‘Fair’ and ‘objective’: Pitt professors discuss implementing contract grading

Some Pitt professors are moving away from traditional grading and instead implementing an alternative system called “contract grading.”

In contract grading, the professor lays out the amount of work required and standards for each letter grade, and the student is able to pick what grade they want and complete the corresponding amount of work. Some professors are implementing it in an effort to reduce subjectivity and create a more equitable system of grading.

Third-year doctoral student Alex Jennings, who teaches a seminar in composition and Professional Uses of Social Media, decided to implement contract grading as a result of her own experience as a student with ADHD.

“I believed what so many adults, teachers, coaches and mentors in my life would say. They would say that I was lazy, unmotivated, forgetful, inattentive and even stupid,” Jennings said. “I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 26, and it wasn’t until then that I realized I wasn’t any of those things. I was simply trying to exist in a system that wasn’t well equipped to support me.”

When putting together her grading scheme, Jennings said she considered factors like how learning disabilities affect information and organization processing as well as differences in cultural knowledge and experiences.

“Traditional grading systems don’t typically have much room for alternative ways of knowing or learning styles, so they only really prioritize a white dominant and ableist, neurotypical standard of knowledge and language,” Jennings said. “If you aren’t a white, cisgendered, able bodied and minded person, things are going to look different for you.”

Andrea Maxwell, a teaching assistant professor in the history of art and architecture department, implemented a combination of traditional grading for larger assignments and specifications (specs) grading, a form of contract grading. She came up with the system after meeting with other faculty during the pandemic.

“We all knew we were unsatisfied with traditional systems of grading, and we were looking for a way to restructure our courses to be more equitable and engaging,” Maxwell said.  

After several semesters of using contract grading, Maxwell said she is “glad to have made the switch.”

“Specs grading opens more opportunity for students to revise their work and think more deeply and freely about their responses without fear of losing points,” Maxwell said. “While any assignment could incorporate revision, specs grading frees up the time I would normally spend figuring out if something should be docked one point or a half a point, and instead, I can spend that time on genuine feedback and instruction.”

Assistant professor in the department of history Eladio Bobadilla similarly began experimenting with contract grading during the pandemic. He said he wanted “to take some of the subjectivity out of it and implement a more fair, objective and equitable way to grade.”

“The world was rapidly changing around us, and yet many of us were stuck in the old way of doing things,” Bobadilla said. “I began thinking about inventive and innovative ways to evaluate students and to support and encourage deep and meaningful learning that didn’t hinge on some arbitrary number or letter grade, and I very quickly adopted the system when I saw what it could accomplish.”

Bobadilla said he believes the system holds him accountable as well by forcing him to provide feedback in a timely manner and preventing his own biases from affecting his grading.

“Students sometimes self-censor because they fear that unpopular opinions or arguments will affect their grade,” Bobadilla said. “With this assessment scheme, they can be authentic and honest, and we can focus instead on what truly matters in the classroom — sharp analysis, critical thinking, strong argumentation, good use of sources and effective writing and communication.” 

Some critics of contract grading suggest that it might lower or eliminate standards for work.

“While there are a lot of differences between my grading contract and a traditional grading scale, they aren’t so drastically different that it changes the course goals or makes the course less legitimate,” Jennings said. “I think sometimes people might get the idea that feedback instead of points or letters equates to pure chaos and collapse.”

Bobadilla clarified that contract grading is not effective in every setting. 

“But for smaller classes, it can work beautifully, because self-reflection, revising and work are precisely what is required,” Bobadilla said. “For each assignment, there is still a minimum standard of excellence that is expected, and assignments are not accepted until they meet that standard.”

Sophomore political science and sociology major Jenna Gallentine said she was “initially confused” by contract grading when she took American Politics with Kristin Kanthak.

“I got the hang of the system as the semester went on, and I think the way the professor used it was effective and allowed for feedback and tweaks throughout,” Gallentine said.

Though Gallentine found that contract grading “got a bit chaotic at times” when doing group work, she said she believes “it could be an effective grading system depending on the course.”

“I think it took some of the pressure off of everyone worrying what grade they would get on a certain assignment and in the class,” Gallentine said. “It’s a lot more straightforward in that respect, which I enjoyed.”

Sylas Yarad, a senior English writing major, took poetry classes with Sten Carlson that implemented contract-based grading systems.

“I think the biggest positive is that people will actually go to the class because they care about the material and because they are interested … rather than just performing the way that they think they’re supposed to perform for a grade,” Yarad said.

Though he said he likes the system of contract grading, Yarad added that some people might take advantage of the grading system.

“I think it just depends on the type of student you are and how much you care about the class you’re taking,” Yarad said. “I felt like I enjoyed the class and got a lot more out of it than just a number.”