About the Book
Let evidence and integrity guide your grading practice
If you want to ask a polarizing question in education, ask someone their thoughts on grading. Few topics have elicited more interest or opinions, even though grading practices have remained relatively unchanged for years. But opinions are not evidence. The time has come to get it right with a fresh approach grounded in research and the principles of integrity.
Grading With Integrity introduces a measured approach to grading reform based on honesty, transparency, accuracy, and equity with recommendations backed by clear and trustworthy evidence. Addressing the many "whys’’ involved, this thoughtfully organized book addresses central questions related to grading and reporting student learning, covering:
An historical overview of grading and reporting practices
A discussion of standards-based and competency-based grading
Recommendations for reporting non academic learning goals separately from academic achievement, to accurately reflect students′ performance
Suggestions for reporting growth and improvement, using specific assessments and other reporting tools
An infallible argument for grading with integrity
This book is a must-read for K-12 classroom teachers and administrators who are looking to implement better and more defensible grading and reporting policies and practices. Let evidence and integrity be your guide to enhancing students’ best interests and learning success.
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Why Grading for Integrity?
Chapter 2: A Brief History of Grading: How Did We Get Here?
Chapter 3: Asking Why: What Is Our Purpose for Grading?
Chapter 4: Current Grading Schemas: What Are the Existing Problems?
Chapter 5: Product: What is Standards-Based or Competency-Based Grading?
Chapter 6: Process: How Do We Include Nonacademic Learning Goals in Grading?
Chapter 8: Grading with Integrity: How Do We Get There?
About the Author :
Thomas R. Guskey, PhD, is Professor Emeritus in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky. A graduate of the University of Chicago’s renowned Measurement, Evaluation, and Statistical Analysis (MESA) program, he began his career in education as a middle school teacher, served as an administrator in the Chicago Public Schools, and was the first Director of the Center for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning, a national educational research center. He is the author/editor of twenty-seven books and over three hundred articles published in prominent research journals as well as Educational Leadership, Kappan, and The School Administrator.
Dr. Guskey served on the Policy Research Team of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, and on the task force to develop the National Standards for Professional Development. He was named a Fellow in the American Educational Research Association and was awarded the Association’s prestigious Relating Research to Practice Award. He was also awarded Learning Forward′s Outstanding Contribution to the Field Award and Phi Delta Kappan′s Distinguished Educator Award. Perhaps most unique, in the 158-year history of his undergraduate institution, Thiel College, he is one of only three graduates to receive the Outstanding Alumnus Award and be inducted into the Thiel College Athletic Hall of Fame.
His most recent books include Implementing Mastery Learning (2023), Instructional Feedback: The Power, the Promise, the Practice (with Smith & Lipnevich, 2023); Get Set, Go! Creating Successful Grading and Reporting Systems (2020), What We Know About Grading (with Brookhart, 2019), and On Your Mark: Challenging the Conventions of Grading and Reporting (2015). He may be contacted by email at guskey@uky.edu, Twitter at @tguskey, or at www.tguskey.com.
Nancy Frey is a professor in educational leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. She is a credentialed special educator, reading specialist, and administrator in California. She is a member of the International Literacy Association’s Literacy Research Panel. Her published titles include 50 Strategies for Activating Your PLC+, The Illustrated Guide to Visible Learning, Welcome to Teaching Multilingual Learners, Teaching Foundational Skills to Adolescent Readers, and RIGOR Unveiled: A Video-Enhanced Flipbook to Promote Teacher Expertise in Relationship Building, Instruction, Goals, Organization, and Relevance.
Douglas Fisher is professor and chair of educational leadership at San Diego State University and a teacher leader at Health Sciences High and Middle College. Previously, Doug was an early intervention teacher and elementary school educator. He is a credentialed English teacher and administrator in California. In 2022, he was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame by the Literacy Research Association. He has published numerous articles on reading and literacy, leadership, and curriculum design, as well as books such as The Teacher Clarity Playbook (2nd ed.), Your Introduction to PLC+, The Illustrated Guide to Teacher Credibility, Instructional Strategies to Move Learning Forward: 50+ Tools That Support Gradual Release of Responsibility, and Welcome to Teaching!
Review :
I recommend this book, one hundred percent. The timing of this text couldn’t be more perfect. As educators, we need to start and plan with the end in mind and continue to push our students in the best way possible. This book starts the conversations that allows our students to grow in the right directions.
Grading With Integrity sets the foundation for examining current grading practices by providing historical context, setting a purpose, and delving into our grading schemas. Incorporating real-life examples of challenges and purposes, the book addresses multiple facets within the complexity of grading based on the most current research. Practical strategies and tools for assessment and grading are intertwined throughout each chapter, equipping educators with the necessary resources to implement fair and effective grading practices in their classrooms.
Grades are a huge component of our education system and students’ understanding of "self" while in school. Yet we don’t spend enough time discussing the best practices of communicating grades and scoring student work in ways that are meaningful to the necessary stakeholders, students, teachers, and families. I believe that Grading with Integrity will provide much-needed guidance to teachers and school leaders with varying levels of expertise and experience.
I have the highest degree of confidence in the authors of Grading with Integrity as researchers and practitioners. Grading With Integrity provides the important research over the past century on a variety of grading practices but most importantly, the key research on best practices for creating a system for grading for equity! Not only do the authors do the arduous work of synthesizing and presenting key research, they also provide many practical examples and advice for implementation. What a combination!
