Why Teachers Should Grade Less Frequently — Summary for Educators (Source: Terada, Y., & Merrill, S. (2024, November 8). “Why Teachers Should Grade Less Frequently.” Edutopia. 

Rethinking the Purpose of Grades

In “Why Teachers Should Grade Less Frequently,” Youki Terada and Stephen Merrill explore a mounting body of research suggesting that excessive grading—while well-intentioned—often undermines both student learning and teacher well-being. Grades, they argue, have become a poor substitute for authentic feedback and reflective practice, turning classrooms into performance-based systems rather than learning communities.

Denise Pope, a Stanford lecturer and cofounder of Challenge Success, captures the dilemma succinctly: when students receive a paper, they look at the grade and ignore the feedback. This pattern, confirmed in multiple studies, shows that once a score is seen, learning stops. Teachers, meanwhile, spend hours grading only to watch their insights go unread.

Grades do serve administrative and communication functions—they summarize achievement and are predictive of long-term perseverance and effort—but research now challenges their accuracy, motivational value, and fairness. Terada and Merrill contend that it’s time to restore balance by focusing less on grading and more on the kinds of feedback and practice that truly drive learning.

The Case Against Overgrading

1. Feedback Fatigue and Diminished Learning: More feedback isn’t always better. A 2020 meta-analysis found that excessive, unfocused comments are often ignored or misunderstood. Instead, concise, targeted feedback—focused on a few key areas for improvement—produces the greatest gains. Effective feedback is timely, actionable, and forward-looking, helping students understand why they made errors and how to fix them.

2. Stress for Teachers and Students: Grading consumes enormous amounts of unpaid time and contributes significantly to teacher burnout. A 2023 RAND study found that grading remains one of the most stressful parts of the profession. For students, grades are a major source of anxiety. Denise Pope’s 2021 survey revealed that grades and assessments caused more stress than workload or college preparation. Reducing grading frequency lowers stakes, allowing students to focus on learning rather than fear of failure.

3. Creativity and Innovation Decline: Teachers devote nearly as much time to grading as to lesson planning—about five hours weekly for each, according to Education Week. This imbalance stifles creativity. When time is spent scoring instead of designing engaging learning experiences, teachers lose opportunities to innovate, collaborate, and refine instruction.

4. Grades Are Inconsistent and Biased: A large-scale study of 33,000 report cards revealed that nearly 60 percent of grades did not align with standardized exam results. Two-thirds were inflated, while others undervalued actual learning. Bias also plays a role—studies show teachers can be unconsciously influenced by handwriting, weight, race, and even fatigue. These inconsistencies make grades unreliable indicators of learning.

5. Grades End Learning: Grades convey finality. Students often interpret them as a judgment rather than a step in a longer process. Research shows that delaying the release of grades until after feedback can significantly improve performance, as it shifts attention from evaluation to reflection and improvement.

Shifting Toward Better Practices

6. More Practice, Less Pressure: Learning thrives on iteration. Overgrading reduces opportunities for low-stakes practice, where students can make mistakes and learn from them. Encouraging ungraded “rough draft” thinking—such as brief in-class writes or formative feedback loops—fosters mastery through repeated effort.

7. Motivation Without Grades: Grades do little to inspire struggling students and often breed avoidance. Studies show that traditional grading enhances anxiety but not motivation. Frequent, low-stakes feedback and narrative evaluations promote trust, persistence, and a growth mindset.

8. Peer and Self-Assessment as Learning Tools: A 2022 meta-analysis revealed that students who evaluate their own or peers’ work achieve higher academic performance. Structured peer grading with rubrics builds metacognition, helping students recognize the gap between current and desired performance.

9. Diverse Evidence of Learning: A single grade can’t capture complex learning. Educators like Tyler Rablin advocate using portfolios, student conferences, and performance-based assessments to provide a fuller picture of progress. Multiple forms of evidence not only enrich evaluation but also enhance instructional responsiveness.

The Takeaway

Terada and Merrill’s synthesis of research points to a central truth: grading less frequently—and more thoughtfully—doesn’t mean lowering standards. It means refocusing energy on the processes that build understanding, autonomy, and joy in learning. For teachers, it means reclaiming time for creativity and connection. For students, it restores the meaning of education itself: a journey of growth, not judgment.

Original Article

Citation: Terada, Y., & Merrill, S. (2024, November 8). Why Teachers Should Grade Less Frequently. Edutopia. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/why-teachers-should-grade-less-fre...

------------------------------

Prepared with the assistance of AI software

OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT (4) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com