As the higher education student evolves, many instructors are looking to find new ways to assess their students’ performance in their courses. While more traditional methods of grading still have value and can demonstrate student skills at a given moment, other grading structures can highlight student progress toward long-term mastery of learning objectives.
In this post, let’s break down three popular grading alternatives – Specifications Grading, Ungrading, and Standards-Based Grading – and look at the opportunities and challenges each faces. Whether you’re simply curious or ready to jump on board with something new, this guide should help you make sense of some options for your grading structure.
Specifications Grading
Specifications Grading, also known as “Specs” Grading, is an innovative approach to assessing student achievement of course goals focused on clearly defined criteria for passing individual assignments and assessments. Introduced by Linda Nilson in her 2014 book, Specification Grading: Restoring Rigor, Motivating Students, and Saving Faculty Time, this method emphasizes students meeting learning objectives. The course content is typically graded on a Pass/Not Yet/Fail scale and is often structured into bundles that correspond to final letter grades based on the number of passing grades students achieved in those bundles.
For example, let’s imagine a course with 4 assignment categories – 8 In-Class Discussions, 10 Reaction Papers, 3 Exams, and a Final Project. In order to earn an A in the course, students may be asked to achieve mastery (determined at the assignment level) in all 22 course assignments. However, a B may be determined by achieving mastery in 6 Discussions, 8 Reaction Papers, 2 Exams, and the Final Project. Any variability in that bundle (say, all 10 Reaction Papers are completed) would result in a +/- score: in this example, a B+. Students then focus on iterating their work if they receive a “Not Yet” assessment in order to improve their score through the mastery of course content. For more information, check out Nilson’s article in Inside Higher Ed titled, Yes, Virginia, There’s a Better Way to Grade.
Opportunities Presented by Specifications Grading
- Enhanced Student Motivation: Students have an increased sense of agency and work toward mastering the content to meet the minimum threshold of meeting learning objectives.
- More Impactful Feedback: Because students need to meet the mastery criteria for individual assignments, they are required to read and internalize instructor feedback more regularly.
- Less Point-Chasing or Grade-Grubbing: Since the bundles are set at the beginning of the semester, students are already aware of how to improve their scores if they are not where they hope to be.
- Improved Student Quality of Work: Many instructors using this method report that the level of student work is greatly enhanced from their more traditionally graded counterparts.
Challenges in Implementing Specifications Grading
- Upfront Time Investment: Designing a course with specifications grading requires a lot of upfront time to develop detailed criteria for assignments and appropriate bundles for letter grades.
- Student Pushback: As with most new things, some students may have a hard time wrapping their brains around and accepting a nontraditional grading system, requiring some additional interventions to ensure student success.
- Rethinking Current Design: It can be difficult to rethink how to structure a course you’re super familiar with, so being thoughtful about how to best structure the course to ensure student participation throughout the entire semester and devising what mastery means for individual assignments can prove to be a hurdle.
- Working Within Canvas: Our learning management system has a difficult time reporting nontraditional grades like Specifications Grading, so workarounds need to be considered in order to report grades appropriately.
Ungrading
Ungrading is an assessment approach that minimizes or eliminates traditional grades, focusing instead on detailed feedback and student self-reflection. This method encourages students to engage deeply with their learning rather than chasing grades. Susan D. Blum’s 2020 book, Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead), provides a comprehensive overview of this practice. You may also want to check out a blog post from Duke University: What is Ungrading?
Ungrading involves providing formative feedback on assignments rather than summative grades. Students often self-assess their work and reflect on their learning progress. Instructors may ask students to suggest their final grade based on their portfolio of work and self-reflection. The focus of this method is on learning and growth in relation to the learning objectives for the course rather than achieving a specific points-based grade.
Opportunities with Ungrading
- Improved Instructor-Student Relationships: Because students are constantly self-reflecting and interacting with their instructor about their progress, this method helps build trust and engagement between students and the instructor.
- Development of Metacognitive Skills: With meaningful reflection being the hallmark of this method, students must think through how they learn about concepts rather than simply learning the content itself.
- Reduced Stress: Students typically report less stress about individual assignments or their overall grades because they are being asked to focus on how they’ve learned the material instead of achieving a specific number of points on each assignment.
Challenges Presented by Ungrading
- Time-Intensive Feedback: For this style of grading structure to truly work, students require a significant amount of instructor feedback to evaluate their own progress in meeting the course objectives.
- Student Grade Uncertainty: Without numerical grades on all individual assignments, students may feel unsure of what letter grade they will ultimately earn at the end of the semester, leading to more questions to field on the instructor end.
- Ensuring Consistency and Fairness: Without more standardized grades, it can be challenging to make sure you are being fair and consistent in your grading practices from student to student.
Standards-Based Grading
Standards-Based Grading (SBG) assesses students on their progress toward mastering specific learning objectives rather than giving a single grade per assignment. This method focuses on students’ mastery of specific standards, providing a clearer picture of where students are and how much they understand in relation to that objective.
In SBG, learning materials and assignments must be aligned with course objectives so that students can demonstrate their progress throughout the semester to each of them. In a typical setup, the SBG grading scale includes a 0 through 4 grading scale: No Mastery (0), Beginner (1), Developing (2), Proficient (3), and Advanced (4). In this method, students can track which standards they’ve met and where improvement is still needed. Final grades reflect mastery across all standards. Read more about specific uses in the article, Standards-Based Grading for 2025: Definition, Benefits & Comparison With Traditional Grading.
Opportunities in Standards-Based Grading
- Personalized Learning: By identifying individual strengths and weaknesses as well as tracking progress toward objectives, instructors can implement more targeted interventions and personalized instruction.
- Transparency in Grades: This method clarifies expectations for students and makes it easier for students to understand what their grade really means.
- Develops a Growth Mindset: Students are encouraged to keep going with course content through targeted feedback aimed at developing a growth mindset. It easily identifies areas of strength and growth for students.
Challenges with Standards-Based Grading
- Time-Consuming Tracking: Implementing this system can lead to some complications in tracking multiple standards in a timely manner – as well as communicating that tracking – for each of your students.
- Assessment Redesign: This method requires rethinking assignment design and how to best reflect those scores in the gradebook. Each assessment must accurately measure proficiency of specific standards.
- Unlearning of Traditional Practices: Because students are working to improve their proficiency throughout the semester, they may find it difficult to wrap their heads around what their grades indicate and how to proceed. Similarly, this structure requires instructors to rethink how they score tasks and give feedback to students to encourage improvement over time.
Final Thoughts
As you consider the role of grading in your course, remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Specifications Grading, Ungrading, and Standards-Based Grading each offer powerful opportunities to shift the focus from earning points to mastering content—but each also comes with its own set of implementation challenges. The key is to select the approach (or combination of approaches) that best supports your teaching goals, course structure, and students’ needs.
Even small changes—like offering assignment revisions, focusing feedback on learning outcomes, or involving students in self-assessment—can help move your course toward a more learner-centered model. As with any pedagogical change, start small, stay reflective, and remain open to feedback—from both your students and yourself. Please reach out to the Office of Instructional Design if you would like to discuss these structures (or others) further!
References
Bouchrika, Imed. “Standards-Based Grading for 2025: Definition, Benefits & Comparison With Traditional Grading.” Research.com, 7 Apr. 2025, https://research.com/education/standards-based-grading.
Kenyon, Amy. “What Is Ungrading?” Duke Learning Innovation & Lifetime Education, 21 Sept. 2022, https://learninginnovation.duke.edu/blog/2022/09/what-is-ungrading/.
Nilson, Linda B. “Yes, Virginia, There’s a Better Way to Grade.” Inside Higher Ed, https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/01/19/new-ways-grade-more-effectively-essay. Accessed 21 Apr. 2025.
