Alternative Grading Models

A workshop titled "Mini-Workshop: Alternative Grading Models" originally presented for CAT+FD on 17 March 2026 by Dr. Jason Todd

Abstract

Traditional grading systems tend to orient students toward point accumulation rather than learning, generate anxiety (particularly for first-generation and underrepresented students), and produce feedback that students rarely engage with once a grade has been assigned. Alternative grading approaches shift the focus toward evidence of learning and reduce adversarial faculty-student dynamics by moving rigor to course design rather than evaluation.

• Contract Grading establishes a written agreement at the start of the semester in which students commit to a defined body of work in exchange for a defined grade.
• Specifications Grading assesses work as complete or incomplete against clearly published criteria.
• Ungrading removes grades from individual assignments entirely. Students receive qualitative feedback throughout the semester and complete a self-assessment at the end.
• Negotiated Grading involves students and instructor co-determining what will count as evidence of learning and how it will be evaluated.

Resources

• Alternative Grading Models Slidedeck (on Gamma.app)

References

• Artze-Vega, I., Darby, F., Dewsbury, B., & Imad, M. (2023). The Norton guide to equity-minded teaching. W. W. Norton & Company.
• Blum, S. D. (Ed.). (2020). Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead). West Virginia University Press.
• Budde, T. (2023, July 24). Why I no longer grade my college students. Grading for Growth. https://gradingforgrowth.com/p/why-i-no-longer-grade-my-college
• Center for Grading Reform. (n.d.). The grading conference. https://www.thegradingconference.com
• Danielewicz, J., & Elbow, P. (2009). A unilateral grading contract to improve learning and teaching. College Composition and Communication, 61(2), 244-268.
• Donahoe, E. (2026). Unmaking the Grade. https://emilypittsdonahoe.substack.com
• Eyler, J. (2022, March 7). Grades are at the center of the student mental health crisis. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/just-visiting/grades-are-center-student-mental-health-crisis
• Feldman, J. (2024). Grading for equity (2nd ed.). Corwin Press.
• Inoue, A. B. (2019). Labor-based grading contracts: Building equity and inclusion in the compassionate writing classroom. The WAC Clearinghouse. https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/labor/
• McCloud, L. I. (2023, April 17). Keeping receipts: Thoughts on ungrading from a Black woman professor. Zeal: A Journal for Liberal Arts, 1(2). https://zeal.kings.edu/zeal/article/view/25
• Miller, M.D. (2022, August 2). Ungrading light: 4 simple ways to ease the spotlight off points. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/ungrading-light-4-simple-ways-to-ease-the-spotlight-off-points
• Nilson, L. B. (2015). Specifications grading: Restoring rigor, motivating students, and saving faculty time. Stylus Publishing.
• Winkelmes, M. (2026). TILT higher ed. https://www.tilthighered.com
• Winkelmes, M.A., Bernacki, M. Butler, J. Zochowski, M. Golanics, J. Harriss Weavil, K. (2016). A Teaching Intervention that Increases Underserved College Students' Success, Peer Review 18(1/2).

Further Reading

• Carl Wieman Science Education Initiative. (2014, October). Two-stage exams. https://cwsei.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/cwsei/resources/instructor/Two-stage_Exams.pdf
• Chris Marriot - Computer Science. (2022, January 7). Using labor-based grading in your STEM classroom [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/MXiHhcdfrDk?si=UX8KxAcPYOIQJ0eb
• Donahoe, E.P., Dyer, J., Mattaini, K., and Tanner, E. (2025, December 12) Alternative Grading in Large Classes. Unmaking the Grade. https://emilypittsdonahoe.substack.com/p/alternative-grading-in-large-classes
• McKnelly, K.J., Howitz, W.J., Thane, T.A., and Link, R.D. (). Specifications grading at scale: Improved letter grades and grading-related interactions in a course with over 1,000 students, Journal of Chemical Education 100(9). https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.2c00740