Two college faculty describe their journey toward more equitable grading practices by implementing principles of standards-based grading in two distinct courses: an advanced transfer-level math course and a practicum infant/toddler education course. Within these unique contexts, each instructor outlines their process of creating courses focused not on the cumulation of points as a determining factor of learning but skill and outcome proficiency. This session outlines the utilization of student self-evaluation of learning, redesign of course policies, and a course narrative consistently returning to support of learning instead of “how many points until you pass.” The presentation begins by covering the orienting principles each instructor based their course on and how they were communicated to students efficiently and effectively. The aim is not to present a one-size-fits-all approach to creating a more equitable learning assessment. Instead, each instructor outlines what they discovered was the best assessment application for their unique course structures. Each instructor shares their lessons learned and the changes made from one semester to the next as they discover what worked, what failed miserably, and what needed tweaking. Even with the unique application of each instructor, and the unique forms of assessment designed and implemented, viewers will walk away with uniting principles connecting around creating assessments that remove barriers for success and better indicate learning.
