Listen "What’s in a Grade?"
Episode Synopsis
In this episode, we discuss grades in mathematics courses. Although we don’t claim to have a recommendation or even an opinion about what might be the right way to handle grades, we hope to bring up considerations for our listeners to talk about and think through as they reflect on their own grading practices.We wonder if many grading practices are in place are just legacy practices, handed down and sustained by teacher teams and departments, or schools with prescribed grading requirements, and we recognize the challenges of balancing grades with academic performance as well as other classroom contributions that we value.We wrestle with what grades communicate to different audiences. What does a grade tell a student? The student’s family? Other school personnel? The student’s next school? How does a student’s participation in the academic work of math class shift based on the value they put on their grade in math class? And we consider the guiding question of “what is the impact of…?” as educators consider the structure and components of their grading practice.We wrap up by reflecting on the impact of COVID-19 on our educator friends. We believe that the last two years have brought incredible challenges to educators already giving everything they have to their students and communities. We are in awe of you, we admire you, and we thank you for all that you do each and every day. Additional resources to explore:Blog Post: “Grading Is Due for an Overhaul” https://www.nais.org/magazine/independent-school/winter-2022/grading-is-due-for-an-overhaul/ Share your feedback, comments, and suggestions for future episode topics by emailing [email protected] . Be sure to connect with your hosts on Twitter and Instagram: @JoanieFun and @cbmathguy
More episodes of the podcast Room to Grow - a Math Podcast
What We Learned in 2025
17/12/2025
Changing Classroom Practice
16/09/2025
Pose Purposeful Questions
24/06/2025
Elicit and Use Evidence of Student Thinking
15/04/2025
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.