• Consider how much extra work is necessary to get an “A”; ideally, you want to create a balance between
extra work being rigorous, but doable by all students.
How will you track student labors and work?
• Ask students to submit all homework and assignments using Blackboard/Canvas to track lateness via
timestamps (making each assignment worth 1 point means that students either have 1 point per
assignment or a 0, is a way to use the grading features in these LMS systems)
• Use your own spreadsheet (Recommendation: take notes regarding dates, homework/assignment
name, and level of completion)
• Consider the different options of labor-based categories and their implications:
o “Late” work means that you’re allowing students to make it up within a 48-hour window;
o “Unsubmitted” work might mean that something is either done or not done, no make-ups
allowed
o “Complete” vs. “Uncomplete” should be clearly articulated for both yourself and students. In
writing classes, for example, a “complete” draft (for me) means an introduction, use of all
required materials/sources, a full essay with all body paragraphs, and meeting the minimum
page length (I let the conclusion slide for drafts). While you can be flexible about
complete/incomplete, it helps to have a clear definition when starting.
What are you willing to negotiate with students? When and how?
• Will you allow students to do extra work to eliminate absences, late work, etc.? If so, how much extra
work is necessary for what?
• Will you allow students to use “pleas” in order to advocate that a particular lateness, absence, etc. not
count against their grade? If so, what is your procedure for this?
• Will you allow students to negotiate their final grade or the +/-? If so, when and how?
• Will you allow the class to discuss and negotiate the terms of the grading contract? If so, when and how
will you build this into your class time?
• When and how will you let students know where they are at in terms of their final grade?
Further Reading
Elbow, Peter and Jane Danielewicz. “A Unilateral Grading Contract to Improve Learning and Teaching.” English
Department Faculty Publication Series, University of Massachusetts—Amherts, January 2008.
Inoue, Asao B. Antiracist Writing Assessment Ecologies: Teaching and Assessing Writing for a Socially Just Future.
Anderson, SC: Parlor Press, 2015. Available on the WAC Clearinghouse Website:
https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/inoue/
----------. “Community-Based Assessment Pedagogy.” Assessing Writing vol. 9, 2005: 208-38.
----------. Labor-Based Grading Contracts: Building Equity and Inclusion in the Compassionate Writing Classroom.
Boulder, CO: University Press of Colorado, 2019. Available on the WAC Clearinghouse Website:
https://wac.colostate.edu/books/perspectives/labor/
Shor, Ira. When Students Have Power: Negotiating Authority in a Critical Pedagogy. Chicago, University of
Chicago Press, 1996.