The Grading Podcast

MIT Says It's Time to Rethink Grading

What happens when one of the world’s leading technology institutions concludes that responding to generative AI requires more than deciding when students should or should

163 - Can Alternative Grading Work with 300 Students? An Interview with Jordan Kostiuk

What does alternative grading look like when your class has 300 students—and what happens when generative AI forces you to rethink a system that had been working? In this

162 - What if First-Semester Grades Didn't Count?

What happens when a university responds to concerns about grades not by limiting A’s, but by making first-semester grades largely disappear? In this episode, Sharona and

161 - MathFest 2026 Rountable: Challenges, Questions, and New Directions

Recorded live at MathFest 2026 in Boston, this special episode brings together mathematics faculty from institutions across the country for a wide-ranging conversation ab

160 - Schoolishness, AI and the Future of Education: A conversation with Dr. Susan D. Blum.

What if the biggest challenge facing education isn't grading—but our assumptions about school itself? In this episode, Sharona and Boz welcome anthropologist and author S

159 - The Birth of Specs Grading: A Conversation with Linda Nilson

Few people have had a greater influence on the alternative grading movement than Linda Nilson. In this episode, Sharona and Boz welcome the author of Specifications Gradi

158 - Reflection is the Real Revision: Six Years of Standards-Based Grading

Alternative grading systems are never really finished. They evolve as instructors learn more about their students, their courses, and their own teaching. In this reflecti

157 - The Next Chapter of Specifications Grading with Joe Packowski

Specifications grading has become one of the most influential approaches in the alternative grading movement, but how has the model evolved since Linda Nilson first intro

156 - Reflections from the 2026 Grading Conference with Katie Mattaini and Drew Lewis

The 2026 Grading Conference brought together hundreds of educators from across disciplines to share research, classroom innovations, and practical strategies for rethinki

155 - Retakes at Scale: A Key Pillar of Alt Grading Meets Computer Based Testing Facilities with Craig Zilles

One of the biggest objections to alternative grading is also one of the most practical: How can this possibly work in large classes? In this episode, Sharona and Boz welc

154 - Building Thinking Classrooms Meets Alternative Grading - an Interview with Peter Liljedahl

In this episode, Sharona and Boz sit down with renowned mathematics education researcher Peter Liljedahl to explore the often-overlooked connection between classroom peda

153 - Making Course Design Visible: A Journey to Design a Math for Humans Course

In this behind-the-scenes episode, Sharona and Boz take listeners inside the early stages of designing a brand-new (to Sharona) course: a general education quantitative r

152 - Alternative Grading, Reflection, and the Questions That Remain with David Clark

In this episode, Sharona and Boz welcome back David Clark to unpack his recent end-of-semester “3x3x3” reflection blog post for Grading for Growth. Using a structure of t

151 - Designing Impactful Courses Using Self-Determination Theory - with Dan Guberman

In this episode, Sharona and Boz welcome back Dan Guberman to discuss his new book, Designing Impactful College Courses: Applying Self-Determination Theory to Unleash the

150 - Finding Joy in Teaching Again with Kimberly Ellen Hall and Dan Guberman

In this episode, Sharona and Boz are joined by Dan Guberman and Kimberly Ellen Hall to reflect on a recent Grading for Growth post exploring how alternative grading can m

149 - Building a Classroom About Learning: Alt Grading in an Introduction to Theater Arts class with Teresa Focarile

In this episode, Sharona and Boz are joined by Teresa Focarile, Director of Educational Development at Boise State University, to discuss her first semester implementing

148 - Oral Exams, Feedback Loops, and the Future of Assessment

In this episode, Sharona and Boz explore what assessment might look like in a world increasingly shaped by AI. Starting with a recent article from faculty at Middlebury C

147 - Equity Isn't Automatic: Lessons Learned from Specifications Grading

In this episode, Sharona and Boz take a deep dive into a recent research study on specifications grading in a large-enrollment chemistry course, uncovering a story that i

146 - AI, Ethics, and the Future of Grading PLUS a first look at the Schedule for the 2026 Grading Conference

In this episode, Sharona and Boz preview the upcoming 2026 Grading Conference while also diving into one of the most urgent emerging issues in education: the role of AI i

145 - The Wrap-Up Dilemma: Turning Evidence into a Final Grade with Dr. Tim Monk

In this episode, Sharona and Boz are joined by electrical engineering professor Tim Monk to tackle a surprisingly thorny piece of grading design: how to combine multiple