As educators, we’re all deeply invested in our students’ learning journeys. We’ve likely all experienced the challenges of assessing performance in ways that genuinely reflect what students know and can do. For many of us, traditional grading systems, with their reliance on letter grades, have been the cornerstone of assessment for as long as we can remember. Yet the more we engage with our students, the more these methods show their limitations, particularly for fostering deep learning and ensuring equitable outcomes. Research demonstrates that traditional grading systems create extrinsic motivation, often resulting in anxiety and competition, which can detract from meaningful and engaging learning experiences (Blum, 2020; Eyler, 2023; Chamberlin et al., 2023).
