Hybrid grading: behavior-based grades up to a threshold, quality-based grades above it¶

Design · All designs
Evidence · 2 claims (2 for) · 1 study (1 design), q1 · 0 of 1 report an effect size · 2 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article's organizing framework splits the grading scale by what earns the grade: below the threshold (B), the grade rests wholly on observable behaviors and completion; above it, the grade rests wholly on judged quality of writing. As the authors put it, "about behaviors, we take the gloves off; about quality of writing, we give students the power to decide (again, up to the grade of B)." The framework lets teachers maintain high standards of quality while rewarding behaviors that improve writing, and it underlies their claims about feedback, motivation, and grade inflation.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

A base grade available to every student, not dependent on skill or prior training
Base-grade decisions made without regard to judgments of work quality

Constraints¶

Extending the contract to a contract for an A would require dropping those constraints and specifying quality criteria not every student could attain
The authors developed the framework at strong public universities, though they report Shor and colleagues used contracts with working-class students at urban, commuter colleges

Target Learners¶

first-year college writing students
honors students
basic writers
students alienated from writing

Learning Goals¶

writing quality
processes such as revision and peer review

Claims¶

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

Danielewicz, Jane and Peter Elbow. (2009). A Unilateral Grading Contract to Improve Learning and Teaching. College Composition and Communication 61(2). https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/23309

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`design`
`id`	`hybrid-grading-behavior-below-quality-above-threshold`
`title`	`Hybrid grading: behavior-based grades up to a threshold, quality-based grades above it`
`description`	`The article's organizing framework splits the grading scale by what earns the grade: below the threshold (B), the grade rests wholly on observable behaviors and completion; above it, the grade rests wholly on judged q...`
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:settle-candidates` on `2026-10-14`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `danielewicz-2009`

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