Episodes
-
48 – Implementation Challenges and Opportunities: A Conversation with Becky Peppler and Don Smith on Working with K-12 School Districts to implement Alternative Grading
In this episode we talk with Becky Peppler and Don Smith from First Educational Resources, an organization dedicated to providing K-12 school districts in North America with affordable options for professional learning to support social emotional learning, instructional coaching, professional learning communities, and grading reform efforts. We discuss their experiences with supporting grading reform efforts…
-
47 – Taking Alternative Grading With You: An Interview with Dr. Rachel Weir
In this episode we talk with Dr. Rachel Weir. Dr. Weir is a Professor of Mathematics at Allegheny College in Meadville, PA. She has been the Director of Faculty Development at Allegheny College for the past few years and is currently (as of when this episode was recorded) the new interim Associate Provost at Allegheny…
-
46 – Extinguishing the Fires within Assessment and Grading Reform: Welcoming Back Dr. Matt Townsley
On this episode we welcome back the “sportscaster” of Alternative Grading, Dr. Matt Townsley, to talk about his new book Extinguishing the Fires within Assessment and Grading Reform. As Alternative Grading practices grow and take shape throughout the United States, efforts to resist these reforms are also growing. This incredible new book offers practical guidance…
-
45 – Exploring the schedule for the 2024 Grading Conference
Join us as we explore some of the sessions at the upcoming Grading Conference! Sharona and Bosley share some details of the newly released schedule for the Grading Conference, as well as discuss which ones they would really like to attend. Links Please note – any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking…
-
44 – Artificial Intelligence And Alt Grading: Challenges and Opportunities
If you base your grades on “authentic assessment of student work”, then what do you do when technology catches up to the point where AI can do BETTER work than your students? And what about AI that can help the instructor do better work? Better feedback, easier workloads? In this episode, Sharona and Bosley share…
-
43 – Alt Grading as a Team: Course Coordination, PLCs, course teams – how to do this together!
In this episode, Sharona and Bosley discuss some of the details of how to manage doing alternatively grading as a team. Given the extremely personal nature of grading, what are some of the steps needed to allow for personalization in an environment that is designed to have all the course sections be closely aligned. Links…
-
42 – Metacognition, Power Structures in the Classroom, what is reasonable to expect of students? An Interview with Dr. Theresa Gaines.
In this episode, Sharona and Boz sit down with Dr. Theresa Gaines (Gath) to talk about how they think about metacognition and power structures in the classroom. Having introduced ungrading in their previous institution, Gath shares how they are using ungrading and the principles of ungrading to address power structures in the classroom in their…
-
41 – Second Chance Grading: How Small, Gentle Approach to Changing Grading Led to Research Into Alt Grading
In this episode, Sharona and Bosley sit down with Dr. Brie Tripp and Dr. Rob Furrow, both from the University of California, Davis. Brie and Rob share their fascinating foray into introducing “second-chance grading” into their classes. They also share how this introduction led them into a research project with very interesting connections to Self-Determination…
-
40 – Data-Driven Instruction: Using Learning Outcome Data to Talk with Students, Instructors, and Administrators
In this episode, Sharona and Bosley go into more depth about how tracking student progress on learning outcomes can provide a wealth of data to use in supporting students, improving course designs, and communicating with administrators. Links Please note – any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through…
-
39 – Systemic Change – A Look at how Los Angeles Unified School District developed their new grading policy, based on Equitable Grading practices. With Joe Zeccola
In February 2024, with very little fanfare, Los Angeles Unified School District introduced a new grading policy, the first update since 2005. Based in Equitable Grading and Instruction principles, this new policy recommends that teachers to use equitable grading practices and states that grades should reflect student proficiency in learning outcomes. In this episode, Joe…