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120 - Learning Takes Time: Dr. Wendy Smith on Teacher Preparation, Ungrading, and Rethinking Deadlines
Description
In this episode of The Grading Podcast, Sharona Krinsky and Robert Bosley sit down with Dr. Wendy Smith, Director of the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Computer Education at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Wendy shares how her journey into alternative grading began long before the term even existed—rooted in her own struggles as a math student who learned deeply, but not always “on time.”
From those early experiences in the 1990s to her current work preparing future math teachers, Wendy reflects on how grading policies shape motivation and equity, and how she helps pre-service teachers design classrooms that measure learning, not behavior. Her “no penalty for late work” approach—anchored in neuroscience and compassion—helps future educators focus on what students know, not when they know it.
Links
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- Center for Science, Mathematics, and Computer Education – University of Nebraska–Lincoln
- Transformational Change Efforts: Student Engagement in Mathematics through an Institutional Network for Active Learning
- The Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership: The Power of a Networked Improvement Community to Transform Secondary Mathematics Teacher Preparation
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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