Undoing the Traditions of Grading and Reporting

One silver lining from the ongoing public health crisis might be the lasting impact of two modified approaches of the past year

Thomas Guskey, author of Get Set, Go! Creating Successful Grading and Reporting Systems, sees the pandemic leading to permanent, positive changes in how students are assessed on their learning. PHOTO COURTESY OF THOMAS GUSKEY

The COVID-19 pandemic compelled district leaders to make drastic changes in the way schools operate. Nearly overnight, school buildings were closed, transportation was halted and instruction became remote for students. These changes made apparent the need for revisions in grading and reporting as well.

What district leaders quickly discovered, though, is that changing grading policies and practices meant challenging some of education’s longest-held traditions.

In efforts to make grading fairer, more meaningful and more equitable for students during the pandemic, school district leaders in many communities realized that certain grading traditions have long outlived their usefulness and need to be altered or abandoned. When schools began to reopen and classroom instruction resumed, several of these changes in grading were retained. Grading reform thus became a silver lining to the hardships created by the pandemic.

Two of the most important improvements in grading and reporting involved (1) the use of fewer grade categories and (2) the assignment of multiple grades.