Introduction to Assessment

Traditional grading methods have been harming students, specifically Students of Color, for ages. Instead of focusing on developing as thinkers, writers and creators, students are often motivated by grades and grades only. Assessment models often encourage and reinforce students’ use of white language supremacy (aka Standard American English or scholarly language). White language is but one form of language. Antiracist assessment aims to allow for various and varied forms of language and ways of knowing. This kind of assessment allows students to be their whole selves as they grow and evolve as writers.

Much of this work around antiracist assessment stems from groundbreaking work of the Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecology and the Antiracist Curriculum Initiative, two grants from the State of Washington for community and technical colleges. The grant work and assessments shared here are informed by the work of Felicia Rose Chavez, Dr. April Baker Bell, Dr. Bettina Love and Dr. Asao Inoue. Additionally, we draw from the foundational work of Tara Yosso and their theory of Community Cultural Wealth. Whereas assessment has historically taken a narrow view of student knowledge anchored to the supposed supremacy of Habits of White Language (HOWL) and Standard American English (SAE), Yosso calls for explicitly recognizing and valuing all of the Cultural Capital students bring with them to our classrooms. We want to include Linguistic, Aspirational, Familial, Social, Navigational, and Resistant Capital in our curriculum, feedback and assessment. We believe alternative forms of grading – ANTIRACIST GRADING – can help us do this.

One means of recognizing and valuing the types of Cultural Capital defined by Yosso is through the aspirational educational vision of Donovan Livingston, in his evocative spoken word “Lift Off” commencement speech to the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2016. Livingston not only indicts the racism of educational systems past and present, but also speaks to our mission to remove constraints of standards and policies, recognize and value student strengths, and help them maximize their potential to “light up the world….” His words serve as a call to action and motivational reminder of our purposes in this work. His words are also a reminder that we can do better; assessment is a foundational place to start as we strive for growth.

Antiracist assessment aims to empower student agency and should ideally operate to flatten hierarchies and equalize power dynamics in classrooms and on campuses. We want students to understand that this is a new and different way of being in education. If we can convincingly and effectively convey our purposes, students can take control of their learning and make it work for them.

Many students enter English 101 having experienced forms of trauma as writers and thinkers. They have rarely been given the chance to direct or have a say in their learning, and English 101 often offers them their first opportunity to reflect upon their agency (or lack thereof), create and develop a voice they believe in and consider how to embrace and use their insight and wisdom through language. In short, much of what we do in English 101 informally revolves around healing, and these changes will more actively and transparently engage students in that healing process. But if we continue to grade traditionally, authentic healing (or growth) cannot happen. Antiracist assessment helps us remove bias, strengthen relationships with students, share power and embrace healing. Faculty will similarly be freed from their greatest burden — teachers (one hopes) did not come to this profession to judge, gate-keep, nitpick, and crush dreams. We chose this work for our love of learning, our belief in potential, and a spirit of collaboration. The more we can become developmental partners in learning, co-creators, and co-conspirators, the more we should be invigorated and rejuvenated in purpose and passion.

There are many pathways to antiracist assessment – Ungrading, Grade Bundles, Labor Based Grading, Student-Lead Grading to name a few – and it’s important to find the assessment method that works best for you AND for your students. It takes awhile (often several terms) to find an antiracist assessment method that works for you and your students. And it can feel quite rocky at first. But most of us doing this work have seen such powerfully positive results, we believe it’s a worthy endeavor. We believe that antiracist assessment is part of a movement to empower marginalized students and ***

ADD VIDEO ABOUT MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT LBG AND GRADE BUNDLES – include feedback from students about how the grade bundles have impacted them positively

• Students won’t work? Wrong. They are working harder than before -and now for the right reasons. And their work is more authentic, honest, sophisticated and complex because they aren’t afraid to take risks; those risks won’t result in a bad grade so they are free to go for it….
• This is stressful? Sometimes. A chasers struggle at first. But then they see my feedback and calm down. They start to trust the system.
• It’s more work for me? Not really. I no longer waste my time on irrelevant details (grammar…) and focus instead on writer’s goals, growth and evolution.
• It’s difficult to track? Nope. It’s pretty darn easy. I send out two grade updates each term (that doubles as a check-in).
• Students are not ready for this kind of choice and control? I’ve found the opposite to be true.