139 - Using Your Values to Design Your Grading with Dr. Lindsay Masland

About this episode

The episode discusses how meaningful grading reform is rooted in values and context, featuring insights from Dr. Lindsay Masland.

In this episode, Sharona and Boz talk with Dr. Lindsay Masland about how meaningful grading reform starts not with a particular system, but with intentional choices grounded in values, context, and care for students. Lindsay shares her path from questioning her teaching practices through universal design and course redesign work to fully rethinking grades after a powerful experience with a student in crisis. Together, they explore how alternative grading can open the door to deeper conversations about what we actually want students to learn, how we want them to feel in our classes, and whether our current practices align with those goals. The conversation also highlights the Alternative Grading Institute, the role of context in shaping what is possible, and why examining the assumptions behind traditional grading can create the productive dissonance needed for real change. Links Please note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support! Resources The Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all…

People in this episode

Hosts: Sharona Krinsky, Robert Bosley

Guest: Dr. Lindsay Masland

Topics covered

• grading reform
• values in education
• alternative grading
• student care
• course redesign
• universal design

Keywords

• grading reform
• alternative grading
• student engagement
• educational values
• course design
• universal design
• student crisis

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Alternative Grading Institute, The Center for Grading Reform, The Grading Conference

More episodes of The Grading Podcast

• 152 - Alternative Grading, Reflection, and the Questions That Remain with David Clark · June 9, 2026 · 54 min
• 151 - Designing Impactful Courses Using Self-Determination Theory - with Dan Guberman · June 2, 2026 · 55 min
• 150 - Finding Joy in Teaching Again with Kimberly Ellen Hall and Dan Guberman · May 26, 2026 · 55 min
• 149 - Building a Classroom About Learning: Alt Grading in an Introduction to Theater Arts class with Teresa Focarile · May 19, 2026 · 1h 0m
• 148 - Oral Exams, Feedback Loops, and the Future of Assessment · May 12, 2026 · 47 min
• 147 - Equity Isn't Automatic: Lessons Learned from Specifications Grading · May 5, 2026 · 52 min