Here are a list of our publications in this project as well as references for readings that we think are useful when thinking about alternative grading.

Online Resources

  1. Online Playbook of Alternative Grading Practices https://cs-alternative-grading-practices.github.io/playbook/

Presentations

  1. Adrienne Decker. 2026. Grading, Assessment, Learning, and Intellectual Development or “How it Took 20 Years to See I Was Wrong’“ AP CSA Reading Professional Night Speaker - June 3, 2026

  2. Adrienne Decker. 2024. Transforming Grading Practices in the Computing Education Community, CCSC Eastern Region Conference Opening Keynote, Mount St. Mary’s University, MD, October 18, 2024, Vol. 40, 3, 19–20. Keynote Presentation

Publications

  1. Adrienne Decker, Stephen H. Edwards, Brian M. McSkimming, Bob Edmison, Audrey Rorrer, and Manuel A. Pérez Quiñones. 2024. Transforming Grading Practices in the Computing Education Community. In Proceedings of the 55th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 1 (SIGCSE 2024). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 276–282. https://doi.org/10.1145/3626252.3630953

  2. A. Shukla (2024). Investigating Student Perceptions of Equitable Grading Practices. MS thesis, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA. https://hdl.handle.net/10919/119512

  3. Stephen H. Edwards, David L. Largent, Ben Schafer, Debarati Basu, Amy Csizmar Dalal, Dan Garcia, Brian Harrington, Kevin Lin, Dan S. Myers, Christian Roberson, Giulia Toti, and Brett Wortzman. 2025. Working Group Report: Developing a Playbook of Equitable Grading Practices. In 2024 Working Group Reports on 1st ACM Virtual Global Computing Education Conference (SIGCSE Virtual–WGR 2024). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 41–53. https://doi.org/10.1145/3708550.3730561

  4. Stephen H. Edwards, Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones, Adrienne Decker, Bob Edmison, Audrey Rorrer, Anmol Shukla, “Early Experiences with Specifications Grading in Introductory CS Courses,” in 2024 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), Washington, DC, USA, 2024, pp. 1-9, https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE61694.2024.10893554

  5. Stephen H. Edwards, David L. Largent, Ben Schafer, Debarati Basu, Amy Csizmar Dalal, Dan Garcia, Brian Harrington, Kevin Lin, Dan S. Myers, Christian Roberson, Giulia Toti, and Brett Wortzman. 2024. Developing a Playbook of Equitable Grading Practices. In Proceedings of the 2024 on ACM Virtual Global Computing Education Conference V. 2 (SIGCSE Virtual 2024). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 283–284. https://doi.org/10.1145/3649409.3691071

  6. David L. Largent, Adrienne Decker, Stephen H. Edwards, Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones, and Christian Roberson. 2025. BOF: Grading for Equity in Computer Science Courses. In Proceedings of the 56th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V. 2 (SIGCSETS 2025). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1723. https://doi.org/10.1145/3641555.3705096

  7. Adrienne Decker, Stephen H. Edwards, Bob Edmison, Manuel A. Pérez Quiñones, and Audrey Rorrer. 2026. A Call for Critical Technology to Enable Innovative and Alternative Grading Practices. In Proceedings of the 57th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V.1 (SIGCSE TS 2026), Vol. 1. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 260–266. https://doi.org/10.1145/3770762.3772530

  8. Adrienne Decker, Stephen H. Edwards, David L. Largent, Kevin Lin, Nadia Najjar, and Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones. 2026. Adoption of Alternative Grading Practices in CS Classrooms. In Proceedings of the 57th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V.2 (SIGCSE TS 2026), Vol. 2. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1633–1634. https://doi.org/10.1145/3770761.3777141

  9. David L. Largent, Adrienne Decker, Stephen H. Edwards, Manuel A. Pérez Quiñones, and Christian Roberson. 2026. BOF: Learner-Centered Grading in Computer Science Courses. In Proceedings of the 57th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education V.2 (SIGCSE TS 2026), Vol. 2. Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1701. https://doi.org/10.1145/3770761.3777085

  10. Stephen H. Edwards, Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones, Adrienne Decker, Bob Edmison, Audrey Rorrer. 2026. Student Perceptions of Equitable Grading Practices. In Proceedings of the 59th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICCS 2026). Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. http://dx.doi.org/10.24251/HICSS.2026.808

  11. Ilse van Duijl, Bob Edmison, Stephen H Edwards, Adrienne Decker, Audrey Rorrer, Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones. 2026. Enhancing the LTI Protocol to Support Alternative Grading Practices in Online Learning Tools. In Proceedings of the 2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Charlotte, NC June 22-25, 2026. https://nemo.asee.org/public/conferences/374/papers/51322/view

  12. Abhinav Menon, Stephen H Edwards, Bob Edmison, Adrienne Decker, Manuel A. Pérez-Quiñones, Audrey Rorrer. Using Generative AI to Enhance Community Support for Alternative Grading Practices. In Proceedings of the 2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Charlotte, NC June 22-25, 2026. https://nemo.asee.org/public/conferences/374/papers/51349/view

References

  1. The Origin of Grades in American Schools by Josh Eyler for the Saturday Evening Post

  2. Canvas, P. 2020. Introduction to the Learning Mastery Gradebook. Retrieved 1 August 2023 from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/1881551/pages/introduction-to-the-learning-mastery-gradebook?module_item_id=22916901

  3. Chalmers, L. and Keown, P. 2006. Communities of practice and professional development. International Journal of Lifelong Education 25, 2, 139–156. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02601370500510793.

  4. Craig, T. A. 2011. Effects of standards-based report cards on student learning Ph.D. Dissertation. Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA. https://www.proquest.com/docview/926432787

  5. Dueck, M. 2014. Grading smarter, not harder: Assessment strategies that motivate kids and help them learn. ASCD, Alexandria, VA, USA.

  6. Dweck, C. S. 2007. Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House, New York, NY, USA.

  7. Edwards, S. H. 2004. Using software testing to move students from trial-and-error to reflection-in-action. In Proceedings of the 35th SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE ‘04) ACM, Norfolk, Virginia, USA, 26–30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/971300.971312

  8. Edwards, S. H. 2019. Web-CAT: the Web-based Center for Automated Testing - Web-CAT. Retrieved 1 August 2023 from http://web-cat.org/

  9. Edwards, J., Ditton, J., Trninic, D., Swanson, H., Sullivan, S., & Mano, C. 2020. Syntax exercises in CS1. Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (ICER ‘20), Virtual Event, New Zealand. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3372782.3406259

  10. Edwards, S. H. and Murali, K. P. 2017. CodeWorkout: Short Programming Exercises with Built-in Data Collection. In Proceedings of the 2017 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (ITiCSE ‘17) ACM, Bologna, Italy, 188–193. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3059009.3059055.

  11. Feldman, J., 2019. Grading for equity: What it is, why it matters, and how it can transform schools and classrooms. Corwin Press, Thousand Oaks, California, USA. Google Scholar

  12. Great School Partnership. 2020. Research Supporting Proficiency-Based Learning: Grading + Reporting. Retrieved 1 August 2023 from https://www.greatschoolspartnership.org/proficiency-based-learning/research-evidence/research-supporting-ten-principles-grading-reporting/

  13. Gunawardena, C. N., Hermans, M. B., Sanchez, D., Richmond, C., Bohley, M., and Tuttle, R. 2009. A theoretical framework for building online communities of practice with social networking tools. Educational Media International 46, 1, 3–16.

  14. Guskey, T. R. 2000. Grading policies that work against standards - and how to fix them. NASSP Bulletin, 84, 620, 20–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/019263650008462003

  15. Leinonen, A., Nygren, H., Pirttinen, N., Hellas, A., and Leinonen, J. 2019. Exploring the Applicability of Simple Syntax Writing Practice for Learning Programming. In Proceedings of the Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (SIGCSE ‘19). Minneapolis, MN, USA, ACM, 84–90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287378

  16. Mirsky, G. M. 2018. Effectiveness of specifications grading in teaching technical writing to computer science students. J. Comput. Sci. Coll. 34, 1 (October 2018), 104–110. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.5555/3280489.3280505

  17. Nilson, L. B. 2015. Specifications grading: Restoring rigor, motivating students, and saving faculty time. Stylus Publishing, LLC, Sterling, VA, USA.

  18. Pintrich, P. R. and De Groot, E. V. 1990. Motivational and self-regulated learning components of classroom academic performance. Journal of educational Psychology 82, 1, 33–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.82.1.33.

  19. Pope, L., Parker, H. B., and Ultsch, S. 2020. Assessment of Specifications Grading in an Undergraduate Dietetics Course. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. 52, 4, 439–446. https://www.jneb.org/article/S1499–4046(19)30959–5/fulltext

  20. Prasad, P. V. 2020. Using Revision and Specifications Grading to Develop Students’ Mathematical Habits of Mind. PRIMUS, 30:8–10, 908–925.

  21. Rapaport, W. J. 2011. A triage theory of grading: The good, the bad, and the middling. Teaching Philosophy 34, 4, 347–372. http://dx.doi.org/10.5840/teachphil201134447.

  22. Rapaport, W. J. 2012. HOW I GRADE. Retrieved 1 August 2023 from https://cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/howigrade.html

  23. Reeves, D. B. 2008. Leading to Change / Effective Grading Practices. ACSD. Retrieved 1 August 2023 from https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/effective-grading-practices

  24. Sanft, K. R., Drawert, B., and Whitley, A. 2021. Modified specifications grading in computer science: preliminary assessment and experience across five undergraduate courses. J. Comput. Sci. Coll. 36, 5, 34–46. https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.5555/3447307.3447310

  25. Schunk, D. H. and Zimmerman, B. J. 1998. Self-regulated learning: From teaching to self-reflective practice. Guilford Press, New York, NY, USA.

  26. Shoen, H. L., Cebulla, K. J., Finn, K. F., and Fi, C. 2003. Teacher Variables That Relate to Student Achievement When Using a Standards-Based Curriculum. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education JRME 34, 3 (01 May. 2003), 228–261. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3003477

  27. Townsley, M., & Buckmiller, T. 2016. What Does the Reesearch Say about Standards-Based Grading? A Research Primer. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED590391

  28. Winne, P. H. 1997. Experimenting to bootstrap self-regulated learning. Journal of educational Psychology 89, 3, 397–410. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.89.3.397.

  29. Zimmerman, B. J. 2000. Attaining self-regulation: A social cognitive perspective. In Handbook of self-regulation, M. Boekaerts, P. R. Pintrinch, and M. Zeidner Eds. Academic Press, San Diego, CA, USA, 13–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-012109890–2/50031–7.