Going Gradeless, Grades 6-12

Going Gradeless, Grades 6-12: Shifting the Focus to Student Learning

Elise Burns - High School Science Teacher
David Frangiosa - High School Science Teacher

Reform assessment, reduce stress, and strengthen learning

Great things happen when students are able to focus on their learning instead of their scores. However, assessment reform, including standards-based grading, remains a hotly debated issue in education. Going Gradeless shows that it is possible to teach and assess without the stress of traditional grading practices.

Sharing their successful shifts to alternate assessment and their perspectives as experienced classroom teachers, the authors show you how to remove the negative impacts of grades while still maintaining a high level of accountability. Readers will find concrete examples of how these approaches can be developed and applied, plus:

• Sample assessments and rubrics
• Student work samples from all grade levels
• An accountability checklist
• A review of collected data

It is possible to go gradeless! Focusing less on letter grades allows students to interact with the content more deeply, develop better relationships with their teachers and peers, and gain confidence in the classroom, school, and beyond.