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Stepping away from traditional grading

September 29, 2023 by Savannah A. Keller

Dr. Chloe Bolyard and her class.

Missouri State University’s Dr. Chloe Bolyard shifted to ungrading in spring 2021, and the change has been positive overall. 

Ungrading is a classroom philosophy that places emphasis on learning and feedback instead of scores and letter grades. 

“Students worry less about their grade and pay more attention to learning the material,” the associate professor of elementary education said. 

Bolyard replaced letter grades with assignment statuses (“complete,” “revise and resubmit” and “not submitted”). She also replaced rubrics with self-assessments, added end-of-semester one-on-one conferences and more. 

Learn about ungrading 

Benefits for students and teachers 

Bolyard found that ungrading improved the education experience for everyone in the classroom.  

“Teaching is now far more rewarding,” she said. “Qualitative feedback, revise and resubmits and student reflections really help keep the focus on student learning.” 

Bolyard’s students stated in their end-of-semester reflections that ungrading made them feel freer to take more risks.  

“Students say ungrading takes pressure off of them and allows them to be more creative,” she said. “They also say they feel they can take the time to do work they feel proud of.”  

Missouri State’s involvement with ungrading was recently recognized in an article from National Public Radio (NPR). 

Check out NPR’s article 

A good fit for all classrooms?  

Ungrading may differ across various content areas, grade levels and institutions. 

“I think deemphasizing grades to emphasize learning is always a good idea,” she said. “But I also recognize that in higher education, making major shifts in pedagogy like ungrading can pose challenges.” 

Bolyard said those interested in switching to ungrading can start small with ungrading one assignment. She suggests connecting with others through the hashtag “#ungrading” on social media to find others experimenting with ungrading.  

She also recommends checking out “Ungrading: Why rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead)” by Susan D. Blum and Jesse Stummel’s work.  

Explore education programs 

Filed Under: COE Faculty Tagged With: Chloe Bolyard, Ungrading

Stepping away from traditional grading

September 29, 2023 by Strategic Communication

Missouri State University’s Dr. Chloe Bolyard shifted to ungrading in spring 2021, and the change has been positive overall. 

Ungrading is a classroom philosophy that places emphasis on learning and feedback instead of scores and letter grades. 

“Students worry less about their grade and pay more attention to learning the material,” the associate professor of elementary education said. 

Bolyard replaced letter grades with assignment statuses (“complete,” “revise and resubmit” and “not submitted”). She also replaced rubrics with self-assessments, added end-of-semester one-on-one conferences and more. 

Learn about ungrading 

Benefits for students and teachers 

Bolyard found that ungrading improved the education experience for everyone in the classroom.  

“Teaching is now far more rewarding,” she said. “Qualitative feedback, revise and resubmits and student reflections really help keep the focus on student learning.” 

Bolyard’s students stated in their end-of-semester reflections that ungrading made them feel freer to take more risks.  

“Students say ungrading takes pressure off of them and allows them to be more creative,” she said. “They also say they feel they can take the time to do work they feel proud of.”  

Missouri State’s involvement with ungrading was recently recognized in an article from National Public Radio (NPR). 

Check out NPR’s article 

A good fit for all classrooms?  

Ungrading may differ across various content areas, grade levels and institutions. 

“I think deemphasizing grades to emphasize learning is always a good idea,” she said. “But I also recognize that in higher education, making major shifts in pedagogy like ungrading can pose challenges.” 

Bolyard said those interested in switching to ungrading can start small with ungrading one assignment. She suggests connecting with others through the hashtag “#ungrading” on social media to find others experimenting with ungrading.  

She also recommends checking out “Ungrading: Why rating Students Undermines Learning (and What to Do Instead)” by Susan D. Blum and Jesse Stummel’s work.  

Explore education programs 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Accessible language for all

September 26, 2023 by Strategic Communication

September is National Deaf Awareness Month. The purpose of this month is to increase public awareness of deaf issues, people and culture.

Many hearing people are not aware of the depth of deaf culture and how they can make language more accessible.

Dr. Karen Engler, clinical professor and graduate program director of special education-education of the deaf and hard of hearing, provides insight on deaf awareness.

September is National Deaf Awareness Month.

Read the full transcript

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Get ready for the Literacy Conference

September 18, 2023 by Savannah A. Keller

Conference in PSU Theater.

The College of Education strives to provide teachers with a well-rounded, practical and engaging teacher preparation program.

This year, the COE will host a Literacy Conference to help educators deepen their knowledge of literacy instruction and connect with other educators.

“I attended a literacy conference when I first started teaching, and it still impacts my teaching today,” said Dr. Stacie Finley, assistant professor of literacy at Missouri State University.

“Knowing how beneficial that conference was for teachers in the area, we wanted to bring a similar experience for educators to MSU.”

The conference includes events Sept. 21-22. Registration is encouraged but not required.

Check out the detailed schedule

Sept. 21

Guest speaker

Lester Laminack, a nationally recognized writer and educator, will speak at 6 p.m. in Plaster Student Union Theater.

Laminack is an award-winning author with over 25 books for children and teachers. He is a professor emeritus in birth-kindergarten, elementary and middle grades education at Western Carolina University.

Anyone interested in education is welcome.

Sept. 22

Opening session

Laminack will open the second day of the conference with a speech at 8:45 a.m. in Carrington Hall, Room 208.

Preservice teachers and early career educators with less than three years of teaching experience are welcome.

Breakout sessions

COE will host breakout sessions all day dedicated to literacy learning. Breakout sessions begin at 10 a.m. in Hill Hall, Room 201 and 301.

The sessions will cover topics like diverse and multicultural texts, writer’s workshop, demystifying dyslexia and more.

Preservice teachers and early career educators with less than three years of teaching experience are welcome.

Support from DESE

All events are free for attendees, courtesy of the Missouri Path Forward Theory into Practice Grant from Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

“Having the opportunity to feature a well-known national speaker like Lester Laminack, as well as area literacy experts, is a great chance for our undergraduate students and recent graduates to get new ideas and learn more about teaching reading and writing,” said Dr. Kayla Lewis, associate professor of literacy and assistant director for the School of Teaching, Learning and Developmental Science at MSU.

For more information, contact Dr. Stacie Finley at StacieFinley@MissouriState.edu or Dr. Kayla Lewis at KaylaLewis@MissouriState.edu.

Register for the conference

Filed Under: Literacy, Uncategorized Tagged With: Dr. Kayla Lewis, Dr. Stacie Finley, Lester Laminack, Literacy Conference

Attend the 5th Annual Richard L. Simpson Conference on Autism

September 14, 2023 by Savannah A. Keller

Speakers at a conference talking to an audience.

Currently, more than 16,000 children who attend school have an autism diagnosis or autism special education eligibility.   

The Richard L. Simpson Conference on Autism helps educators learn more about how to teach people with autism.  

For the first time, the conference is coming to Missouri State University.  

This learning and networking opportunity will take place Oct. 5-6 at Plaster Student Union.  Anyone interested in autism is welcome to attend.  

The conference includes two keynote sessions, a workshop, three breakout sessions and two lunches. 

Registration is required and is open through Sept. 29. Early bird registration is open until Sept. 22.  

Regular registration costs $215, and early bird registration costs $175. 

Register for the conference 

History of the conference

Richard L. Simpson was a beloved Kansas University (KU) faculty member. He taught many educators across the Midwest about teaching students with autism before he passed away in 2017.  

He was a pioneering member of the team that established the Midwest Symposium on Leadership in Behavior Disorders (MSLBD), a multistate effort for educators trying to improve behavioral outcomes for students.   

The MSLBD spawned the Richard L. Simpson Conference on Autism, which focuses more narrowly on autism. The name of the conference was a tribute to Simpson after he passed away. 

The conference has been held yearly on the KU Edwards campus in Overland Park, Kansas. However, Project ACCESS teamed up with MSLBD to bring this year’s conference to Missouri State. This will allow more rural educators in southwest Missouri to attend. 

“At Project ACCESS, we like to focus on the different abilities instead of disabilities of our friends in the autism community,” said Mike Garton, staff member at Project ACCESS and instructional tech support specialist at Missouri State. 

“Each year at Rich Simpson, one of the keynoters is a person with autism, and we never cease to be amazed by the delightful, talented folks that we have the good fortune to meet. Please join this year’s group of educators who are striving to better serve these students.”

Furthering the COE’s mission 

More than 10,000 Missouri special educators are responsible for assuring children with autism receive what federal legislation refers to as Free and Appropriate Public Education.  

The College of Education at MSU serves a pivotal role in preparing educators to help students with autism to: 

  • Achieve independence. 
  • Master the necessary communication skills to self-advocate and function in a social world. 
  • Experience life-outcomes of happiness and self-fulfillment.    

Attend the Richard L. Simpson Conference on Autism to expand your toolkit and help children with autism thrive. 

About the conference 

Filed Under: Special Education, Uncategorized Tagged With: Richard L. Simpson Conference on Autism

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