2025 #3 Grading for Growth (Clark/Talbert)

 

Grading for Growth by David Clark
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

David Clark and Robert Talbert's Grading for Growth is a truly useful book for anyone designing a course, full stop. Even those who may wish to stick to traditional grading structures (or have to, due to mandates), can benefit from thinking about the four pillars (as defined by the authors) of alternative grading: 1) clearly defined standards, 2) helpful feedback, 3) marks indicate progress, 4) reassessment without penalty. The challenge comes in fighting the pre-conceived notions of what letter grades stand for and their import.

The book offers some background on alternative grading: SBG (standards-based grading), specifications (specs) grading, and ungrading, although SBG gets pride of place in the authors' own assessment strategies. Because of this, sometimes it can be a bit blurry when they are talking "standards" as a pillar, or SBG as a specific system--especially later in the book. Chapter 5 does address standards-based grading quite specifically, and chapter 6 is devoted to specs grading, so the frameworks are fairly clear, but those new to these systems might benefit from additional reading, such as Linda B. Nilson's Specifications Grading.

The most significant part of the book (for me) was the Chapter 11 Workbook. I'm reminded of a wonderful professor I had for Macroeconomics in college. I was on the verge of failing her class--a first for me, and I came to her office in tears, one or two days before the final exam. She wrote out a schedule for my next 24 hours, specified exactly which carrel in the library I was going to sit in, when I would be taking breaks, eating, and sleeping. That list held my hand through studying for this final exam I thought I would surely fail. I didn't fail, and I passed the class with a very low grade, but I passed. What does this have to do with Chapter 11?

Well, it is truly a step-by-step guide to course design. It says it is a workbook for alternative grading, and certainly that is the focus, but the process the authors lead us through is a beautiful example of backward design. Now many teachers I know (myself included) always think that our learning outcomes are tied to our assignments, but I fully admit that my intentionality in making sure that's the case hasn't always been optimal. Administrative mandates about "phrasing" rather than helping faculty make the connections between outcomes and assessments haven't always helped either. About two years ago, I started numbering my course's learning outcomes and placing that number next to the various assignments. This was just something that made sense to me as I started to feel like LOs were becoming frivolous rhetoric--at least for the students. I didn't know that I was starting the process that undergirds alternative grading. Each of the 9 steps is clearly explained, with a time estimate for each step, as well as a continuous case study featuring "Professor Alice" and her "First Year Seminar" course that you review before working with your own course. Again, some of what's included might seem like basic common sense, but I suspect many instructors skip some steps here and there, and I know that I've certainly come up with coping strategies when I've not thought something through as well as I might. Steps 1-8 are doable in an entire day (and that's suggested), but I found it more effective (given my cognitive load preferences) to spread it out over several days, which allowed me to be fresh. The authors stress that one shouldn't spend TOO much time because essentially everything is fundamentally a draft. Most helpful to me were Step 3: Make A Prototype of the Marking Methods and What the A and C (D in my case) represent and Step 5: Build one Assessment and rehearse the Feedback Loop. Given my time constraints and the way I tend to think, I did sort of mush steps 6-8 together a bit, but perhaps those more disciplined can compartmentalize better. Whether one is designing a brand new course (which I think added to my inability to isolate those latter steps) or redesigning an existing one, this chapter is invaluable.

Chapter 12, "How to Do it," is also very useful, taking us out of the grade book and into reality, and reminding us of the big picture, e.g. building trust and promoting buy-in. The book can be used somewhat piecemeal, I suppose, although I think there is much to be gained by reading the chapters on large classes and lab classes, even if those scenarios are not directly applicable to one's own courses.

The authors, who have an absolutely terrific Substack of the same name (Grading for Growth), are humble and intentional. There is no smug grandstanding, or hyperbolic claims. Well-balanced in theory and practical advice, the book is one of the best I've read about teaching (in general). It models the collegiality that should be encouraging instructors to invest intentionally in their course assessment. While the authors don't specifically address UDL (Universal Design for Learning), the four pillars certainly intersect with the concept of building "expert learners" (old UDL guidelines), and "learner agency" (UDL 3.0 guidelines). Iterative work and feedback loops are at the heart of it all, and the spirit of the book is in keeping with the "plus-one" approach in Tobin/Behling's Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone (West Virginia University Press, 2018). If you are a teacher who has been feeling a bit "meh" about your courses, read this book. You'll find something to take with you. And do you yourself a favor, start reading it a month prior to your course (or at least get to Chapter 11). Learn from my mistakes.

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2024 #55 Specifications Grading (Nilson)

 

Specifications Grading by Linda B. Nilson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great intro to specs grading, albeit maybe a bit dated. I would love to see an update that integrates UDL (Universal Design for Learning) in an overt way. Some of it is implicit, especially in the models that offer options/choice of assignments in learning bundles. I would have liked a better representation of counterargument literature, particularly as I still have questions about those students who sell themselves short already due to things like internalized racism. I'm also questioning the fairness of the specific model wherein "more work" = A, because students have different socio-economic circumstances and it may not be an option for some students to devote the extra time. I suppose it is then incumbent upon the professor to make sure that the "more work" levels are attainable by students just as they would (we hope) in traditional grading. It is a tricky business, on the other hand, because some students have to work so much just to pay their tuition and the cost comes at not being able to fully engage in that which they are paying for. I realize that issue goes beyond specs grading, but I do think it is part of the larger conversation.

Those questions aside, however, there are plentiful examples of application and syllabus language that are very helpful. Nilson explains relevant terms and makes the text very accessible. The index makes the book helpful as a reference.

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2023 #11: Small Teaching Online (Darby/Lang)

 

Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes by Flower Darby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a useful book, packed full of good tips, but could have been a bit more concise in places. I found myself wishing for a bit more empirical evidence that these things work, but I understand not all of them are tried and true (yet). For skeptics, some of it may seem idealized, but one can push past the sunny language and see the point Darby makes. For example: "When they see the relevance of coursework, the thread that ties everything together, students are more wiling to complete activities and assessments in a way that promotes meaningful learning. (23)" Well, we know that's not always the case, but Darby pushes us to honor the highest potential. I very much appreciated the application of "small teaching" approaches and the advocacy that online teaching can be (and should be) meaningful and interactive. At this point, even those who had to "emergency pivot" to online teaching during the pandemic should have figured out that it requires pedagogical considerations and isn't just a 1:1 transition. From that perspective, I found some of the cheerleading excessive, but not to the detriment of the book's value as a whole. Darby offers specific ways to implement UDL (Universal Design for Learning) practices (i.e. "Provide multiple topics and questions in online discussion prompts" and "Let students sign up for groups based on a topic they want to delve into"). There's a lot of general wisdom as well, that isn't just applicable to online teaching: "Giving the students something to do while watching a mini-lecture video, for example, encourages active listening and attentive processing of new information." (187). That seems obvious, perhaps, but I think there are times in my own teaching when I've just dialed in the lecture or the listening assignment, without really connecting it to its own specific learning outcomes. To be sure, it can be tough to give that extra 10% sometimes, but the idea of "small teaching" is based upon making these small changes, one at a time, for greater cumulative effect down the road. Darby makes sure to reiterate this in the final pages when discussing how we approach challenges. And perhaps the most important question Darby asks is: "How will you keep yourself motivated? How do you plan to assess the impact of your efforts? (225)". THIS is the missing piece. Teachers can read books and attend conferences, filling their hearts and minds with myriad exciting ideas...but what happens when those experiments fail? Do we just assign "x idea" to the scrap heap, or do we sit down and assess what went wrong and what are the adjustments that need to be made? That's where the space/time is really needed, and perhaps institutions of higher ed would be wise to consider pedagogy-specific guided sabbaticals, increased PRODUCTIVE and CONSTRUCTIVE faculty reviews, and mandatory (and compensated) faculty peer groups. Darby's offerings are helpful for the already-motivated teacher, but should also be embraced by administrators.

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2022 #20 Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education (Tobin/Behling)

Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education by Thomas J. Tobin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an engaging and informative (yes!) basic introduction to implementing the core principles of UDL (Universal Design for Learning) into higher education. What is particularly useful (and sets it apart from other books on the topic) is the "multiple paths" through the book. A useful "Suggested first-read chart" outlines the various readerships that might benefit from the book and which chapters might be most relevant, making it an excellent resource for small-group reading circles of administrators, staff, and faculty. Chapter 1 is a great primer on concepts such as learner variability, Universal Design (overall) and basic tenets of accessibility in higher education. Chapter 2 is a useful overview of some of the lawmaking surrounding accessibility, and is an important read for those who may need to make a case to administrators. The most compelling point is that the UDL framework can "reduce the need for individuals to have to ask for special treatment." The strange land that lies between accessibility and accommodations is one that is just now being more deeply explored as differences between "inclusion" and "belonging" are also being better understood.

Part 2, Reframing UDL, includes chapters on Mobile Learners and Digital Learners, but it is Chapter 5 that will resonate the most for faculty who may want to make changes but don't know where to start. The UDL framework, as fully presented by CAST, can be daunting. Tobin and Behling advocate for a "plus-one" approach that promotes a pre-emptive, responsive, and iterative process to designing assignments, syllabi, and/or assessment. This is a manageable strategy that can both temper the workload that may seem required to integrate UDL into a course, and it very well may bring skeptics on board, who might benefit from how to make "one assignment" more accessible (rather than "how to make YOUR TEACHING more accessible").

Chapter Six seems to widen the ambition, telling us that "UDL is too big to do alone," and while the point is well-taken, this would be one of those chapters that would be less useful to the skeptical faculty member. It will, however, motivate the faculty member who doesn't need to be convinced and is looking for allyship and teamwork in implementing UDL on a more curricular level. The greater point here is that UDL has the greatest impact on an institutional culture when supported across departments and at all levels.

Having prepared the reader for that concept/endeavor, Part 3 is devoted to "Adopt UDL on Your Campus" which provides solid guidance for moving from the individual "plus-one" to the institutional level. The final chapter "Engage! The UDL Life Cycle" is most useful for the condensing of information and review in a digestible format.

The book is beautifully researched and referenced, yet written in an inclusive and accessible tone. There are places that get rather heavy-laden with acronyms (other than UDL) , and while they are mostly cross-referenced, I would have loved to see more regular footnoting or parenthetical reminders of what they stand for. I was also a bit concerned when reading about the instructor who taught two sections of the same course and changed the approach to design and studying in only one of them as an experiment. Students are always subject to our pedagogical experimentation in some sense, but it didn't sit well with me to suggest that multiple sections of the same course (taught by the same instructor) should be drastically different to benefit our own learning as professors. While the data this professor received was valuable to implementing UDL more widely (and that was the point of including the anecdote), I do think we have to be careful about "experimenting" with inclusion in a way that can put others at a clear disadvantage.

The index makes it a great reference and resource, and the book is definitely one of the first I would recommend to faculty members who are interested in creating more inclusive spaces or who feel that "accommodations" are not supported. The book unapologetically subscribes to UDL as a framework, but even for those who prefer to pick-and-choose some of the ideas from UDL, it is a meaningful read. I'd also recommend that chairs, deans, VPs, provosts, and anyone in higher education read this book, especially if the institution is one that draws a strong line of demarcation between faculty and admin. Joint learning would go a long way to smoothing that divide and changing campus climate for the better.

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