At Ashland Middle School in Oregon, students don’t receive traditional letter grades or a 100-point scale. Instead, the school has developed a unique grading system that focuses on detailed feedback, allowing students to clearly understand what parts of an assignment they excelled in, where they struggled, and how they can improve. Over the past decade, school leaders and teachers, including Principal Steve Retzlaff and Assistant Principal Katherine Holden, created this system using custom rubrics and specialized software. This approach was inspired by the belief that traditional grades are often ineffective in providing meaningful feedback. The system is designed to translate standards into student-friendly language and emphasize learning progress rather than just grades.
