Colleges Embracing Alternative Assessment: Beyond Traditional Grades

The traditional grading system, a cornerstone of modern education, is facing increasing scrutiny. Many educators and institutions are exploring alternative assessment methods that move beyond letter grades to foster deeper learning and recognize diverse student strengths. This article delves into the world of colleges that are pioneering these innovative approaches, examining their philosophies, structures, and the impact on students and the broader academic landscape.

The Genesis of Grade-Free Education: Hampshire College

To understand the current landscape of alternative assessment, it's crucial to look back at institutions that have championed this approach from their inception. Hampshire College, founded in the late 1960s, stands as a prime example.

A Radical Experiment in Education

Hampshire College was built on the radical idea that “a student is a person, not simply a classroom fixture.” The college was founded with experimentation at its heart. It was envisioned as an institution without grades, defined majors, or general education requirements. This core philosophy aimed to disrupt the traditional notion of compulsory courses and sequences, instead prioritizing the student's ability to solve intellectual problems and pursue interdisciplinary learning.

The Divisional System: Fostering Intellectual Depth

Hampshire's curriculum was structured around a three-division system:

Division I: An introduction to the liberal arts, exposing students to various modes of inquiry across humanities, arts, social sciences, natural sciences, math, language, and communication.
Division II (Concentration): Student-designed interdisciplinary study, demonstrating expertise in a chosen field.
Division III: Advanced independent work, pursued over at least one year, culminating in a presentation to the community and an integrative seminar.

Each division included an "exam," not as a traditional assessment of facts, but as a demonstration of intellectual growth and ability. Division I exams were student-designed, ranging from performances to analytical papers. Division II involved a faculty committee review of the student's work, assessing readiness for Division III. Division III projects were reviewed by student-chosen faculty committees. Graduation required passing all exams.

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End-of-Semester Evaluations: A Holistic Transcript

In lieu of grades, Hampshire College employed end-of-semester evaluations. Students wrote self-evaluations of their course and experiential work, and professors provided their evaluations. These evaluations, along with other materials, formed the student's official transcript.

Navigating the External World: The Tension of "No Grades"

Hampshire's commitment to "no grades" has faced challenges, particularly in demonstrating student achievement to external entities. The college had to develop mechanisms for students to demonstrate their ability to "solve an intellectual problem."

The "Distinction" Dilemma

Initially, divisional exams were designated as "pass, fail, or distinction." However, the "distinction" designation sparked controversy, with students fearing it would create competition and undermine the college's emphasis on individual growth. Despite arguments that "distinction" could benefit BIPOC students in the "outside world," the Academic Council eventually eliminated the designation on degrees.

The Two-Course Option

Later, the School of Social Science faculty introduced a policy allowing students to complete two social science courses instead of a skill demonstration for Division I. This change sparked debate, with some faculty arguing it threatened the college's experimental nature.

Enduring Principles

Despite these changes, Hampshire's foundational principles remain. Students are active agents in their education, designing their paths without the constraints of grades, rankings, or required coursework.

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Alternative Assessment Models in Practice

While Hampshire College provides a historical perspective, numerous institutions today are actively implementing diverse alternative assessment models. These models aim to address the limitations of traditional grading and promote deeper, more meaningful learning.

Narrative Evaluations: A Personalized Approach

Several colleges, including New College of Florida, Evergreen State College, Prescott College, Fairhaven College, Alverno College, Antioch University, and Hampshire College, utilize narrative evaluations in place of or in conjunction with traditional grades.

New College of Florida: Students complete contracts each semester, outlining criteria for success. Narrative evaluations from professors provide detailed feedback and a deeper understanding of each student's progress.
Evergreen State College: Students customize their education, developing their own academic plan. Narrative evaluations replace letter grades.
Prescott College: Narrative evaluations detail how students achieved their academic objectives. Senior Projects integrate subjects into a coherent learning experience.
Fairhaven College: Students self-evaluate their performance, combined with a faculty member's narrative assessment.
Alverno College: Students receive a narrative transcript documenting academic learning and growth, based on faculty assessment and self-assessment.
Antioch University: Narrative evaluations are used, with contracts between faculty and students outlining educational requirements and objectives.
Hampshire College: Students design their own study programs, and faculty provide extensive feedback through narrative evaluations.

These narrative evaluations provide a more holistic picture of student learning, capturing individual strengths and areas for growth that letter grades often miss. They also translate into more personal and detailed recommendation letters in the future as graduates move onto their professions or graduate school.

Ungrading: Collaborative Assessment and Reflection

"Ungrading" is an assessment method based on conversation with the student and self-reflection on the student’s part in which the student-with the instructor’s guidance and input-determines what learning goals they’ve achieved and what they still need to work on. It’s considered “ungrading” because the work of grading is collaborative and based on reflection, not on overt instructor assessment of the work. Often, the instructor will ask the student to justify their “ungrades” through a reflection that links the student’s self-assessed performance to the learning goals.

Specifications Grading: Clear Expectations and Flexibility

Specifications grading, or “spec” grading, uses a binary evaluation system of satisfactory/unsatisfactory where instructors set clear, comprehensive expectations for each assignment. These expectations are the specifications, and the specs are shared with students to increase transparency. Instructors bundle together assignments to create pathways to different grade levels (e.g., achieve a satisfactory on all major writing assignments and 8 out of 10 labs to achieve a B) and provide process-oriented feedback which helps students revise. Students appreciate knowing the specs and the fact that they have more control over their grade. Spec grading also provides flexibility in spec grading for the instructor. An instructor could decide to do spec grading for the C/D range, but not for the A/B range (or vice versa) or decide to use spec grading for only some assignments. Instructors generally link the specs to the course’s learning outcomes so that students meet the learning outcomes regardless of which grade level they attempt. Bundles that require more work, more rigorous work, or both earn students higher grades; but the onus is on the student to choose which bundle to attempt.

Contract Grading: Transparency and Shared Responsibility

Contract grading in all its permutations is meant to reduce the subjectivity of grading by making transparent for students-and instructors!-what is being valued in assessment. In contract grading, dialogue between instructor and student is paramount to avoid later confusion. Students and instructor, in what is sometimes called a “negotiated contract,” determine an agreement where students decide up front what grade to work for and specify what must be done to achieve this grade. Of course, the instructor can determine these factors on their own, in a unilateral contract. The instructor can choose whether to use a contract based on straightforward labor (such as hours spent on an experiment or number of revisions of an essay), on quality, or some combination (for example, with a schema of Missing, Incomplete, Complete, and Superior). Instructors should provide feedback on major assignments, but can relax some over the stress of assessing the nuances of letter grades or taking off points.

Competency-Based Education: Focusing on Skills

Eight community colleges in California are testing out a new education model, one that defines success by the skills a student learns, not the time they spend in a classroom. A revolution is in the making at California’s community colleges: No more grades, no more sitting through lectures or seminars, no more deadlines. In theory, this model, known as “competency-based education,” could provide students with more flexibility and the potential to attain degrees faster in key job sectors. If successful, these community colleges will set themselves apart from every other two-year institution in the country.

In the new system, students seeking an associate degree in early childhood education at Shasta College in Redding will take 60 different exams, each one testing a specific skill, said Buffy Tanner, the college’s director of innovation and special projects. Currently, a student is required to take 20 semester-long classes for that same degree. Students in the new program will be able to take an exam up to three times and can move as quickly or as slowly as they want, Tanner said.

Addressing Concerns and Challenges

The shift away from traditional grading is not without its challenges. Concerns about how to assess students in ways that are intelligible to people "outside" of these experimental environments are ever present.

Equity and External Perceptions

How do institutions explain their grading and structural innovations when they live and work in social contexts deeply invested in requiring them to maintain rankings and hierarchies? What do we do about equity and the question of how “the world” might see graduates who cannot list GPAs and “cum laude” distinctions on their resumés?

Faculty Buy-In and Logistical Hurdles

The implementation of alternative assessment models requires significant changes to faculty roles, curriculum design, and institutional structures. Resistance from faculty, concerns about intellectual property, and logistical hurdles related to funding and accreditation need to be addressed.

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