Grading for Equity: How Mastery Grading Has Lost Its Way

I first heard the term equitable grading during the COVID-19 remote learning period and during hybrid instruction. Our district used it as the justification to create a 50% grading floor. The idea was that if an F is 50% then there is no reason to give a student less than 50%. This obviously didn’t take into account that 50% of 0 should still be 0, but nobody consulted teachers on the matter. Making the floor 50% made it easier for students to make a mad dash for graduation at the last second, requiring only to EARN 10% to pass instead of 60%. Patricia Alex (2022), in her article, “Time to Pull the Plug on Traditional Grading? Supporters of mastery-based grading say it could promote equity,” explains that many initial attempts at equitable grading have been implemented in a “patchwork fashion” fashion, lowering expectations (p. 39). Another hot-button topic was homework. Homework is wrong unless it is classwork sent home. I think you can sense that I am not a fan of equitable grading as it is used in some circumstances. However, equitable grading, as a practice that emphasizes mastery over compliance, is at least honorable.

What Was the Intent of Equitable Grading?

As with most things, the first proponents of equitable grading did not propose it as a way to give lazy students a free pass, but rather to, as the name suggests, create equity in how we assess and grade students. If the ultimate goal of education is for students to increase their knowledge, then we should be rewarding students who have done so, rather than tracking which students can complete repetitive, time-consuming tasks. ”Research shows teachers often mix academic assessment with learning behaviors, making grading more about measuring compliance than reflecting content mastery” (Chism & Brookhart, 2025).  It is not lost on me that, in a college class, most students complete only a handful of assignments, while in Freshman year, students complete hundreds. Depending on the students' socio-economic background or cultural context, this overabundance of work can have a more or less significant effect on them. Rewarding or punishing a student based on the amount of time they have outside of class to study is wrong. 

How Can We Get Back on Track?

Compassion needs to go hand in hand with accountability. In some cases, our compassion shields our students from the realities and challenges of the world, and we do our students a disservice in this regard. We need to ensure that teachers provide a rigorous learning environment. Equitable grading is not synonymous with lowering standards and making endless accommodations and exceptions. While these changes are aimed solely at assessing knowledge, some actions have had the unintended consequence of encouraging unwanted behaviors and inflating grades (Tyner, 2024). Mastery needs to be a major focus that accompanies the shift away from compliance grading of homework and classwork. 

Things We Should Be Doing:

1. Align items/tasks, teaching, and student learning

   1. Ask yourself, does this assessment align with the activities and content I have covered in class?

2. Ensure all Assessments align with curricular goals

   1. If you cannot identify the standard or goal that is met by completing the assignment or assessment, you are grading participation, not mastery.

3. Use a limited number of performance categories (Below Standard, Approaching, Met, Exceeded)

   1. It is difficult to accurately and consistently determine whether a student deserves a 37 or 39 on an assignment, but it is much less subjective to determine whether they have earned a 3 or 4 on a standards-based rubric.

4. Provide students with multiple opportunities to demonstrate success

   1. Allowing students to be reassessed acknowledges that students learn at different rates. Create a retake policy that honors students' learning differences and your time.

5. Provide formative assessment and Feedback before graded assessments

   1. Lessons should build upon themselves and allow time for practice and feedback so students are familiar with the content AND assessment criteria.

Alex, P. (2022). Time to Pull the Plug on Traditional Grading? Supporters of mastery-based grading say it could promote equity. Education Next, 22(4), 38–43.

Chism, D., & Brookhart, S. M. (2025). Three Principles for Fairer, More Relevant Grading: 

Key questions can help educators design assessments and grading systems that accurately reflect student progress and honor diverse experiences. Educational Leadership, 82(8), 34–39.

Tyner, A. B. (2024). Unintended Effects of “Equitable” Grading: Reforms aimed at

Leveling playing fields may lead instead to lowered expectations for student performance. School Administrator, 81(11), 38–41.