113 - Experience First, Formalize Later: How switching to standards-based grading schoolwide enabled drastic change in the classroom, with Jen Smielewski
- Author
- Sharona Krinsky and Robert Bosley
- Published
- Tue 09 Sep 2025
- Episode Link
- https://thegradingpod.com/podcast-test-page/113-experience-first-formalize-later-how-switching-to-standards-based-grading-schoolwide-enabled-drastic-change-in-the-classroom-with-jen-smielewski
In this episode, Sharona and Boz sit down with Jen Smielewski, a math teacher at Avondale High School. Jen works with Doug Wilson, the principal at Avondale High School who was a guest on episode 101 about visionary leadership. In this episode, Jen shares the "experience first, formalize later" methodology that the entire math department has adopted through the change to standards-based grading and under Doug's leadership.
From the adoption of Building Thinking Classrooms to the methods of daily assessment of common schoolwide standards, Jen provides detailed examples of the changes at Avondale and how they have unlocked success in her classroom. Join us for this amazing conversation!
Links
Please note - any books linked here are likely Amazon Associates links. Clicking on them and purchasing through them helps support the show. Thanks for your support!
- Episode 101 – Visionary Leadership: Culture Change through Asking Questions – A 10-Year Journey to Building-Wide Grading Reform (with Doug Wilson)
- Building Thinking Classrooms In Mathematics, by Peter Liljedahl
- FAME: Formative Assessment for Michigan Educators
- A Beginner's Guide to Standards Based Grading, by Kate Owens
Resources
The Center for Grading Reform - seeking to advance education in the United States by supporting effective grading reform at all levels through conferences, educational workshops, professional development, research and scholarship, influencing public policy, and community building.
The Grading Conference - an annual, online conference exploring Alternative Grading in Higher Education & K-12.
Some great resources to educate yourself about Alternative Grading:
Recommended Books on Alternative Grading:
- Grading for Growth, by Robert Talbert and David Clark
- Specifications Grading, by Linda Nilsen
- Undoing the Grade, by Jesse Stommel
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Music
Country Rock performed by Lite Saturation, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
