College and university leaders are constantly asking themselves how to enroll and retain underrepresented students. According to Joe Feldman, CEO of Crescendo Education Group, there’s something every professor can do to make higher education more equitable. They can change the way they grade.
Last year, Feldman – a former teacher, principal and school district manager – wrote a book called Grading for Equity that outlines a set of grading practices for K-12 teachers designed to help underserved students succeed. The book argues that traditional grading tactics, dating back to the Industrial Revolution, perpetuate opportunity gaps, penalizing students with less background knowledge without capturing their ultimate mastery of the material.
“If we’re serious about addressing the achievement disparities and retaining more historically underserved students, we have to tackle the cores of the education system and grading is one of them,” Feldman said.
Through Crescendo Education Group, Feldman has been advising schools about how they can grade more equitably. But about a year and a half ago, Feldman started getting inquiries from colleges and universities also asking for guidance.
Professors are rarely taught how to teach, let alone how to grade. Faculty who read Feldman’s book had a hunch their grading practices might be impacting retention rates for low-income students and students of color.
Beth Patel, an English as a Second Language instructor at the College of Marin, said she felt “really struck” by the book’s findings. As the college’s professional development facilitator, she created a book study group for instructors and later invited Feldman to give presentations to deans and faculty.
“A lot of times when we’re talking about equity, we’re looking at what’s a big program the college can do,” Patel said. “But with this idea, this goes to the very basic things that we do. This is saying that every faculty member has control of this in their classroom. At such a fundamental level, we can begin to make change.”
