Ungrading is more than just the latest trend in higher education. Moving from alternative assessment to mainstream practices, these approaches offer practical solutions to many of the challenges posed by traditional grading.
Ungrading is an umbrella term for a variety of learning focused evaluation strategies that share an ideology: to reduce the pressure of grades while increasing students’ sense of agency in their learning. Ungrading strategies can be implemented in classes of all sizes and disciplines and have many variations (ie., self-assessment, peer assessment, formative assessments etc.) that can be customized to suit the size and level of the course.
Explore the case for alternative assessment with York educator Morgan Anderson
Blum, S. D. (Ed.). (2020). Ungrading: Why rating students undermines learning (and what to do instead). West Virginia University Press.
Buck, D. (2020). Crowdsourcing ungrading. Pressbooks.
Stommel, J. (2023). Undoing the grade: Why we grade, and how to stop. Pressbooks.
Maclean's: Its time for Canadian universities to go gradeless
NPR: To help new students adapt, some colleges are eliminating grades
CBC: With "ungrading" these students aren't getting marks on their assignments, and they're loving it
Inside Higher Ed: Why Ungrading as a form of access, equality in the classroom
Casler-Failing, S. L. (2023). Grades or no grades? Promoting deeper learning in a middle level mathematics methods course. Journal of Practitioner Research, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.5038/2379-9951.8.2.1235
Crogman, H. T., Eshun, K. O., Jackson, M., TrebeauCrogman, M. A., Joseph, E., Warner, L. C., & Erenso, D. B. (2023). Ungrading: The case for abandoning institutionalized assessment protocols and improving pedagogical strategies. Education Sciences, 13(11), 1091.
Davis, H. T. (2023). Ungrading: Self-assessment, effort, and motivation. Composition Studies, 51(2), 143-191.
DiSalvo, L., & Ross, N. (2022). Ungrading in art history: Grade inflation, student engagement, and social equity. Art History Pedagogy & Practice, 7(1). https://academicworks.cuny.edu/ahpp/vol7/iss1/3
Hasinoff, A. A., Bolyard, W., DeBay, D., Dunlap, J. C., Mosier, A. C., & Pugliano, E. (2024). “Success was actually having learned:" University student perceptions of ungrading. Teaching and Learning Inquiry, 12. https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.12.5.
Koehler, A. A., & Meech, S. (2022). Ungrading learner participation in a student-centered learning experience. TechTrends, 66(1), 78-89.
Kohn, A. (2011). The case against grades. Educational Leadership.
Kohn, A. (1999). From degrading to de-grading. High School Magazine.
Lavy, V., & Sand, E. (2018). On the origins of gender gaps in human capital: Short- and long-term consequences of teachers' biases Journal of Public Economics, 167, 263-279. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2018.09.007
Rapchak, M., Hands, A. S., & Hensley, M. K. (2023). Moving toward equity: Experiences with ungrading. Journal of Education for Library and Information Science, 64(1), 89-98.
Schinske J., & Tanner, K. (2014). Teaching more by grading less (or differently). CBE Life Science Education, 13(2), 159-66. doi: 10.1187/cbe.cbe-14-03-0054. PMID: 26086649; PMCID: PMC4041495.
Spurlock, S. (2023). Improving student motivation by ungrading. SIGCSE 2023: Proceedings of the 54th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education 1, 631–637. https://doi.org/10.1145/3545945.3569747
Williams, H. (2020). Will students engage if there are no grades? A review of the evidence, and an experiment in ungrading. 10.21125/iceri.2020.0605.
The following resources have been compiled from those generously shared online by post-secondary educators and institutions exploring innovative approaches to ungrading and alternative assessment.
Clarissa Sorensen-Unruh: Ungrading Template, Sample Exams and Sample Feedback
Jesse Stommel; Digital Studies: Mid-Term Reflection & Final Reflection
Celest Leander; Biology: Ungrading Primer and Sample Self-Assessment Form
Lafayette College; English: Sample Ungraded Assignments
Cate Denial, History; Sample Assignments
Ian O'Bryne; Technology: Sample Assignments