Solutions
Grading Reform
Fair, Transparent, and Instructionally Aligned Grading Practices
How it Works
From Practice Review to Shared Understanding
Define the purpose of grades to align learning goals, instructional decisions, and communication with students and families
Distinguish between policies and practices to identify what educators can directly influence
Design learning intentions, success criteria, and rubrics that clearly define what proficiency looks like for students
Identify and prioritize Power Standards(™) to ensure grading reflects the most essential learning outcomes
Implement four key instructional and grading moves that focus on learning–the heart of grading
Implement four key instructional and grading moves that focus on learning–the heart of grading
Clarity, Consistency, and Confidence
- Greater consistency across classrooms, teams, and schools
- Clearer expectations for students and families
- Reduced conflict around grades and reporting
- Stronger alignment between instruction, assessment, and outcomes
- Grading practices that support learning, not punishment
Frequently Asked Questions
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What makes the CLS approach to grading reform practical and sustainable for schools?
Our approach to grading reform emphasizes inside-out change, beginning with classroom practice and expanding to policy alignment. Teachers engage in action research to identify grading challenges, test targeted practices, and collect evidence of impact in real time. This process respects professional judgment, supports busy educators with practical solutions, and builds shared ownership across teams. The result is grading reform that is scalable, defensible, and rooted in evidence, not mandates. -
How does grading reform improve learning without lowering standards?
Effective grading reform raises, not lowers; expectations by ensuring grades are fair, accurate, and clearly aligned to learning. By clarifying what students are expected to learn and how they demonstrate mastery, grading becomes a reflection of proficiency rather than compliance or point accumulation. Through practices such as FAST feedback (Fair, Accurate, Specific, Timely), grading focused on power standards, collaborative scoring, and alternatives to zeros and averaging, educators create grading systems that are both rigorous and defensible. When grades fairly and accurately communicate learning, students are more likely to engage, persist, and improve, which results in reduced D/F rates and stronger instructional decision-making. -
How can CLS support grading reform in your school?
CLS takes a feedback approach to grading reform. Grades are the product of feedback, so by focusing on analyzing fair, accurate, specific, and timely feedback, grading reform becomes more about an integral part of the learning process than a focus on the final numerical product. -
How does CLS handle letter grades?
CLS does not advocate for a specific method of communicating grades, however, it does work with clients to establish grading methods that are clear, student and family friendly, and allow for students to know what they are learning and where they are going next. Colleagues work with district staff to develop standards-based rubrics and reporting plans that work withing current programs.
Related Resources
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Grading ReformBusting Myths About Gradingx
MythBusters is the longest running television series in the history of the Discovery Channel. During its 14 years on the air, the show, featuring Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, have conducted 2,950 experiments, explored 1,050 myths, and created 900 explosions (Friedlander, 2015).
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Grading Reform
What’s Worth Fighting Against in Grading
In his classic book What’s Worth Fighting for in the Principalship identified a dozen action items for principals and school systems that remain as relevant today as they were almost a decade ago.
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Grading Reform
Equity in Grading Self-Assessment (Rubric)
The purpose of this form is to help teachers and administrators explore the relationship between student grades, academic performance, and nonacademic factors.
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