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It contrasts accountability-driven approaches with de-grading and de-testing alternatives, including arguments against grades, rethinking assessment roles, and strategies such as no-testing weeks and feedback-centered workshop models.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/mean-scores-in-a-mean-world-mean-scores-and-de-grading-learning-baines-and-goolsby/154003/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/mean-scores-in-a-mean-world-mean-scores-and-de-grading-learning-baines-and-goolsby/154003.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Alex Sinclair","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-18","2026-08-28",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the central problem the volume addresses regarding grades and tests?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"The volume argues that high-stakes accountability centered on grades and standardized testing undermines genuine learning and can damage educational practices and student experiences.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How does the book frame the consequences of policy and high-stakes assessment?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It examines policy-driven failures and shows how testing assessment can distort teaching priorities, inflate metrics that do not reflect learning quality, and contribute to disengagement.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What alternatives to grades and traditional testing does the volume discuss?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"The book presents de-grading and de-testing approaches, including skepticism toward grades, more expressive assessment practices, creativity-focused classroom approaches, and feedback-centered workshop models.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},154003,1787884778,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",{"doc_id":79,"user_id":84,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":85,"doc_module":4,"category_id":86,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":87,"file_id":88,"file_url":89,"file_type":90,"file_size":91,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":92,"language":93,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":94,"faqs":95,"seo_title":96,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":80,"read_time":97,"preview_page_count":4},1099523882182,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8",8,"Dedication Page  \n contents  \nAcknowledgments  .................................................... ix  \nIntroduction: The Roots of Grades-and-Tests  ................................ 1  \nAlfie Kohn  \nPart I: De-grading Learning, De-testing Education:  \nThe Failure of High-Stakes Accountability in Education  \nChapter 1  \nNCLB’s Lost Decade for Educational Progress:  \nWhat Can We Learn from This Policy Failure?  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 7  \nLisa Guisbond with Monty Neilland Bob Schaeffer Chapter 2  \nHigh-Stakes Testing Assessment: The Deus ex Machina of Quality in Education  .  .  .  .  .27 Fernando F. Padró  \nChapter 3  \nTechnocratic Groupthink Inflates the Testing Bubble  .........................44  \nAnthony Cody  \nChapter 4  \nMean Scores in a Mean World  ........................................... 51  \nLawrence Baines andRhonda Goolsby Chapter 5  \nDe-grading Literacy: How New York State Tests Knowledge, Culture, and Critical Thinking  .......................................... 63  \nJulie A. Gorlewski and DavidA. Gorlewski  \nChapter 6  \nThe Corporate Model of Schooling: How High Stakes Testing Dehumanizes Education  ............................................... 78  \nMorna McDermott  \nviii | Contents  \nChapter 7  \nStandardized Testing and Boredom at an Urban Middle School  ................. 96  \nRichard Mora  \nChapter 8  \nReconciling Student Outcomes and Community Self-Reliance in Modern School Reform Contexts  ....................................... 105  \nBrian R. Beabout and AndreM. Perry  \nChapter 9  \nThe Role of Assessment in Empowering/Disempowering Students in the Critical Pedagogy Classroom  ........................................... 126  \nDavid L. Bolton and John M. Elmore  \nPart II: De-Grading and De-Testing in a Time of High-Stakes Education Reform  \nChapter 10  \nThe Case Against Grades  .............................................. 143  \nAlfie Kohn  \nChapter 11  \nReduced to Numbers: From Concealing to Revealing Learning  ................. 154  \nJoe Bower  \nChapter 12  \nOutside the Wounding Machine: Grading and the Motive for Metaphor  ......... 169  \nJohn Hoben  \nChapter 13  \nNo Testing Week: Focusing on Creativity in the Classroom  .................... 184  \nPeter DeWitt  \nChapter 14  \nJourney into Ungrading  ............................................... 194  \nHadley J. Ferguson  \nChapter 15  \nMoving Beyond “Parents Just Want to Know the Grade!”  ..................... 210  \nJim Webber and Maja Wilson  \nChapter 16  \nDe-grading Writing Instruction in a Time of High-Stakes Testing: The Power of Feedback in Workshop  ..................................... 219  \nP. L. Thomas  \nChapter 17  \nOne Week, Many Thoughts  ........................................... 239  \nBrian Rhode  \nConclusion: Striving toward Authentic Teaching for Social Justice  ..............249  \nLisa William-White  \nAuthor Biographies  .................................................. 277  \nAcknowledgments  \nThis volume is  \nand collection  \na work of collaboration and intersections  . As an edited work of voices addressing de-testing and de-grading schools, the col-  \nlaboration is obvious  . The intersections are unique to this era of New Media since the volume began as a Twitter connection between Joe Bower and P . L  . Thomas (volume editors) who shared in part a powerful influence by Alfie Kohn (Introduction and foundational chapter,“The Case Against Grades”)  .  \nFrom Joe Bower:  \nThanks to Paul Thomas for so graciously inviting me to be a part of this project; to Alfie Kohn for his guidance and patience with my emails and questions; to all the courageous contributors who work so hard to make school a better place by moving away from tests and grades; to my parents for their unconditional support; and to Tamara, Kayley, and Sawyer for putting up with my blogging and tweeting  .  \nFrom P. L. Thomas:  \nThanks to Joe Bower and Alfie Kohn for helping get this project rolling; to ","cbCaipLcd7kLPvoO","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipLcd7kLPvoO","pdf",2089748,288,"English","# Introduction: The Roots of Grades-and-Tests\n# Part I: De-grading Learning, De-testing Education: The Failure of High-Stakes Accountability in Education\n## Chapter 1: NCLB’s Lost Decade for Educational Progress\n## Chapter 4: Mean Scores in a Mean World\n# Part II: De-Grading and De-Testing in a Time of High-Stakes Education Reform\n## Chapter 10: The Case Against Grades\n## Chapter 13: No Testing Week: Focusing on Creativity in the Classroom\n# Conclusion: Striving toward Authentic Teaching for Social Justice","[{\"question\":\"What is the central problem the volume addresses regarding grades and tests?\",\"answer\":\"The volume argues that high-stakes accountability centered on grades and standardized testing undermines genuine learning and can damage educational practices and student experiences.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the book frame the consequences of policy and high-stakes assessment?\",\"answer\":\"It examines policy-driven failures and shows how testing assessment can distort teaching priorities, inflate metrics that do not reflect learning quality, and contribute to disengagement.\"},{\"question\":\"What alternatives to grades and traditional testing does the volume discuss?\",\"answer\":\"The book presents de-grading and de-testing approaches, including skepticism toward grades, more expressive assessment practices, creativity-focused classroom approaches, and feedback-centered workshop models.\"}]","Mean Scores in a Mean World - Mean Scores and De-grading Learning - Baines and Goolsby | PDF",726,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":99},[100,104,108,112,117,122,127,130,135,138,142],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":113,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":114,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":120,"slug":121},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":126},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":86,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":128,"slug":129},30,"research-report",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":134},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":137},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":139,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":140,"show_sort_weight":139,"slug":141},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":143,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":144,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":145},19,"General","general"]