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Disrupting White Supremacy in Evaluation and Grading

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Grading systems that claim to measure “merit” often reinforce dominant cultural standards, sidelining learners who come from marginalized backgrounds or hold diverse identities. Academic Justice: Disrupting White Supremacy in Evaluation and Grading invites educators, administrators, and curriculum designers to rethink the rubrics, contracts, and feedback methods that shape student outcomes. By deconstructing biases in traditional grading and embracing anti-racist frameworks, participants will co-create models that center student growth, holistic assessment, and respect for varied ways of knowing and demonstrating learning.

Grading systems that claim to measure “merit” often reinforce dominant cultural standards, sidelining learners who come from marginalized backgrounds or hold diverse identities. Academic Justice: Disrupting White Supremacy in Evaluation and Grading invites educators, administrators, and curriculum designers to rethink the rubrics, contracts, and feedback methods that shape student outcomes. By deconstructing biases in traditional grading and embracing anti-racist frameworks, participants will co-create models that center student growth, holistic assessment, and respect for varied ways of knowing and demonstrating learning.

Key Focus Areas

  1. Exposing White Norms in Assessment

    • Uncover how conventional grading practices, rubrics, and academic policies privilege certain cultural standards while penalizing difference.

  2. Anti-Racist Rubrics & Evaluations

    • Learn to design or adapt rubrics to value multiple forms of expression and reflect equity-driven criteria, rather than one-size-fits-all notions of “rigor.”

  3. Co-Created Grading Contracts

    • Explore how shared agreements and self-assessment processes can empower students, encourage responsibility, and humanize the growth journey.

Who Should Attend?

  • K–12 & Higher Ed Faculty
    Seeking to align evaluation methods with principles of equity, cultural responsiveness, and student empowerment.

  • Academic Advisors & Department Chairs
    Committed to revising grading policies that perpetuate bias and striving to support more inclusive student success models.

  • Curriculum Developers & Instructional Coaches
    Looking to integrate anti-racist frameworks into lesson design, assignment guidelines, and course outcomes.

  • Equity & DEI Coordinators
    Focused on dismantling systemic barriers and reimagining how institutions define and measure academic “excellence.”

Learning Objectives

  1. Deconstruct “Merit” in Academia

    • Recognize the historical and cultural roots behind dominant grading practices, and understand how they perpetuate privilege.

  2. Apply Anti-Racist Evaluation Frameworks

    • Develop strategies—such as transparent rubrics, reflective feedback, and community-based assessment—to promote genuine inclusion and respect for diverse experiences.

  3. Co-Create Equitable Grading Contracts

    • Explore collaborative approaches where students and instructors jointly shape expectations, refining accountability structures that affirm learning rather than penalize difference.

Why It Matters

When academic “success” hinges on subjective measures, many students find themselves judged against standards designed without their contexts in mind. By unveiling how white supremacy influences the benchmarks of “excellence,” educators can craft evaluation and feedback mechanisms that reflect the diversity of their student body. Such shifts not only foster greater belonging and fairness but also enrich the entire learning community—recognizing that meaningful growth can’t be reduced to numeric scores or narrow definitions of competence.

Is This Workshop For You?

  • Noticing persistent inequities in student performance tied to cultural or linguistic backgrounds?
    We’ll explore how to adjust grading methods to genuinely reflect student learning, not cultural conformity.

  • Concerned that your current rubrics may be unintentionally biased?
    Learn to design or revise rubrics through an anti-racist lens, reducing penalizing norms and opening space for multiple forms of demonstration.

  • Seeking ways to honor student voices in shaping evaluation standards?
    We’ll show you how collaborative grading contracts and self-assessment promote shared responsibility and mutual respect.

  • Committed to addressing systemic barriers in your institution’s academic policies?
    Discover advocacy tactics and policy reforms that align grading procedures with broader equity goals.

If these scenarios resonate with your teaching or administrative context, Academic Justice: Disrupting White Supremacy in Evaluation and Grading offers the perspectives and hands-on tools you need to shift from exclusionary metrics to truly equitable, humane assessment systems.