Grading Contract

For this course, we will use a labor-based grading contract, a system of grading that is based primarily on your efforts. Your final course letter grade will be the result of your participation, attendance, and completion of homework, assignments, and revisions. Your grade will NOT be based on my subjective evaluation of your final assignments in comparison to the writing of your peers, but I will still read the work and provide feedback and queries.

Grading contracts are valuable for a number of reasons, including that they:

  • Offer you the opportunity to be experimental and exploratory in your writing—to take risks, rather than producing writing based on arbitrary markers of what is “correct” or doing exactly and only “what the assignment requires” or “what the teacher wants”
  • Value the time, effort, and labor you decide to commit to the class
  • Provide you with a clear and concrete understanding of your grade at all times throughout the semester (grades are simple and easy to calculate)
  • Do not penalize or reward you for your prior experience with writing and language. All students, therefore, have the same potential to earn an A
  • Privilege students who are investing the time, energy, and effort into literacy learning.

While grading contracts focus on quantifiable outcomes (attendance, participation, completed work), quality matters too; you are expected to carefully write and revise your writing assignments to meet certain goals and criteria. Grading contracts function on the belief that quality writing is the result of one’s efforts at drafting, getting and understanding feedback from others, and revising.

General Terms of Agreement

  1. Attendance & Lateness. You agree to strive to attend all in-person classes and be on time. You will also participate in any assigned Discussions boards (in lieu of meeting synchronously on a second day per week). You are permitted to miss ONE in-person class this semester without affecting your grade, though our class time is incredibly valuable! So, please only use this absence if it’s truly needed. Being a few minutes late a few times in a semester is understandable, but we may need to talk if lateness becomes a problem. If extenuating circumstances prevent you from attending class, please do not hesitate to contact me. All assignment due dates/times should also be respected.

  2. Participation & Collaboration. You agree to participate in ways that best fit you and that are most appropriate for each day’s goal (by actively listening, taking notes, asking questions, offering comments, etc.). You agree to work cooperatively and collegially in your workgroups, to share your writing, to listen supportively to the writing of others, and, when called for, give full and thoughtful assessments that help your colleagues consider ways to revise.

  3. Homework & Assignments. You agree to strive to turn in on time all homework and assignments. All should be completed fully and meet all assignment requirements. If you face extenuating circumstances, please email me ahead of time. If you are absent, you are responsible for submitting work that’s due on time. The following guidelines apply to all assignments, including homework, drafts, and final assignments:

Timeliness:

Late Assignments: An assignment is considered “late” if it is turned in after its initial due date and time, but submitted within two days (48 hours). These will earn a one-point reduction.

Make-up Assignments: An assignment is considered a “make-up” if it is turned in at some point in the semester but after the 48-hour window. These will earn a 50% reduction.

Ignored Assignments. Any assignments not done at all, for whatever reason, are considered “ignored.” Even one ignored assignment will prevent you from earning an A or higher in the course (see chart below).

IMPORTANT NOTE: Drafts of major essays cannot be submitted late. If drafts are not submitted on time, they will be considered “ignored.” AND, if assignments are not completed fully, they may be marked as “ignored” (see below).

Completion:

Projects will not qualify as “complete” unless they have achieved all of the goals of the assignment as discussed in class or explained on handouts. This means that projects are not just done but done in the manner discussed. If I find that a given project is not “complete,” I will contact you about rewriting and how this will affect your final grade. If you return a piece early and it is not “complete,” I will consider it “on time” if you make any adjustments by the actual due date.

Improvement:

While you do not have to worry about anyone’s judgments or standards to meet the grading contract, you are obligated for all of your class work to carefully listen to and consider your colleagues’ and my comments. Feedback is essential to improvement. In this class, you won’t just correct errors or touch up pieces here and there. Each major essay and project will be substantially reshaped, extended, or complicated based on the feedback you receive. You will also make efforts to improve your copyediting skills. I certainly do not expect error-free texts, but I do ask that you take an active role in developing your uses of English. If too few revisions are made to your drafts over the course of the semester, I will contact you so that we can make a plan and/or determine how this will affect your final grade.

Overview of Grade Breakdown Guidelines

Each of the major assignments is worth a set number of points, determined by its rubric. Meeting these requirements will earn you full points on the assignment. Smaller assignments —  discussion boards, phase reflections, and worksheets — carry less weight, though these can considerably affect your grade if ignored.

There are 95 points available, meaning that the default grade for this class is a 95, an A. If you complete all of the assignments — and do them on-time and per the criteria for completion — and do not miss more than one class, you will earn an A in this course.

Opportunities for you to earn credit toward missing points will be offered at my discretion.

The breakdown of points-per-assignment is available here.

Exceptions

Pleas. Life isn’t perfect and each semester does not always go according to our plans, so I offer you one plea that you can make to me to change your progress in the course. For instance, you might plea to get a late or missed assignment removed from your record so that you may still meet our contract, etc. Anyone can make a plea to me once during the semester. However, there must be some kind of special or extenuating circumstance that warrants the plea. You may not plead a case just because you want something removed from your record. For a plea to be granted, you may be asked to complete an extra assignment, such as researching and writing about a course-related topic or meeting with a consultant at the Writing Center.

Accommodations/Inclusivity. The goal of the Grading Contract is to meet you where you are in your reading and writing experience and to support you in growing as a critical thinker, reader, writer, communicator, and collaborator. Additionally, the purpose is to ensure students are having the opportunity to work in a just environment that adapts to their needs and equally supports each student’s learning. Thus, when necessary, I will work with individuals on a case-by-case basis to determine how best to accommodate your needs as a learner and the course’s learning outcomes. Ultimately, the Grading Contract functions as a model for forming professional relationships and professional communication practices.

University and Military Obligations. Any absence due to a university-sponsored group activity (e.g., sporting event, performance, band, etc.) will not count against you, as stipulated by university policy, as long as you FIRST provide written documentation within the first two weeks of the semester of all absences. This same policy applies if you have mandatory military-related absences (e.g., deployment, work, duty, etc.). This will allow us to determine ahead of time how you will meet assignments and our contract, despite being absent.

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Grading contracts in the field of rhetoric and composition originate from researchers like Dr. Peter Elbow and Dr. Asao Inoue who have sought more equitable and just grading practices. This grading contract has been adapted from their work, as well as from the contracts of Dr. Missy Watson, Dr. Nicole Howell, and Dr. Kate Navickas.

*By staying in our course, you agree to all of the above terms, and I agree to keep track of the above details responsibly and enforce them democratically.