Contract Grading in English 100

Some English 100 instructors choose to develop a Grade Contract for their students to use in conjunction with other E100 assessment requirements. A Grade Contract, which can also be called a Learning or Labor Contract, aims to maximize transparency in the grading process and allow students to communicate their priorities. In many cases, a contract linked to assessment also aims toward creating strong experiences of inclusivity, accessibility, and community. Some instructors use contracts effectively as tools for anti-racist pedagogy.

Grading contracts in writing classrooms have been around for a while, and they’ve been used in UW composition classrooms since at least the early 2000’s. Instructors have varied reasons and philosophies related to the use of contracts, and you should become familiar with these if you decide to develop this approach as part of your teaching philosophy. (See the list of resources in BOX for some places to start.)

This short document emphasizes the logistics of devising and using a contract. Members of the English 100 admin team welcome the chance to talk with any instructor about their approach to assessment, so don’t hesitate to set up a time to review a draft of a contract or to talk through ideas if you’re not sure about using this approach.

As in all English 100 classes, an instructor choosing to use a contract must still use a portfolio grading system that incorporates drafting, revision, reflective writing and a holistic approach. All the required components of English 100 remain the same.

Contract grading sets up an agreement between instructors and their students. Usually, an instructor will write up the requirements associated with each grade or with a “base” grade, and students will review the requirements. Then each student signs a document to indicate they understand expectations and have the intention to achieve a certain grade. Among other things, this process asks a student to communicate their intentions and to try to be realistic if English 100 is a lower priority course in a semester heavy with science labs and math. It also initiates the opportunity for ongoing conversations about intentions and how they might change over the course of the semester.

Contracts can be turned in electronically through Canvas, at the beginning of a class early in the semester, or at a short “getting to know you” conference during the first weeks of the semester. Whatever the method, be sure to make time during class to introduce the contract and respond to questions. Students are usually unfamiliar with the practice and might be worried.

Contracts are most usually labor-based and process-oriented. In English 100, you might see a contract as a tool that makes the connection between grades and portfolios more transparent. Portfolios document labor and process, while contracts spell out how a student can translate these factors into a grade.

Check-ins, self-assessments, and feedback during the semester should be scheduled to make sure student work is aligning with their contract.

In a contract, a certain grade is associated with a certain amount of work or with task completion. One idea behind this is that a student will learn by having a required experience or by completing a well-designed assignment. A judgment is not made about the student’s learning; learning is assumed. Because students have had different prior learning experiences, individual students might vary in the specifics of learning or achievement.

Instructors may still choose to emphasize particular outcomes. The contract can, for example, indicate that careful proofreading is expected. Or a contract can leave openings for later fine-tuning, as long as the fine-tuning is explicit and transparent. For instance, a class discussion about a particular assignment’s effectiveness might create an agreement about the use of metaphor or the essential characteristics of a narrative, and this can be folded into the expectations for completing the assignment. Sometimes a certain level of achievement is required for successful task completion, and this can be written into the contract.

Contracts do not need to be rigid devices. In fact, a contract can work best when it remains open to reasonable adaptations, responding to circumstances and developing strength through negotiation. A contract can provide opportunities for ongoing class discussions about learning, workloads, and classroom experiences. (See the Teaching Resources Box Folder for examples of contracts.)