior to the move, I taught middle grades social studies at a Title I school, and I had a lot of success there. My test scores were great, I was a semifinalist for teacher of the year in my school district, and I won Georgia Council on Economic Education Teacher of the Year. I had a great relationship with my students, and despite the hardships associated with teaching children in poverty, they made great academic progress during their years with me.

But after six years at the same school under the same administration, I was looking for a change. So, I put in for a transfer and took a position at a school on the other side of town (I mean that literally and figuratively). As you can imagine, there were night-and-day differences between the schools, but one of the most striking differences was how obsessed many of my students were with their grades. 

And not just good grades. My students expected to make straight 100s. 

They immediately compared grades with each other after a test. They hounded me and begged me for a few extra credit points. They tried to negotiate for a higher grade after claiming they “misclicked” on an assignment. It was exhausting! At my old school, I had to get the kids to care more about their grades, and at my new school I had to get them to care less. Learning wasn't the primary goal for my new students and I wanted them to develop a love for learning, to embrace mistakes and to grow.

In addition to switching schools, I also started working on my master’s degree. In the summer of 2018, I took an educational trends and issues class in which we were required to pick a current topic and write a blog series on it. After a year with grade-crazed students, I wanted to learn more about alternatives so I chose to research eliminating the traditional grading system in favor of feedback-based formative assessment, narrative reporting, and conferencing with students.

I studied the research of Alfie Kohn, read blog posts from Teachers Going Gradeless, read books from Mark Barnes and Starr Sackstein. I was also fortunate enough to go to Harvard’s Project Zero for a week and learned from the greats such as Howard Gardner, David Perkins, and Ron Ritchhart. I was so pumped to take everything I learned and get my “going gradeless game plan” together. I planned on taking a year to implement small changes first: shifting my students’ mindsets, learning how to write feedback and figuring out how to use class time to conference and have students act on the feedback provided. Then the next year, I was going fully gradeless baby!

Unfortunately, going entirely gradeless never came to fruition. In 2019, a new principal was appointed to our school and then the pandemic hit in 2020. I knew it wasn’t the right time to launch a new initiative on my administration, students, and parents. But those obstacles didn’t stop me from implementing what I learned about going gradeless to my traditional grades context.

Laying the Groundwork for a Gradeless Classroom Culture

Although it wasn’t practical for me to totally eliminate grades, I was able to make a number of significant changes. I took steps to implement more human-centered practices and create the conditions in which students are invested in the learning process, not arbitrary letters and numbers. 

Shifting My Mindset

My no-grades enthusiasm was initially sparked by Arthur Chiaravalli in his article Teachers Going Gradeless: A Future Towards Growth Not Grades which provided a number of links for me to further expand my reading and research. I was inspired by the grassroots nature of the gradeless movement by ordinary teachers. I joined gradeless communities on Facebook and Twitter. I watched videos and listened to podcasts such as #HackLearning and Beyond the Curriculum. I attended in-person and virtual PDs to gather tips and tricks for going gradeless. This all prompted a fundamental shift in how I viewed teaching and learning and inspired me to change my practices.

Changing My Language

One of the first changes I made towards a gradeless classroom was the way I spoke about grades with my students and colleagues. I evolved my language to emphasize learning not grades, mastery instead of points, progress rather than perfection. When students asked, “What can I do to get my grade up?”, I offered alternatives such as, “How can I show improvement?” or “I don’t quite understand this topic yet. Are there additional resources available to help me learn this better?” Before I knew it, my students were transitioning towards a growth mindset and taking actions to improve their learning.

Changing My Practices

I took a long, hard look at my lessons. If they weren’t meaningfully tied to student learning or did not give students the opportunity to exhibit their individual and collective skills, I revised them or ditched them altogether. Then I started to put practices in place that resulted in less grades. I stopped assigning points to every single assignment and tried some no-point, low-stakes, and gamified options for practice. With the use of technology (Canvas, Nearpod, Quizizz, Kahoot, Gimkit, Blooket, etc.), I can create assignments that immediately indicate whether students are on the right track or need additional support. 

If students were working toward a product, I provided specific, actionable feedback during the process. Feedback can be verbal while interacting with students during class time or virtual using digital tools during or outside of class. Digital tools have definitely made the feedback loop between teachers and students more efficient with the help of no-point rubrics, checklists, or feedback written directly on a digital document. When it came time to input traditional grades (which we are expected to to do weekly), I felt it most appropriate to do so for summative assessments and final products. But now students are part of the grading process. They assess their own work and recommend a grade based on evidence of their progress towards mastery. I started to allow quiz and test retakes, and I updated student scores in my online gradebook. I input the retake score but include the original score in the comments section to document progress made.

Making Time 

You make time for what you value. Once feedback and growth became priorities over grades, I started carving out time in my classroom for students to do something with all the feedback I was now giving them. Catlin Tucker recommends bringing all assessment into the classroom. I made it a practice to have students complete iterations of their assignments that exhibited changes based on my feedback while in class. Making that time is not easy. I teach social studies and with so much content to cover, there is always pressure to keep it moving. But making this investment throughout the year creates better learners in the long run.

Conclusion

I leave you with a student email I received during Kindness Week. Although she doesn’t know this, many of the things she enjoys about my class is a result of my journey towards going gradeless. The fact that she chose to include an appreciation of my grading practices reaffirms the positive impact of grading less. 

Dear Mrs. Ellis, 

Thank you so much for a wonderful year in social studies. I went into this school year with little hope, as my previous two years in middle school had been very rough. Social studies was one of my worst during the beginning of the school year, but it quickly became my favorite class. You have made my learning experience so much better than it had been. I feel comfortable participating in your class, even when I feel anxious or scared in other classes. Not only have I enjoyed the lessons and assignments, but I have enjoyed the atmosphere that you have created for your students. I greatly appreciate all the effort you put into your lessons, your assignments, and even your grading. I look forward to coming to your class everyday and I know I will for the rest of the year. You are truly the kindest teacher I have ever had.

Sincerely,

Skye (8th grade virtual student)

Vanessa Ellis currently works as an 8th grade social studies teacher at Veterans Memorial Middle School in Columbus, Georgia. She enjoys creating educational songs based on popular hits and finding other ways to make learning fun and exciting. You can get a glimpse into her classroom on Instagram and Twitter. She currently resides in Midland, Georgia with her husband Oliver (who is also a teacher) and their three children. Make sure to join Vanessa and Oliver this Sunday for a special Valentine’s Day #TG2Chat!