Intrigued about alternative grading after January PD? Want more strategies for effective practices? Consider following the Grading for Growth blog by Robert Talbert and David Clark.

A recent blog post comes from a guest author, a math teacher at a community college in Washington State. Halley McCormick describes how she continues to fine-tune her approach in “Communicating Effectively with Students about Alternative Grading: Helping Students Track Their Grade and Understand Its Meaning.”

McCormick explains her strategies for explaining the “why” and the “how” of alternative grading and her plans for improving her system. Her students appreciate how redoing assignments helps them learn, McCormick writes, although establishing comfort with her marking system can be challenging. More communication helps. “I lean on the notion that getting information about their progress not only helps students think about their thinking but also helps them plan exactly how to improve,” McCormick writes. 

The free Grading for Growth blog frequently features guest posts like McCormick’s from instructors in a variety of disciplines, as well as posts from Talbert and Clark. For an even deeper dive, CIE also has more copies of the Grading for Growth book.