Welcome

SBS faculty prepared for the 2022-2023 school year with a study of Grading for Equity by Joe Feldman. Grading for Equity offers teachers an opportunity to focus on grading practices that are accurate, bias-resistant, and motivational in order to improve learning, minimize grade inflation, reduce failure rates, and become a lever for creating stronger teacher-student relationships and more caring classrooms.

Middle School Dean Bill Ivey was a pioneer in grading for equity, as the SBS Middle School has not used letter grades since 2008. In 2016, the middle school team agreed to discontinue standards-based grading in favor of purely narrative feedback. This 2022-2023 academic year, the middle school team was eager to explore how Grading for Equity could inform their grading practices, despite being grade-free.

Science Department Chair Rose Chaffee-Cohen shares that the SBS science department, in collaboration with every other academic department, chose to eliminate zeros from their gradebooks and built-in added flexibility to the late work policy. The department discussed the mathematical inequities of assigning 50% of the available value of an assignment as a failing grade. Not wanting students to feel defeated after a slip up and recovering from a zero or a grade below 50%, students have the opportunity to practice resiliency and move on from challenges without severe policies getting in the way of their progress. Additionally, the department chose to allow retakes for assessments. Recognizing that learning is not linear and does not happen at the same pace for everyone, allowing students to retake assessments within a trimester means that students can reflect on whether they have shown mastery of a given skill and, if not, they can use their resources to continue to learn and demonstrate their proficiency when they get there. Chaffee-Cohen adds, “I appreciate that Stoneleigh-Burnham teachers are willing to thoughtfully examine their practices, keeping teaching and learning at the nucleus of every decision they make. The goal is always to consider the student experience and to balance compassion with a dose of healthy challenges. Reading and applying Grading for Equity has allowed us to think about grading practices that are accurate, that value student knowledge, and support a growth mindset.”

Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and first-year teacher Amanda Mozea provides students with explicit rubrics and information about what she will be looking for when reviewing an assessment in order to be transparent and consistent. Amanda’s biggest takeaway from Grading for Equity was the fact that the way educators grade directly conflicts with the goals educators set. Meaning, accumulating information for the sole purpose of a number or a letter conflicts with learning to actually learn. Mozea continues, “Grading for Equity makes the bold assumption that grades should reflect student understanding of a subject… We want students to feel that they can make mistakes and not be punished for them; learning requires stretching and discomfort, but traditional grading incentivizes staying within one’s comfort zone because there might be numerical or lettered consequences if one doesn’t just stick to what they know and what they are best at. Doing things like allowing students to submit late work or retake an assessment might, on its face, seem inconsequential or nonsensical, but these small changes challenge the foundational premises of grading and greatly allow us to more equitably assess student learning without the outside noise.”

Academic Dean Lauren Cunniffe shares that SBS remains in the exploration phase of determining what features from Grading for Equity may work best for SBS students long term. Faculty will continue to discuss grading practices throughout and, at year-end, will utilize this academic year's data to holistically review the experimental changes. At SBS, our Community, Equity & Justice Vision Statement states: "As a school, we endeavor to be an anti-bias, anti-racist, and culturally responsive educational environment. We value lived experiences, diversity, and wisdom in all forms. Our collective goal is to help every member of our community feel seen, heard, supported, and empowered to thrive." By implementing principles from Grading for Equity and determining what works best for our community, our SBS faculty are living the statement— endeavoring to be a culturally responsive educational environment by helping each member of our student body feel seen, heard, supported, and empowered.