The College Fix

Uses ‘contract grading’ instead

“Traditional grading” systems favor the way white people think, a University of Pittsburgh instructor says.

Alex Jennings “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,” the student newspaper reported.

The instructor’s research “focuses on the ways queer theory and disability scholarship intersect with writing pedagogy,” according to her bio.

“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,” the doctoral student told The Pitt News. “If you aren’t a white, cisgendered, able bodied and minded person, things are going to look different for you.”

Instead, Jennings uses “contract grading.”

The idea is part of “antiracist” work, according to OSU. It was popularized by Arizona State University Professor Asao Inoue about a decade ago, though the concept dates back to the 1970s.

Inoue’s idea is rooted in Marxism, according to a summary for a textbook he wrote.

Another university says Inoue’s ideas are about pushing back against structural racism embedded in grading “writing quality.”

“Where contract grading differs from traditional grading schemes, though, is in their invitation to students to consider their own needs for how and when they will complete tasks to earn their desired grade,” a summary from Ohio State University explains.

“Inoue argues that implementing labor-based grading contracts is a means to radically push back against traditional grading and its imbrications with dominant colonial discourse,” OSU explains.

“In writing classrooms like the one’s Inoue facilitates, he discusses assessing writing quality like language and syntax as structurally racist,” according to the summary.

One scheme allows students to simply complete assignments to earn a “B,” without any level of quality necessary, according to the Ohio State summary. The goal is to reduce “anxiety” and help “students coming from diverse backgrounds,” to feel supported.

The National Association of Scholars has criticized this approach.

“The national dominance of social justice educators such as Prof. Inoue indoctrinates college graduates nationwide into social justice ideology and bigotry–but fails to teach them how to write a coherent sentence,” spokesperson Chance Layton told The Fix in 2019.

The concept has been promoted at American University and Ball State University, according to prior College Fix reporting.

MORE: Ibram Kendi’s ‘antiracist’ center has been quiet since 2023

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