Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

by Starr Sackstein

Overview

Now is the time to reimagine assessment and throw out traditional grades

Internationally-recognized grading and assessment expert Starr Sackstein is back with the long-awaited update to her highly-regarded guide to throwing out grades, even in a traditional grades school.

Over 100 new strategies and resources

Nearly seven years after helping launch a global no-grades classroom movement, Sackstein has honed her practice and now brings teachers and school leaders more than 100 new and updated strategies, solutions, and practical resources you can read today and use in any classroom tomorrow to transform how you assess learning.

Understand modern assessment problems and how to fix them

Readers will learn about the flaws of traditional assessment systems and how to make immediate changes so students can better advocate for themselves as learners.

Change the mindset

Begin by addressing your mindset about grading, and learn how to help your community buy into the shift and to go gradeless. Bravely change the systems that aren't serving your students.

In this power-packed second edition of Hacking Assessment, you will find:

• updated tools to ease the transition to ungrading for teachers
• standards-aligned rubrics
• new resources to support the work
• self-grading strategies and tools
• standards based grading tips and resources
• fresh Hacks in Action for various grade levels
• strategies for motivating students to embrace no-grades assessment
• a blueprint for providing clear, objective feedback for learners
• ways to inspire students to embrace self-grading
• clear strategies for deciding on report card grades, even when you work daily without grades
• examples of impactful assessment conferences with students

Read this impactful, updated second edition of Hacking Assessment today, and immediately start building a culture of students who embrace learning for learning's sake, not for a grade.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781956512212
Publisher:	Times 10 Publications
Publication date:	07/29/2022
Series:	Hack Learning
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	290
Sales rank:	1,514,636
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.61(d)

About the Author

Starr Sackstein is a recovering perfectionist who is an assessment reforming enthusiast. Currently, she is the COO of Mastery Portfolio, an Edtech Startup committed to helping schools move to standard-based communication. Additionally, she works with teacher teams to engage students in the learning process, advocate for personal growth, and effectively use student data to drive instruction. Starr was a high school English and journalism teacher for 16 years, a lead humanities learner for 2 years, a publisher and developmental editor, and a social media manager. She is an author, blogger, and speaker committed to changing how we do assessments nationally and globally. Learn more about Starr's work on her website MsSackstein.com and follow her on Twitter @MsSackstein. When Starr isn't advocating for students and educators, she is a mom and partner looking for the next adventure.

Table of Contents

Introduction: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Goodbye, grades; hello, growth
Hack 1: Shift the Grades Mindset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Start a no-grades classroom
Hack 2: Promote Buy-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Open lines of communication with stakeholders
Hack 3: Rebrand Assignments as Learning Experiences . . . 43
Design comprehensive projects for optimal growth
Hack 4: Facilitate Student Partnerships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Work smarter, not harder
Hack 5: Digitize Your Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Ease data collection and inform learning with technology
Hack 6: Maximize Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Confer inside and outside of class
Hack 7: Track Progress Transparently . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Discard your traditional grade book
Hack 8: Teach Refl ection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Help students become better learners with metacognition
Hack 9: Teach Students to Self-Grade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Put the power of grading into students' hands
Hack 10: Cloud-Based Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Transition to portfolio assessment
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Other Books in the Hack Learning Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Resources to Help You Hack Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Editorial Reviews

"Grades are a crude and ineffective tool to convey what matters most in a student's development. Hacking Assessment, Starr Sackstein's report of her courageous, thoughtful and illuminating effort to design a better approach to assessment is a terrific read for educators who worry about the values that a single letter or number grade can convey." --Angela Maiers, Author/International speaker
"Ms. Sackstein has created an excellent resource for changing the traditional mindset and moving to a collaborative, reflective model of assessment. I recommend this book to teachers, administrators and educational stakeholders who may be searching for a better way." --Michael Curran, Education Professor Rider University

From the Publisher