Episodes
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160 – Schoolishness, AI and the Future of Education: A conversation with Dr. Susan D. Blum.
What if the biggest challenge facing education isn’t grading—but our assumptions about school itself? In this episode, Sharona and Boz welcome anthropologist and author Susan Blum for a wide-ranging conversation about how her research into plagiarism led her to question the fundamental purpose of grades, assessment, and formal education. Drawing on her books Ungrading and…
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159 – The Birth of Specs Grading: A Conversation with Linda Nilson
Few people have had a greater influence on the alternative grading movement than Linda Nilson. In this episode, Sharona and Boz welcome the author of Specifications Grading and Specifications Grading 2.0 to reflect on the origins of one of the most widely adopted approaches to grading reform. Linda shares the experiences that led her to…
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158 – Reflection is the Real Revision: Six Years of Standards-Based Grading
Alternative grading systems are never really finished. They evolve as instructors learn more about their students, their courses, and their own teaching. In this reflective episode, Sharona and Boz use a recent six-year retrospective by mathematics instructor Hilary Freeman as a springboard for exploring what long-term iteration looks like in practice. Rather than focusing on…
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157 – The Next Chapter of Specifications Grading with Joe Packowski
Specifications grading has become one of the most influential approaches in the alternative grading movement, but how has the model evolved since Linda Nilson first introduced it more than a decade ago? In this episode, Sharona and Boz sit down with Joe Packowski to discuss the newly released second edition of Specifications Grading and the…
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156 – Reflections from the 2026 Grading Conference with Katie Mattaini and Drew Lewis
The 2026 Grading Conference brought together hundreds of educators from across disciplines to share research, classroom innovations, and practical strategies for rethinking assessment. In this episode, Sharona and Boz are joined by conference organizers Katie Mattaini and Drew Lewis to reflect on the conversations, presentations, and emerging themes that stood out most this year. Rather…
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155 – Retakes at Scale: A Key Pillar of Alt Grading Meets Computer Based Testing Facilities with Craig Zilles
One of the biggest objections to alternative grading is also one of the most practical: How can this possibly work in large classes? In this episode, Sharona and Boz welcome computer science professor Craig Zilles to explore what happens when technology is designed not just to make grading easier, but to make better assessment practices…
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154 – Building Thinking Classrooms Meets Alternative Grading – an Interview with Peter Liljedahl
In this episode, Sharona and Boz sit down with renowned mathematics education researcher Peter Liljedahl to explore the often-overlooked connection between classroom pedagogy and grading practices. Best known for his influential work on Building Thinking Classrooms, Peter shares his own journey into alternative grading, from questioning traditional percentage-based systems to developing approaches that prioritize meaningful…
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153 – Making Course Design Visible: A Journey to Design a Math for Humans Course
In this behind-the-scenes episode, Sharona and Boz take listeners inside the early stages of designing a brand-new (to Sharona) course: a general education quantitative reasoning class she affectionately describes as “Math for Humans.” Using the conversation itself as a form of reflective practice, Sharona and Boz unpack the challenges of building a grading architecture, selecting…
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152 – Alternative Grading, Reflection, and the Questions That Remain with David Clark
In this episode, Sharona and Boz welcome back David Clark to unpack his recent end-of-semester “3x3x3” reflection blog post for Grading for Growth. Using a structure of three surprises, three lessons learned, and three lingering questions, the conversation explores everything from refining standards-based grading systems after more than a decade of iteration to the growing…
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151 – Designing Impactful Courses Using Self-Determination Theory – with Dan Guberman
In this episode, Sharona and Boz welcome back Dan Guberman to discuss his new book, Designing Impactful College Courses: Applying Self-Determination Theory to Unleash the Potential of Autonomy-Supportive Learning Environments. The conversation explores how self-determination theory, which is a framework centered on autonomy, competence, and relatedness, provides a powerful lens for understanding both grading reform…