There are many reasons to try an alternative grading method in your class; here are nine: They reduce student stress, engage with funds of knowledge, and encourage intrinsic motivation. They also promote a growth mindset by focusing on progress and mastery rather than outcomes, providing clearer feedback, and supporting diverse learning styles. By emphasizing effort and improvement, they help build stronger instructor-student relationships and build an engaging classroom environment.

Specs-Based & Mastery-based Grading

Specs-based grading, also known as mastery-based grading, is an assessment approach that focuses on students’ demonstration of specific skills or knowledge (i.e., mastery) rather than accumulating points or grades through traditional assessments. This method aims to ensure that students achieve a clear understanding of the course material and can apply it effectively. Specs-based or mastery-based grading aims to create a more equitable and effective learning environment by ensuring that all students reach a high level of proficiency in the course material.

What is Specifications Grading and Why Should You Consider Using It? by Macie Hall

How to Set Up Mastery-Based Grading in Your Classroom by Kareem Farah

Ungrading

Ungrading is a practice which eliminates or greatly minimizes the use of assigned points or letter grades in a course, focusing instead on providing frequent and detailed feedback to students on their work, in relation to the course learning goals. Ungrading is a form of “grading for growth,” in that the primary purpose of the assessment is to help students learn and improve their knowledge and skills, rather than to create a summative score that students use to compare themselves against an external credential. As a philosophy, Ungrading demonstrates traditional grading systems as unfair systems, focusing instead on promoting intrinsic motivation, self-assessment, and meaningful learning.

Getting Started with Ungrading: Practical Tips for Instructors by Every Learner Everywhere

Ungrading, an Introduction by Jesse Stommel

Labor-based and Contract Grading

Labor-based grading (also known as contract grading or a labor-based grading contract) is a type of alternative grading style where grades are based on the amount of labor that is agreed upon between students of the course and the course’s instructor. Labor-based grading involves the co-creation of a course contract at the start of the semester that is utilized to grade all members of the course. Faculty and students also return to the contract at midterm to review and make possible changes. This co-created contract shifts the emphasis from traditional grading criteria, which often prioritize the final outcome, to the process and dedication students demonstrate throughout their learning journey.

Labor-Based Grading Contracts: Building Equity and Inclusion in the Compassionate Writing Classroom, 2nd Edition by Asao B. Inoue

What is Contract Grading? by University of Nebraska’s CTL