'Ungrading': How one Ontario teacher is changing her approach to report cards
An Ontario high school teacher plans to continue with an alternative method of grading her students in the new school year after an experiment last semester.
Stacie Oliver teaches at A.B. Lucas Secondary School in London, Ont. and recently began a new method of determining her students’ midterm and final grades.
Speaking on Newstalk 580 CFRA’s Ottawa Now with Kristy Cameron, Oliver said she and her students work together on grades twice a year, at midterms and at the end of the semester.
“The students propose their own grade at those two points and then they have to justify and prove to me that they have earned that grade,” Oliver explained.
“We have digital portfolios that they create throughout the semester that showcases not only their best work, but also all of the attempts they made along the way to get to that ‘showcase piece’, which is what they deem to be the best representation of their learning.”
Oliver says students must prove their work meets the expectations in the provincial curriculum.
“They understand the curriculum document very well and can speak to how their work meets and/or much of the time exceeds those expectations,” she said.
Known as “ungrading,” Oliver said the method is about changing the understanding of how to measure success in learning.
“There is lots of evidence that suggests that grades are very subjective,” she said. “It’s difficult to be able to objectively say, ‘This number is the number that truly captures the learning.’ What that might be in my classroom -- is that the same across another department, another subject area, another school?”
But the bigger aspect, Oliver says, is how students tie self-worth and identity to their grade number.
“What ends up happening is they don’t feel that everything is futile because they can continue to do it—whether it’s a task or practice a skill—they can continue to practice it until they’re satisfied that they’ve met that. I think that that’s really important and it does fuel students because they then want to learn and they want to get better,” she said.
Oliver said students in every classroom have differing attitudes on grades. She says the ungrading experiment allows students across that spectrum to take ownership of their learning.
“What ends up happening is they don’t feel that everything is futile because they can continue to do it—whether it’s a task or practice a skill—they can continue to practice it until they’re satisfied that they’ve met that. I think that that’s really important and it does fuel students because they then want to learn and they want to get better,” she said.
Oliver said she retains the authority, as teacher, to tell a student they haven’t justified the grade they may be arguing for, but says most students’ evaluations of their work are pretty close to her own.
“If I did have to change a grade, which was not a lot of the time, I was raising grades. I’ve had students tell me they don’t want to seem arrogant or think too highly of themselves, so they give themselves a lower grade than they might otherwise have done,” she said.
Oliver says her principal and school board approve of the grading scheme, and she plans to continue it in the fall.
“My principal has a strong interest in this thing we’re calling ‘ungrading’ and so he’s been very supportive right from the very beginning, as has the board, so it’s been great.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Trudeau acknowledges charges in Nijjar killing, calls for commitment to democracy
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged the charges laid Friday in relation to the murder of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
Princess Anne lays wreath at B.C. veteran's cemetery; receives 21-gun salute
Princess Anne paid tribute to veterans buried at a cemetery in British Columbia today, laying a wreath to honour the more than 2,500 military personnel and family members buried there.
Mystik Dan wins the 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in a three-horse photo finish
Mystik Dan won the 150th Kentucky Derby in a photo finish, edging out Forever Young and Sierra Leone for the upset victory.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
London Drugs begins 'gradual reopening' on 7th day after cyberattack
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.