My name is Mark Hussey. I’ve been teaching college-level English for the last 15 years. Over time, I grew sick of grading essays and decided that there had to be a better way. So, about 6 years ago, I began my journey into alternative grading practices. I have no plans on going back.
I started by experimenting with different versions of Peter Elbow’s and Asao Inoue’s grading and labor contracts but felt something was missing. None of the various “un-grading” approaches quite matched what I wanted to do in my classes – though they are all better than using points! After a few years of experimentation and collaboration with colleagues, I am fairly confident that Holistic Assessments is the best way to assess student learning and assign grades.
I hope this blog can help provide some much needed “how-to” for the ungrading movement, and even if you’re not a fan of holistic assessments, I hope you’ll join me in transforming how teachers assess, evaluate, and assign grades to student learning.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are my own.