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Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School
How to Go Gradeless -- Assessment That Makes Learning Visible "What's my grade? What's it worth? Is there extra credit? Is this for a mark? " It's time to shift the conversation and make learning visible. Now, you can easily stop reducing students to a number, letter, or any label that misrepresents learning and assessment in education. Now, you can help children see the value in every single assignment. Today, you can make assessment a rich, ongoing conversation that inspires learning for the sake of learning, rather than as a punishment or a reward. All you have to do is go gradeless. Throw out your grade book tomorrow! In Hacking 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School, award-winning teacher and world-renowned formative assessment expert Starr Sackstein unravels one of education's oldest how to assess learning without grades -- even in a school that uses numbers, letters, GPAs, and report cards. While many educators can only muse about the possibility of a world without grades, teachers like Sackstein are reimagining education. In this unique, eagerly-anticipated book, Sackstein shows you exactly how to create a remarkable no-grades classroom like hers, a vibrant place where students grow, share, thrive, and become independent learners who never ask, "What's this worth?" Learn what formative assessment really looks like. Summative assessment is typically an end-of-unit exam or standardized test, but what is formative assessment? Many teachers struggle with the concept. Hacking Assessment not only explains what formative assessment is, it provides blueprints for implementation and examples from educators around the world, who use this strategy successfully every day. Read It and You Can Take These Actions Shift everyone's mindset away from grades Track student progress without a grade book Communicate learning to all stakeholders in real time Maximize time while providing meaningful feedback Teach students to reflect and "self-grade" Deliver feedback in a digital world Create e-portfolios and cloud-based learning archives Inspire Students to share their work openly This is not your average assessment book Hacking Assessment won't bore you with outdated research or unrealistic strategies. In her captivating, conversational style, Sackstein provides practical ideas woven into a user-friendly success guide with actionable steps for creating an amazing conversation about learning that does not require a traditional grade. Each chapter is neatly wrapped in this simple Hack Learning Series The Problem (an assessment issue that plagues education) The Hack (a ridiculously easy solution that you've likely never considered) What You Can Do Tomorrow (no waiting necessary) Blueprint for Full Implementation (a step-by-step action plan for capacity building) The Hack in Action (yes, someone has actually done this)
147 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 11, 2015
127 people are currently reading
474 people want to read
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July 13, 2017
I have been wanting to go gradeless for a while now. Assigning numbers to students’ work has always felt very arbitrary. Even in a system as steeped in rubrics as Ontario’s, I still don’t have any confidence in marking work—particularly English, but also math—and giving it a number. Really, at the end of the day, what is the difference between an 82% and an 83%? Or an 85%? It’s so silly. And by putting a number on the student’s work, you are basically guaranteeing they won’t look at anything else, at any of the other meticulous, descriptive feedback you’ve put on there because your assessment standards tell you that you should be doing so.
Fortunately there is a better way, and in Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School, Starr Sackstein provides ten practical suggestions to facilitate this process. This is a book I needed. I don’t need to be convinced of the benefits of going gradeless; I did need practical suggestions for what that actually looks like. We are programmed, during our training, to refer to everything in terms of grades and standards. What does gradeless feedback and assessment actually look like? More importantly, what do I do for that final grade we need to report at the end of the class?
I’ll give a little context: I work in adult education right now. It’s a high school; we grant Ontario Secondary School Diplomas. But our students are adults who were not successful in regular high school, for whatever reason. Their ages vary greatly. Classes are mornings or afternoons, five days a week, for seven to eight weeks. So my teaching environment is somewhat different from your typical secondary school teacher. As such, some of Sackstein’s tips don’t directly apply—I don’t need, for instance, to get parents on my side. Most of Sackstein’s tips, however, remain relevant.
I’m not going to go over all ten tips. Instead, I just want to highlight a couple of my favourites, and positive points about the book as a whole.
Firstly, Hacking Assessment is short. It’s about 130 pages, and those pages are crammed full of practical advice. Teachers have a lot of demands on their time, and few of us want to give up some of our precious free time to reading a bulky book full of case studies and other “helpful” educational knowledge. I want to learn professionally, but I want to do it in a smart way. This was a good investment of my time.
Secondly, the structure of every chapter makes it easy to read, absorb, and refer back to Sackstein’s tips. This is my first time reading a book in the Hack Learning series, but I’m given to understand this a staple of the series. The sections are as follows: The Problem, The Hack, What You Can Do Tomorrow, A Blueprint for Full Implementation, Overcoming Pushback, and The Hack in Action. I like it. It acknowledges so many of the realities of teaching: we need tips we can use tomorrow, not at some vague point in the future when we have time to revamp our entire course; we need help when people (colleagues, parents, students) push back at our experimentation; and we need success stories and reflection on failure too. The structure is so useful.
Anyway, some of my favourite hacks?
Hack 3: Rebrand Assignments as Learning Experiences resonated a lot with me, as a teacher of adult learners. So many learners come into class with an attitude that they just need to do some worksheets, get some marks, and move on. I understand where this attitude is coming from. But I want to help re-awaken their appreciation of education and lifelong learning; to do that, I need to deprogram them from what they learned in school was the only way to learn (and at which they were, ultimately, unsuccessful).
Hack 4: Facilitate Student Partnerships is something I am struggling with in my environment and need to keep working at. We like to use the word “empowerment” often without thinking about what that looks like in our specific classroom situations. I know I’m not fully succeeding at this yet, but I want to get better at it. I want my adult learners to step up and take the driver’s seat more often and help each other with the learning, so I can truly step back to be that guide on the side.
Hack 7: Track Progress Transparently is so important to me. I want to stop hiding behind a gradebook full of such arbitrary weights and numbers. I want my students to know, at any given moment, how they are doing a course because they themselves are the ones keeping track. Portfolios are an essential tool for this, and improving my portfolio-fu is one of my next, ongoing goals.
Hacks 8 and 9, Teach Reflection and Teach Students to Self-Grade, are inter-related. I want to get better at teaching reflection, particularly in math, where the prevailing attitude is often one of “did I get the right answer?” instead of “oh, that’s an interesting problem, I wonder how I can solve it”. Similarly, in situations where evaluation based on a standard is necessary, I want to help students do this themselves. They are adults, after all; they’ll need to evaluate themselves constantly outside of the classroom.
I ran two gradeless classes in May/June after reading this book, and my two summer classes are also gradeless. I’m not going back. I’ll work on a blog post at some point that goes into more detail about my experience so far; I’ll link that in this review when it’s out. For now, suffice it to say that nothing is ever perfect the first time, or the second time, or probably even the tenth time. This is a process and a journey, not a switch you can flip in your teaching.
If you have seen the light, and you want to go gradeless too, Hacking Assessment will help you do that. Bottom line: it’s a worthwhile book.
Fortunately there is a better way, and in Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School, Starr Sackstein provides ten practical suggestions to facilitate this process. This is a book I needed. I don’t need to be convinced of the benefits of going gradeless; I did need practical suggestions for what that actually looks like. We are programmed, during our training, to refer to everything in terms of grades and standards. What does gradeless feedback and assessment actually look like? More importantly, what do I do for that final grade we need to report at the end of the class?
I’ll give a little context: I work in adult education right now. It’s a high school; we grant Ontario Secondary School Diplomas. But our students are adults who were not successful in regular high school, for whatever reason. Their ages vary greatly. Classes are mornings or afternoons, five days a week, for seven to eight weeks. So my teaching environment is somewhat different from your typical secondary school teacher. As such, some of Sackstein’s tips don’t directly apply—I don’t need, for instance, to get parents on my side. Most of Sackstein’s tips, however, remain relevant.
I’m not going to go over all ten tips. Instead, I just want to highlight a couple of my favourites, and positive points about the book as a whole.
Firstly, Hacking Assessment is short. It’s about 130 pages, and those pages are crammed full of practical advice. Teachers have a lot of demands on their time, and few of us want to give up some of our precious free time to reading a bulky book full of case studies and other “helpful” educational knowledge. I want to learn professionally, but I want to do it in a smart way. This was a good investment of my time.
Secondly, the structure of every chapter makes it easy to read, absorb, and refer back to Sackstein’s tips. This is my first time reading a book in the Hack Learning series, but I’m given to understand this a staple of the series. The sections are as follows: The Problem, The Hack, What You Can Do Tomorrow, A Blueprint for Full Implementation, Overcoming Pushback, and The Hack in Action. I like it. It acknowledges so many of the realities of teaching: we need tips we can use tomorrow, not at some vague point in the future when we have time to revamp our entire course; we need help when people (colleagues, parents, students) push back at our experimentation; and we need success stories and reflection on failure too. The structure is so useful.
Anyway, some of my favourite hacks?
Hack 3: Rebrand Assignments as Learning Experiences resonated a lot with me, as a teacher of adult learners. So many learners come into class with an attitude that they just need to do some worksheets, get some marks, and move on. I understand where this attitude is coming from. But I want to help re-awaken their appreciation of education and lifelong learning; to do that, I need to deprogram them from what they learned in school was the only way to learn (and at which they were, ultimately, unsuccessful).
Hack 4: Facilitate Student Partnerships is something I am struggling with in my environment and need to keep working at. We like to use the word “empowerment” often without thinking about what that looks like in our specific classroom situations. I know I’m not fully succeeding at this yet, but I want to get better at it. I want my adult learners to step up and take the driver’s seat more often and help each other with the learning, so I can truly step back to be that guide on the side.
Hack 7: Track Progress Transparently is so important to me. I want to stop hiding behind a gradebook full of such arbitrary weights and numbers. I want my students to know, at any given moment, how they are doing a course because they themselves are the ones keeping track. Portfolios are an essential tool for this, and improving my portfolio-fu is one of my next, ongoing goals.
Hacks 8 and 9, Teach Reflection and Teach Students to Self-Grade, are inter-related. I want to get better at teaching reflection, particularly in math, where the prevailing attitude is often one of “did I get the right answer?” instead of “oh, that’s an interesting problem, I wonder how I can solve it”. Similarly, in situations where evaluation based on a standard is necessary, I want to help students do this themselves. They are adults, after all; they’ll need to evaluate themselves constantly outside of the classroom.
I ran two gradeless classes in May/June after reading this book, and my two summer classes are also gradeless. I’m not going back. I’ll work on a blog post at some point that goes into more detail about my experience so far; I’ll link that in this review when it’s out. For now, suffice it to say that nothing is ever perfect the first time, or the second time, or probably even the tenth time. This is a process and a journey, not a switch you can flip in your teaching.
If you have seen the light, and you want to go gradeless too, Hacking Assessment will help you do that. Bottom line: it’s a worthwhile book.
Read
August 10, 2021I absolutely LOVED that this book provided SPECIFIC examples of how an ACTUAL teacher with ACTUAL students implemented "going gradeless" in a classroom, but I wish it had more examples from different subject areas. For that reason, I think that this book is perfect for English/Language Arts teachers, but any secondary teacher could benefit from it.
In the conclusion, Starr Sackstein writes, "Students inherently want to grow and learn; their curiosity drives them in ways that are hard to explain. The traditional grading system deprives them of that curiosity and once detached from it, they forget the spark" (130). What ideas from the book do you think most tap into students' inherent curiosity? What "hack" would you add to the book?
In the conclusion, Starr Sackstein writes, "Students inherently want to grow and learn; their curiosity drives them in ways that are hard to explain. The traditional grading system deprives them of that curiosity and once detached from it, they forget the spark" (130). What ideas from the book do you think most tap into students' inherent curiosity? What "hack" would you add to the book?
December 18, 2017
I read this to prepare for an upcoming pilot of a gradeless classroom. The chapter format was easy to follow. It was a quick but useful tool and I highly recommend it.
June 15, 2017
Quick, easy to digest, and full of implementation tips. Everything an EDU book should be - I don't need to spend weeks with it, and I have real world tips on how to implement going gradeless right now. Good stuff.
December 29, 2016
Hacking Assessments: 10 Ways to go Grade-less in a traditional grades school is a quick read. I loved the layout of each "hack" showing a problem, what you can do tomorrow, questions that may arise, and push back that may come up. This book really breaks down into having students be a central part in their learning and assessment. More or less, give students guidelines and let them learn free. When it comes time to assign a grade, as most schools must do for report cards, a simple conference is had with the student. They fill out a self-reflection and support their claim to a grade based on evidence of learning. I really like the students focus on learning and not "what I got" on an assignment and having the students use evidence to support claims. I see this a another view of standards based grading. Instead of the teacher assessing mastery, the student does. Then, it is less a focus of "what number did I get" and more "did I master or am I proficient in this area?" I would recommend to anyone looking into increase authentic student learning.
February 6, 2019
Wow, and I thought I was being such an ingenious educator by implementing Standards-Based Grading in my math classroom several years ago, but this book says I need to go BEYOND SBG and do no grades. I loved it, especially the part about making class time for what we value as teachers: self-reflection. It made me rethink my assessment pattern, and force me to think of ways to incorporate more in-class reflection; I’m thinking of changing quiz days from quiz, then mini lesson (then students get graded quiz back 2-3 days later) to quiz, group discussion, teacher providing written feedback (no grade), self-reflection, then self-evaluation (self grade) all in the same day.
Such a good read to provide ideas to restructure a classroom for what schools really should be teaching.
Such a good read to provide ideas to restructure a classroom for what schools really should be teaching.
April 13, 2016
If the idea of running a classroom without grades is new to you, this book serves as an approachable introduction, designed to be quick and easy to digest. If you’ve participated in the discussion of going gradeless before, or if you’ve already justified the approach but don’t have the cajones to pull it off full-force, this text could be the nudge you need, but don’t expect the insights or rationale to be surprising. This book is practical more than anything else. That’s both its strength (for newcomers) and its weakness (for those familiar with the idea).
April 1, 2017
As an educator and parent, Hacking Assessment by Starr Sackstein stretched my thinking of how to showcase student learning beyond the structured grading system offered in our public and private schools. Page after page, I found myself wondering, "What if..." as I grappled with the possibilities of grading versus assessment. I highly recommend this book to any educator or parent wanting to explore options of learning for the sake of learning, not solely as a means to an end.
October 6, 2018
Sackstein captures the truest essence of assessment I have ever read. Aligning so wonderfully with my own personal beliefs, "Hacking Assessment" is organized in a way that is tangible and accessible for educators while addressing challenges posed by everything from our students to the education system itself. Whether you're an educator, a parent, or even a student I would recommend this book. Truly impactful, inspiring, and thought-provoking.
January 1, 2019
If your frame of reference is a graded classrom and you are looking for something else then this is the book for you! I love all the practical ideas and especially the ways to talk to other professionals about this way of schooling. If you want to start your own gradeless classroom this the beginning of your journey. I particularly liked learning about this way of doing things while surrounded by graded classrooms everywhere.
March 1, 2016
This book will absolutely change your mind about the current grading system. Transforming to a no grade classroom where Learning is the focus instead of a letter grade will surely produce students ready to contribute to society in a way that is unimaginable. I'm ready to spread the good news.
May 28, 2016
Like how organized this was and v the predictable structure. Makes it better for referencing later. I read this directly after Assessment 3.0, so much of the theory as to why to switch to gradeless was already covered. I liked practical aspects and hope to return to it.
January 17, 2017
Lots of really great ideas and resources here! I have a lot to think about before next school year about how to implement a gradeless classroom. My recent attempt was marginally successful, but this book gave me some ideas to take it to the next level. Lots of light bulbs going off!
July 19, 2018
While it didn't give me all the answers, it was a great start to get me thinking about how to approach going gradeless next year. The book is accessible, so I think a great way to start conversations with colleagues. I'm feeling inspired!
January 19, 2016
A great read for anyone thinking about alternatives to traditional grading.
July 13, 2017
straightforward and reader friendly
September 1, 2017
È un libro Americano. Molto Americano. Parla di scuola americana, ha ogni capitoletto che si apre con una citazione Tanto Americana, e in generale è infuso di americanissimo quanto vuoto ottimismo da buzzword pedago-psicologiche. Il tema trattato è comunque molto interessante, e il fatto che il testo faccia riferimento a esperienze concrete permette di guardare oltre alla patina motivational e concentrarsi sul chi-cosa-come. Purtroppo però il fluire del discorso dà regolarmente per scontati molti dettagli fondamentali sugli "hack" proposti (ok, facciamo le "student conferences" in cui l'insegnante ha 3 minuti di colloquio 1-a-1 con ogni alunno: ma per parlà de che? Di preciso, non in senso vago, perché tre minuti son pochi e sarebbe carino capire qual è il loro scopo primario per ottimizzare i tempi!); diverse proposte fatte, inoltre, risultano difficilmente applicabili nel contesto italiano.
Tutto sommato ho comunque apprezzato la lettura, come fonte di spunti (anche indipendenti dalla volontà dell'autrice) e "pulce nell'orecchio" che invita a interrogarsi su una questione data sempre per ovvia e invece oggi quanto mai discutibile. Penso che, sulla scorta di quanto letto, proverò l'anno prossimo a muovermi nella direzione del ri-concepimento dei voti; so però che la via dovrà inevitabilmente essere diversa da quella qui tracciata.
Tutto sommato ho comunque apprezzato la lettura, come fonte di spunti (anche indipendenti dalla volontà dell'autrice) e "pulce nell'orecchio" che invita a interrogarsi su una questione data sempre per ovvia e invece oggi quanto mai discutibile. Penso che, sulla scorta di quanto letto, proverò l'anno prossimo a muovermi nella direzione del ri-concepimento dei voti; so però che la via dovrà inevitabilmente essere diversa da quella qui tracciata.
April 14, 2020
This book has tied so much of what I’ve learned together. As a second year teacher, there is still so much I am figuring out. I have never been married to a grading system. Through my education at CU Boulder, the student centered classroom and learner empowerment were huge areas of focus. Yet, it’s hard to implement. Teaching is hard! As my district transferred to online schooling with the Coronavirus pandemic, we’re taken out traditional grades. Assignments are learning experiences, there is ample time to reflect, everything is cloud based, and most of my role now is to provide feedback. Hacking Assessment explains how to shift student achievement to one based on standards, mastery, reflection, and accountability. I particularly like the concept of making achievement transparent. During this process of online learning, I am tracking information privately. This book is full of food for thought, it puts students first. As it was written in 2015 and I work for a very innovative district, some of the information was irrelevant, particularly information about how to use technology & why we should. Other than that this was a wonderful book that I’ve learned so much from, and I am excited to start designing classes based on these principles.
June 3, 2021
Sackstein paints a convincing, vivid argument that assessment can be a much more powerful tool for learning, but only if it’s “hacked:” shift the mindset to master learning, rebrand all the assignments as learning experiences, and partner up with the students, getting them to reflect and self-grade. There are also some tips here on making the work more efficient, with timed conferences and student-curated digital archives, for example. It comes down again and again to utilizing the data coming in to feed back into student improvement.
This is the first title I’ve read in the Hack Learning series, but I’ll definitely go back for more. The focus on modest changes that can be made in the beginning, along with sections specifically on overcoming pushback, make for a formula that is obviously designed by real teachers with experience in real classrooms. (How many of us have opened up the tomes produced in graduate schools of education, only to despair of getting anything useful out of them?) And the tips and examples make reading Sackstein’s work truly inspiring. It's a new model for writing about education, and a good one.
This is the first title I’ve read in the Hack Learning series, but I’ll definitely go back for more. The focus on modest changes that can be made in the beginning, along with sections specifically on overcoming pushback, make for a formula that is obviously designed by real teachers with experience in real classrooms. (How many of us have opened up the tomes produced in graduate schools of education, only to despair of getting anything useful out of them?) And the tips and examples make reading Sackstein’s work truly inspiring. It's a new model for writing about education, and a good one.
September 30, 2018
As an educator who has long been disillusioned with our grading system, but hesitant to completely buck the system due to fears of my own inadequacies (alongside an inability to imagine exactly what this "no grades" world would look like), this book was a perfect place for me to start. The "hacking" series structure works for this kind of book, and each chapter responds to a critical aspect of going gradeless. I do wish there was an appendix with more examples of student reflections, conference agendas, etc. I also wish the glasses weren't always rose colored. I want to read about the failures, the unforeseen hiccups, the missed opportunities, the students who say this doesn't work for them. Each of those failures is a powerful teachable moment about doing something most of us have never done before. A chapter on failure would have been a welcome (and honest) addition.
Still, after reading this book, I have started imagining my classroom with fewer (and fewer, and fewer) grades, and more conversation, reflection, and meaningful growth.
I'm excited to put this into practice.
Still, after reading this book, I have started imagining my classroom with fewer (and fewer, and fewer) grades, and more conversation, reflection, and meaningful growth.
I'm excited to put this into practice.
July 28, 2017
Hacking Assessment focuses on engaging students in their learning by moving away from traditional grades that don't promote buy-in from many students, to learning how to assess and track mastery in a more meaningful and reflective way.
This is a quick read, and is highly practical for educators because, like the other books in the hacking series, it has a straightforward structure that can be easily used to revise systems in the classroom around grading. You can definitely take hacks on their own to begin this process, or as a whole around the subject of the book. My favorite hack in this book is how to teach students to become their own evaluators and graders, so that they are focused on their mastery and growth in their own work beyond the grade letter that a teacher would assign them.
Definitely work the read for teachers who want to move towards more fully engaging their students in the grading and assessment process.
This is a quick read, and is highly practical for educators because, like the other books in the hacking series, it has a straightforward structure that can be easily used to revise systems in the classroom around grading. You can definitely take hacks on their own to begin this process, or as a whole around the subject of the book. My favorite hack in this book is how to teach students to become their own evaluators and graders, so that they are focused on their mastery and growth in their own work beyond the grade letter that a teacher would assign them.
Definitely work the read for teachers who want to move towards more fully engaging their students in the grading and assessment process.
March 8, 2021
I have mixed feelings about this book, but overall I benefited from reading it. I plan to incorporate more reflection and self-assessment into my own classroom as a result of reading it.
However, I have some serious doubts about letting students determine their own final grade. The author even mentions that she has had a few students who insisted on a final grade with which she disagreed, but she allowed them to give themselves that grade because assessment isn't about "justice," it's about "learning."
I think the function of grades is to communicate to other institutions (such as colleges) the level of mastery that a student has achieved, not a student's perception of their mastery. Aligning the two is very important, but in the end, they are not one and the same.
Reading this book made me realize that I would like to move towards standards-based grading, but I am not ready for a gradeless classroom. Nevertheless, I can take the mindset and techniques of a gradeless classroom to improve my teaching.
However, I have some serious doubts about letting students determine their own final grade. The author even mentions that she has had a few students who insisted on a final grade with which she disagreed, but she allowed them to give themselves that grade because assessment isn't about "justice," it's about "learning."
I think the function of grades is to communicate to other institutions (such as colleges) the level of mastery that a student has achieved, not a student's perception of their mastery. Aligning the two is very important, but in the end, they are not one and the same.
Reading this book made me realize that I would like to move towards standards-based grading, but I am not ready for a gradeless classroom. Nevertheless, I can take the mindset and techniques of a gradeless classroom to improve my teaching.
July 14, 2019
As someone planning on going gradeless, this book gave me a few basic ideas on things to consider. But its greatest strength (easy-to-digest, simple practicalities) is also in some respects its greatest weaknesses. There's no discussion of scholarly research that promotes going gradeless (which would be useful to have when sharing the idea with co-workers and administrators), and I was disappointed in the lack of specific examples. Although every chapter contains one documented case of how Sackstein or other educators have implemented each "hack," I was hoping for more models on how I might go about doing them in my class.
Overall, I'd say this book is a good way to start the conversation about going gradeless, but if you're looking for more testimonials and ideas on how specifically to do it, your best luck is to search online.
Overall, I'd say this book is a good way to start the conversation about going gradeless, but if you're looking for more testimonials and ideas on how specifically to do it, your best luck is to search online.
April 27, 2021
I appreciated this book's accessibility! It was an easy read, and having each "hack" clearly delineated into a different chapter will make it easy for me to go back when I want to revisit something. There are also several ideas from this book that I'm excited to explore more, including more student reflections and portfolio assessments. I do feel that it will improve my classroom practice.
However, while I liked the book's simplicity, for me, this was also maybe its biggest issue. There were multiple chapters without details that ended with me going, "Okay, but..." Also, moving to a gradeless classroom is a pretty big shift for most teachers, so having scholarly research backing some of the proposals would have made the claims more compelling.
Overall, if you're wanting a taste of the philosophy and some practices of a gradeless classroom, this is a good introductory read!
However, while I liked the book's simplicity, for me, this was also maybe its biggest issue. There were multiple chapters without details that ended with me going, "Okay, but..." Also, moving to a gradeless classroom is a pretty big shift for most teachers, so having scholarly research backing some of the proposals would have made the claims more compelling.
Overall, if you're wanting a taste of the philosophy and some practices of a gradeless classroom, this is a good introductory read!
February 25, 2020
I would give it -5 stars if that were possible. An unrealistic approach to teaching/learning. For example - "Revise your curriculum with the help of your students" I'm sorry, but I do think that I am in a better position to judge what content should be included in a course, and also the level at which it should be taught. While reading this book, I couldn't help but think about another book, "The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters". Several quotes from reviews of that book: "...average citizens believe themselves to be on an equal intellectual footing with doctors and diplomats", and "...the emergence of a customer service model in ... education" kept coursing through my mind as I read "Hacking Assessment".
August 21, 2021
I am beginning a journey of shifting assessment practices in my teaching this year. It’s been a long time coming and the time is right with education being on the cusp of what I hope is permanent change. Starr Sackstein has provided a guide for anyone wanting to start this journey too.
In her book you will find that she does not shade the opportunity in rose-coloured optimism but rather she presents what is possible alongside the challenges you challenges your are bound to encounter. She shares suggestions for how to tackle these roadblocks alongside the new opportunities. She provides anecdotal evidence of how assessment in a traditional organization can still achieve its purpose while overcoming the limits of traditional practice.
This has been a guide to help inspire why I want to make a change in my classroom and how I can go about doing it.
In her book you will find that she does not shade the opportunity in rose-coloured optimism but rather she presents what is possible alongside the challenges you challenges your are bound to encounter. She shares suggestions for how to tackle these roadblocks alongside the new opportunities. She provides anecdotal evidence of how assessment in a traditional organization can still achieve its purpose while overcoming the limits of traditional practice.
This has been a guide to help inspire why I want to make a change in my classroom and how I can go about doing it.
November 15, 2023
Entertaining: 3/10
Transformational: 7/10
We are a gradeless homeschool and I teach to a couple of core standards documents including Indiana DOE standards, and one we wrote ourselves.
While I read at least one education book each year to stay sharp, I try to pick books that cross pollinate into business and ministry. This book hit all 3 arenas.
If you want to find language collaborate with people around a standard of any sort (which can be a local church's values or a business's goals) this book delivers well. How do we help disciples of Jesus "own" their own growth and development? How can we help employees have a voice in our yearly goals? Hacking assessment.
Transformational: 7/10
We are a gradeless homeschool and I teach to a couple of core standards documents including Indiana DOE standards, and one we wrote ourselves.
While I read at least one education book each year to stay sharp, I try to pick books that cross pollinate into business and ministry. This book hit all 3 arenas.
If you want to find language collaborate with people around a standard of any sort (which can be a local church's values or a business's goals) this book delivers well. How do we help disciples of Jesus "own" their own growth and development? How can we help employees have a voice in our yearly goals? Hacking assessment.
August 22, 2017
A lot of great information packed into a small package. Definitely a starting point for teachers looking to move into a feedback-focused classroom. There are a few ways I would have changed this to make it a bit more user friendly (the sections didn't feel like they were in any particular order, it would have been nice to have a section of resources in the back etc.) but overall I'm really grateful this little book exists! I know I will be lending it out a lot.
June 30, 2018
Takes the mystery out of gradeless classrooms
Though I am still not entirely sure where I fall on the grades vs. no grades issue, this book answered a lot of the questions I had regarding the practice of removing grades from the classroom. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, this is a great read containing several practical strategies for use in both traditional and non-traditional classrooms.
Though I am still not entirely sure where I fall on the grades vs. no grades issue, this book answered a lot of the questions I had regarding the practice of removing grades from the classroom. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, this is a great read containing several practical strategies for use in both traditional and non-traditional classrooms.
July 16, 2018
I read this book for a class.
It was all about how to go graceless in your classroom. Sackstein explains her process with tips for all of the pitfalls and excuses teachers have for not doing that innovative thing we want to do.
There were definitely parts of her process that I didn’t agree with—letting the student pick their final grade that appeared on the transcript (in her classroom there were no grades, but her school required on for report cards)—but all in all, I liked it a lot.
It was all about how to go graceless in your classroom. Sackstein explains her process with tips for all of the pitfalls and excuses teachers have for not doing that innovative thing we want to do.
There were definitely parts of her process that I didn’t agree with—letting the student pick their final grade that appeared on the transcript (in her classroom there were no grades, but her school required on for report cards)—but all in all, I liked it a lot.
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