Contract Grading Research Articles

“It can be a very equalizing way to grade”: Contract grading and multilingual writers

In response to Crusan’s focus paper on the history, nuances, and implications of alternative assessment for second language writing and writers, I present an overview of multilingual student perceptions of contract grading across a University Writing Program. Both affordances and potential challenges with this method of assessment are discussed.

Just One More Thing?

Abstract This study addresses the paucity of literature on the impact of ungrading — contract grading, specifically — on international students at American colleges. Over the course of four semesters, 307 international and domestic students were surveyed (anonymously) about their perceptions of grading contracts in their writing (and writing-heavy) classes. Specifically, the survey was designed to find out if grading contracts serve as “just another thing” to navigate as international students transition into the Western educational setting and, furthermore, to find out if grading contracts inadvertently do more harm than good. Ultimately, international students perceive more overall benefits than drawbacks of ungrading. However, the data show that international students do find contract grading confusing — especially at first. This article analyzes the sources of confusion along with mitigating topics named by the survey participants, such as fairness, student agency, and stress reduction. The data also show that ungrading practices can serve as a transitional tool to ease international students into American education; a portion of students identify the grading contract as a means of facilitating the transition into American education, rather than as a barrier to it.

Navigating Labor-Based Grading Contracts

Abstract This article explores the impact of labor-based grading contracts on student attitudes and perceptions within multilingual First-Year Composition (FYC) sections at an R1 university. Data collected qualitatively and quantitatively examined correlations between labor-based grading contracts and shifts in student attitudes toward writing and overall learning experiences. Findings revealed that some students found labor-based grading contracts motivating, leading to improved attitudes toward writing, while others found themselves demotivated or stressed by the absence of traditional grades. The concept of fairness emerged as a key concern, challenging the assumption that labor-based grading contracts universally benefit students. This article underscores the need for nuanced implementation of labor-based grading contracts and encourages a student-centered approach to foster equitable and antiracist writing assessment practices. It acknowledges the potential benefits of labor-based contract grading, but also its associated challenges, and calls for a critical examination of grading contracts within local contexts to ensure they genuinely advance opportunities for underrepresented students.

Leader, Lead Thyself: The Benefit of Contract Grading in Social Work Leadership Education

ABSTRACT Contract grading provides graduate-level students with greater control and autonomy within the learning process. The contract grading approach requires students to take greater responsibility for achieving course learning outcomes as well as allowing learners to adjust the style and focus of assignments to meet their own unique needs and desires. Within this article, contract grading is applied to social work leadership education and explored as a parallel learning process designed to reflect some of the fundamentals of leadership in action while also teaching about leadership. A review of the scholarship of contract grading, an example of the application of the method, and a reflection on potential challenges that may result are also included in the article.

Labor-based grading practices in the physics classroom

I describe the assessment framework of labor-based contract grading (LBCG). In a labor-based grading scheme, the time and effort (“labor”) a student spends on an assignment determines the credit they receive; the contract component requires students to design projects with clearly defined goals and deliverables, which must be satisfied to earn credit. LBCG is intended to promote student agency and engagement and to provide a more equitable assessment framework, given that students come with a wide range of prior experiences and preparation. I illustrate the LBCG framework within the context of an upper level physics course, using a particular assignment as an example; I also provide information on student experiences and engagement.

Making the grade: Student perceptions of labor-based contract grading

ABSTRACT This study explores student perceptions of, and experiences with, labor-based contracting grading—an approach to student assessment that values labor rather than quality. In theory, labor-based contract grading reduces teacher bias and challenges inequities maintained by traditional grading. A qualitative content analysis of anonymous online surveys was conducted to gain insights from students on its effectiveness. These surveys revealed the following themes: decrease in stress, promotion of risk taking, pursuit of own passions, course clarity, fairer system, and decrease in effort. Understanding how students perceive labor-based contract grading, including its possibilities and limitations, can better inform instructors on best practices if considering adopting such an assessment approach.

Contract Grading and the Development of an Efficacious Writerly Habitus

Contract grading has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, promote self-directed learning, and disrupt unjust educational norms (Cowan, 2020; Inoue, 2019; Medina & Walker, 2018). Yet, there is growing recognition of challenges associated with the approach, including the unintended effects of deemphasizing grades (Inman & Powell, 2018) and the possibility that labor-based contracts, in particular, may put some students at a disadvantage (Carillo, 2021). This article reports selected findings from an IRB-approved multi-semester, comparative study of labor-based and labor-informed contract grading in first-year writing courses at a large private research university. The study affirms several findings from existing research on contract grading. In particular, it shows the approach mitigates students’ stress and anxiety and increases their overall satisfaction with grading. Contract grading shifts the assessment ecology of the first-year writing classroom so that the challenges and rewards of writing take priority over the pressures and limitations of grades (see Inoue, 2015). Drawing on the literature of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1994, 1997; Pajares, 2003), the authors theorize that contract grading encourages students to develop an efficacious writerly habitus grounded in self-motivated effort, increased confidence, and heightened understanding of writing as a mode of thinking. 

Achieving High Goals: The Impact of Contract Grading on High School Students' Academic Performance, Avoidance Orientation, and Social Comparison

This article examines American high school students’ (N=439) self-worth protection behaviors, maladaptive coping mechanisms, and academic performance under a contract grading system, which has been understudied in contemporary secondary classrooms. The quantitative analysis revealed that under the contract grading system, 97% (n=421) earned a passing grade (i.e., A, B, or C) on the assessment and 90% (n=390) fulfilled the contract by reaching mastery (A) or proficiency (B). Compared to the previous year, students with prior experience were 19% more likely to earn an A and 16% more likely to earn a B under the grading contract despite increased workload demands. The qualitative analysis of 40 semi-structured interviews revealed that performance improved as a result of the contract’s clarity of purpose, which limited task avoidance and facilitated task-oriented effort toward a desirable goal. Students enrolled in regular courses experienced the most significant grade improvement due to clear expectations that helped them place their effort on the right tasks. The findings of this study lead to a call to action for teachers to implement contract grading in high school classrooms to clarify work expectations, improve task-oriented effort, and help students set and achieve high goals.

Editor’s Introduction: Contract Grading, Portfolios, and Reflection

The articles in this issue examine the continuing use and development of contract grading in college and high school writing courses (DasBender et al. and Watson); time and labor as important influences despite most often being seen as outside of the construct of writing (Del Principe); and the treatment of reflection within writing assessment theory and practice (Ratto Parks).

An Exploratory Study of the Use of Grade Contracts in Undergraduate Family Science Courses

Contract grading can provide an alternative to traditional grading systems. The goal of this exploratory study was to determine students’ reactions to grade contracts as well as their perceived usefulness in undergraduate courses. Contract grading is becoming more popular in higher education. Using a sample of 41 students across three undergraduate courses, data were collected on students’ perceptions of grade contracts and their utility, the degree to which students believed that grade contracts may have improved their sense of efficacy and control over their learning, and the ease with which students understood grade contracts compared to traditional grading. Students responded positively to the use of grade contracts and liked the sense of control that grade contracts provided but had difficulty understanding the more technical aspects of the contracts. Implications for instructors as well as future research are discussed.

Crises, Fast and Slow: A Contract-grading Response in Digital Humanities Pedagogy

In the midst of COVID-19, I adapted an upper-year-undergraduate digital editions class to a contract grading method. I struggled to find models that suited the needs of my class. My course demanded a single, core final assignment (a digital edition), but almost all models are for smaller, cumulative assignments with which students make up their contracted grade level. The intervention of this article is methodological: what might contract grading look like in a way that supports scaffolding to a single, larger assignment? And it is critical and theoretical: how does this particular case study interact with theories of improved learning and equity and accessibility in the classroom? Jordana Cox and Lauren Tilton’s theories of argument or rhetoric as ‘gift’ in the context of the digital public humanities provides a framework through which to consider the ways that contract grading and student DH projects together might imagine co-operative argumentation.

Shifting perceptions of socially just writing assessment: Labor-based contract grading and multilingual writing instruction

Labor-based contract grading has been identified as a more equitable and socially just method of assessing student writing. However, scholarship on labor-based contract grading has yet to investigate the use of this assessment method in sheltered multilingual contexts, nor has it considered multilingual writing instructors’ perceptions of this assessment practice. The present study presents cases of two instructors to learn more about how labor-based grading contracts are being used in sheltered multilingual first-year writing (FYW) courses, as well as how these instructors perceive labor-based contract grading. Data analysis reveals that both writing instructors use labor-based contract grading to create opportunity structures for their multilingual students; however, their experiences using labor-based grading contracts varied depending on the extent to which they designed their contracts to align with their pedagogical values. Further, the instructors both acknowledge the complexity of social justice in sheltered multilingual contexts but have different perspectives on how to best practice socially just writing assessment in their sheltered multilingual FYW courses.

Contract Grading

The National Teaching & Learning ForumVolume 32, Issue 4 p. 1-4 Rethinking Assessment Contract Grading Melissa Parks, Melissa ParksSearch for more papers by this author Melissa Parks, Melissa ParksSearch for more papers by this author First published: 14 May 2023 https://doi.org/10.1002/ntlf.30367Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Volume32, Issue4May 2023Pages 1-4 RelatedInformation

Pentimento and Palimpsest: Blurring Rituals in the Studio

While the benefits of curated environments and provocations in emergent curriculum for young learners have been documented, less is known about the effects of emergent curriculum for adult learners and instructors in a studio art context. This work investigates what happens when art education foregrounds and follows students’ interests and questions, using arts-based tools, processes, and approaches to explore the creation and interpretation of 2D artwork. The author reexamines rituals in studio teaching practices and engages narrative inquiry to reflect on the effects emergent curriculum and contract grading have on both students and the instructor. The curated environments of the classroom, campus art museum, city streets, and students’ homes influenced questions, materials, research, conversations, and artistic possibilities while blurring studio traditions. The resulting emergent curriculum forged new connections among the students, the instructor, and their community while shifting learning toward dispersed, collective power rather than concentrated, individual power.

Reframing Grading, Rethinking Rigor

The author describes and presents her model of contract grading, a teaching strategy and practice that shifts student learning and pedagogy away from carceral and colonialist learning methods. The article provides a brief explanation of the value of this technique for teachers and students, and offers concrete assessment tools.

A Student Perspective on Contract Grading

A Student Perspective on Contract Grading

Easing stress: Contract grading’s impact on adolescents’ perceptions of workload demands, time constraints, and challenge appraisal in high school English

Mastery-based contract grading is a holistic assessment approach for learning and grading in which students choose their desired effort and outcome by contracting for either an A or B to meet high academic standards. This mixed-methods study examined the impact of mastery-based contract grading on secondary students’ (grades 9–12) perceptions of stress and threat appraisal. Participants were 439 adolescents, including 284 returning students and 155 first-year students, completing a high-stakes writing assessment in their required English course. Using an explanatory sequential design, interviews with 40 adolescents from all grade levels and course types explained the findings of matched-pairs quantitative data generated from four psychometrically sound scales. The findings revealed that the contract significantly reduced evaluative threat by clarifying expectations and bolstering confidence. Consequently, compared to their prior experience with or expectations for the task, adolescents perceived workload demands as significantly less stressful and threatening under the contract. The findings of this study make a significant contribution to the field of writing assessment, leading to a call to action for teachers to implement mastery-based contract grading in high school classrooms to create psycho-emotionally healthy learning environments that reduce perceptions of stress and increase challenge appraisal.

An integrated mixed-methods study of contract grading's impact on adolescents' perceptions of stress in high school English: a pilot study

This study analyzed the impact of contract grading on adolescents’ perceptions of stress amid Good Shepherd High School’s annual research paper unit. While college instructors have employed contract grading since the 1970s, the alternative assessment approach appears underused and under-analyzed in contemporary high school classrooms. In spring 2019, participants (n = 53) enrolled in one of seven senior-level English courses with identical prompts and teaching materials. While three maintained a traditional grading rubric, four sections were evaluated with mastery-based grading contracts for A or B. The qualitative and quantitative datasets revealed that the Contract Grading Group was significantly more likely to perceive the workload and time constraints as less demanding. Additionally, despite a history of low grades, the majority (84%) fulfilled the contract’s requirements, and the Contract Grading Group earned six times as many As and 2.5 times as many Bs as those in the Traditional Grading Group. Within this context, the grading contract reduced the stress of workload demands while significantly improving grades for students with prior experience with each requirement on the contract.

Contract grading in the technical writing classroom: Blending community-based assessment and self-assessment

Abstract This article builds from the author’s previously published article, “Contract Grading in a Technical Writing Classroom: A Case Study”. This prior study examined how students in a technical writing classroom collaborated to generate criteria relating to the quality of their writing assignments with the instructor determining whether or not they met this criteria. This study demonstrated that although students perceived more involvement in the grading process, they resisted participation in crafting criteria as a class and preferred traditional grading methods by an expert. Based on feedback from reviewers and additional reflection, this IRB approved study consists of a revised contract grading system implemented in my spring 2017 technical writing classroom. This contract grading system consists of full student involvement throughout the contract grading process, which includes generating classroom-agreed upon criteria for each assignment and self-assessment of each assignment. The results from this study show that students embraced being involved with all aspects of their assessment, specifically in generating criteria and having clear expectations and more autonomy. The study concludes with additional implications and encouragement to continue to experiment with contract grading.

Lowering the activation barrier, not the academic bar: The role of contract grading in decreasing DFW rates in introductory biochemistry

Introductory biochemistry for majors is an upper‐level course that serves students from over three colleges and fifteen different majors with diverse academic backgrounds preparing them for success. As one example, students’ self‐reported chemistry preparation was identified as a factor that, in conjunction with prior GPA and score on the Introductory Molecular and Cell Biology Assessment, predicted 44% of variance in student performance. In this study, we used predictive variables to identify “at risk” students, those at high risk of earning a D or F or withdrawing from biochemistry and offer them a targeted opportunity to develop the higher‐order skills necessary to improve performance. Specifically, we employed a contract grading system; if students fulfilled all aspects of the contract they were guaranteed a C for the course. The contract required students to complete 15 obligations throughout the remainder of the semester, including attending regular help sessions, taking comprehensive notes, creating concept maps, and peer‐reviewing other C contract students’ work. After the first exam, 146 students were identified as “at‐risk”. Seventy‐five students signed the contract; twenty students completed all requirements. We compared student performance on major assessments for at‐risk students who (a) did not opt‐in to the contract, (b) opted in but did not complete the contract, and (c) completed the contract. 95% of students completing the contract earned enough points to achieve at least a C in the course, 45% earned a B or better (as compared to just 24% for students who started the contract but did not complete). Controlling for prior GPA, IMCA score, and self‐report chemistry preparation, we confirmed a statistically significant difference (p<0.01) between students who completed the contract and those who started but did not finish or opted out completely. Course assessments analyzed and a Weighted Bloom's Index for major assessments were calculated. Course assessments were at comparable or higher cognitive skill level than previous control semesters. These data suggest that a contract grading system provides the needed structure to support at‐risk students in developing the skills necessary to improve performance in introductory biochemistry. These data are consistent with previous work examining the role of high‐structure learning environments in supporting low performing students.