Robert Talbert, in an article on Substack, talks about his use of “spec grading” and the EMRF rubric he used:
“The EMRF rubric does this. It is basically a Pass/Fail rubric in which instead of one decision that needs to be made about a student’s work… there are two. The first is whether the specs are met. The second one is: If the specifications are met, then is the work really excellent (‘E’) or not excellent but just OK (‘M’)?”
I find this approach compelling. Simple labels like “Success” and “Retry” on student work help students retain their agency—something crucial in education today.
I’ve always been uneasy with grade-focused conversations: students fixated on getting an “A” or asking if content will be “on the test.” Grades like C and D often fail to provide meaningful feedback about learning. The “Retry” concept shifts the focus to quality over completion, telling students, “You’re not done yet. Keep trying.” As Talbert notes:
“It wasn’t about points, it was about quality and there’s a world of difference here.”
Moving from grading to feedback transforms classroom dynamics, emphasizing learning and personal growth over mere completion.