Office Hours: 30 minutes with Constance Borro

“Having specific, real-time data doesn’t seem possible in the status quo, but it is possible, and that data is transformative. “ Constance Borro, CEO of Mastery Portfolio Constance Borro, CEO of Mastery Portfolio, sat down with R.E.A.L Discussion to talk about Mastery Portoflio’s beginning, its strengths, and our ultimate goal of revolutionizing grading and assessment practices […]

Video: 6 Tips For Going Gradeless

Change the conversation about grading to one about learning. When a student asks, “what did I get?” redirect him/her to “what did you learn?” The language we use around learning matters, so we must be intentional when students want to talk about progress. Try to avoid speaking in terms of numbers and letters and focus […]

Could You Teach Without Grades?

Starr Sackstein, COO of Mastery Portfolio, and Jennifer Gonzalez from Cult of Pedagogy talk about redesigning grading and assessment in the classroom. Are you receiving pushback from educators or families regarding your use of standards-based grading? Are you focused on improving student self-assessment in your classroom? Starr Sackstein shared her experiences during her conversations on […]

Mastery Portfolio Takes the Guesswork Out of Standards-based Grading

At Mastery Portfolio, we partner with schools that are ready for an assessment paradigm shift. Our focus is grading and assessment practices that motivate students to be active participants in their journey toward learning growth and mastery. Below is an exerpt from Rev 1’s article, Mastery Portfolio Takes the Guesswork Out of Standards-Based Grading written […]

Reversing Grading Meltdowns: a MasteryBook User’s Story

Enthusiastically Written and Shared By Jessica Claasse, educator at BEIS Mastery portfolio was introduced to me on the verge of a grading meltdown. I am not sure if that is even a thing. But let’s call it what it is- Grading sucks. If I have to turn the seconds of sleep that I have lost […]

How you Communicate with Learners is Key to their Success

There are many ways to communicate learning with
students. Whether providing comments on Google docs, sending Voxes or short videos, teachers
have many means to effectively communicate with their learners. We need to know our students
well enough to select the best means for each one. Know how your students like to hear feedback
and then do your best to provide it in that manner.

Teaching Students to Understand Standards

What good are standards if students don’t understand them? Students need to understand the expectations, in a language that makes sense to them, so why not have them rewrite them?

Make Standards Visible in Mastery Communication

Learning is an on-going process and it seems inadequate and arbitrary to try to label learning along the way when it looks so different for so
many students. But since many of us are in the situation that does require grades, we must make sure students and parents aren’t surprised when progress reports or report cards come. Even if
your comments are pre-written, make sure to provide meaningful comments to aid in understanding the snapshot you are providing.