Author: Thomas R. Guskey Originally published in Ed Week on 3-8-2020 Educators today have launched major efforts to help student achieve specific non-academic goals, especially those associated with social and emotional learning. These efforts stem from recognition that factors other than academic achievement often have profound influence...
Author: Thomas R. Guskey Based on Get Set, Go! Originally published in Solution Tree on 1-6-2020 Many grading reform efforts fail because reform leaders make the same classic mistakes (Guskey, 2020). Two important lessons learned from these mistakes can guide others in avoiding these errors and drastically improving...
Originally published in Ed Week on June 23, 2019: In articles and presentations on student feedback, educators are admonished today to use No grades, comments only! Grades, they are told, make students complacent and unmotivated. Comments, however, are said to improve motivation and enhance achievement. To support...
Author: Thomas R. Guskey Originally published in Ed Week on 2-25-19 It's time that educators recognize a basic truth about reforming the way we grade and report student learning. That truth is this: There are no "best practices" in grading and reporting, and there is no perfect...
Published in Ed Week on September 9, 2018 At no time in the history of education has there been more emphasis on fostering student inquiry. We encourage teachers develop lessons around probing, essential questions designed to help students become creative problem solvers. We stress the importance...
Originally posted in Ed Week on May 20, 2018 My friend, Peter DeWitt, recently wrote an insightful piece for this blog on "Are Labels Preventing Students from Succeeding?" (May 14, 2018). Peter argued that labeling students is a deeply complicated, multi-layered process with confounding effects. On the...
Originally Published on February 4, 2018, in Education Week. Imagine going to your physician for a medical examination. During the exam, the physician records data on your height, weight, blood pressure, and heart rate, and asks you questions about your lifestyle and how you are feeling....
Post written by Thomas R. Guskey Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Kentucky Originally published in Ed Week Newspapers, magazines, and journals today are filled with articles about the evils of grades. Writers tell us that grades warp student motivation, destroy the morale of teachers, and corrupt the...
The most important time in the school year for students, teachers, and parents is the first two weeks. What happens during this critical period pretty much determines how the rest of the year will go. When children return to school after the summer break, their perceptions...
Originally Published: May 31, 2016 in ASCD Blogs Suppose during a physical examination, your doctor recorded data on your height, weight, blood pressure, and heart rate, and asked you a series of questions about your health. Then after gathering all this information, suppose the doctor had...