What happens when a university responds to concerns about grades not by limiting A’s, but by making first-semester grades largely disappear? In this episode, Sharona and Boz examine the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts’ new First Semester Grade Covering Pilot Program, which will replace visible letter grades for first-semester students with pass/no-pass marks beginning in fall 2027. The policy is intended to ease students’ transition to college, reduce academic pressure, and create more freedom to ex...
What happens when a university responds to concerns about grades not by limiting A’s, but by making first-semester grades largely disappear? In this episode, Sharona and Boz examine the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts’ new First Semester Grade Covering Pilot Program, which will replace visible letter grades for first-semester students with pass/no-pass marks beginning in fall 2027. The policy is intended to ease students’ transition to college, reduce academic pressure, and create more freedom to explore courses without worrying about the impact on their GPA. With similar policies having existed for decades at institutions such as MIT, the new program provides an opportunity to consider what happens when an institution changes the stakes attached to grades without necessarily changing the grading practices happening inside individual courses and what that distinction might mean for students, instructors, and learning.
Links
- University of Michigan Grade Covering Policy
- U of Michigan Attempts to Disrupt the Transactional System, by John Warner
- The Real Mission of Higher Education is Hiding in Plan Sight, by John Warner
- Addressing the Transactional Model of School, by John Warner
- Harvard Doesn't Care About Students, by John Warner
- Josh Eyler on LinkedIn Re: U of Michigan Grade Covering Policy
Resources
The Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.
The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.
Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:
- The Grading for Growth Blog
- The Grading Conference
- The Intentional Academia Blog
Recommended Books on Alternative Grading:
- Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David Clark
- Specifications Grading, by Linda Nilsen
- Undoing the Grade, by Jesse Stommel
Follow us on Bluesky, Facebook and Instagram - @thegradingpod. To leave us a comment, please go to our website: www.thegradingpod.com and leave a comment on this episode's page.
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All content of this podcast and website are solely the opinions of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily represent the views of California State University Los Angeles or the Los Angeles Unified School District.
Music
Country Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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