Hacking Assessment Quotes

“Rigor doesn’t necessarily have to do with the amount of work assigned, but rather the difficulty and intensity of the problem or project.”
― Starr Sackstein, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

“It is essential that we develop a learning space where failure is positive, as it is a catalyst for growth and change. Students need to recognize that taking a risk and not succeeding does not mean they are failing: It means they need to try another way. After”
― Starr Sackstein, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

“Grades ultimately end up being a power tool that serves the teacher but not the student.”
― Starr Sackstein, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

“To many, achievement meant high grades in every class. This idea had to be challenged. “What does getting an A really mean?”
― Starr Sackstein, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

“Assessment must be a conversation, a narrative that enhances students’ understanding of what they know, what they can do, and what needs further work. Perhaps even more important, they need to understand how to make improvements and how to recognize when legitimate growth has occurred.”
― Starr Sackstein, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

“Averaged scores say very little about actual learning: any number of students can earn a B for many different combinations of reasons. A gifted student who does little work may receive the same grade as a struggling student who has improved steadily throughout the course or a student who started off strongly but performed poorly in the last quarter.”
― Starr Sackstein, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

“Playing to passion when you can will keep students motivated and working toward mastery.”
― Starr Sackstein, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

“All learning is subjective, and when we only offer one chance or route for learning, we greatly limit the possibility that every student will achieve mastery”
― Starr Sackstein, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

“It isn’t the grade but the conversation that communicates the learning”
― Starr Sackstein, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

“It’s important to remember that school is about our students, not us, so the more we can empower them to be in control of their learning, the better. By making them partners in the feedback process we give them the valuable experience of helping and collaborating with others.”
― Starr Sackstein, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. — Clay P. Bedford, Industrialist”
― Starr Sackstein, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School

“Evidence-based learning helped my learners shift the focus from “playing school” to “achieving a standard.” However, when I threw out grades completely and purged classwork of numbers to achieve, my students started to learn for the sake of learning. They began to attempt class work with a new mindset—one of collegiality and growth, not compliance and immobility.”
― Starr Sackstein, Hacking Assessment: 10 Ways to Go Gradeless in a Traditional Grades School