Brilliant or Insane?: grades

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Can Narrative Feedback Eliminate Traditional Grading?

If you read Brilliant or Insane, you probably know we are anti-tradition, when it comes to education. One of my goals, in fact, is to completely eliminate traditional number and letter grading in schools.

With this goal in mind, I produced the Storify below in 2012, in an effort to get the conversation about eliminating grades started. Scroll through the Storify and let us know what you think of the opinions expressed therein.

Please add your thoughts in the comment section below.

Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

When the numbers don't add up

photo credit: Mykl Roventine via photopin cc

One day, I was looking at students' grades in other classes (we have this ability, using an online grade book). I came across several that didn't make sense. Of course, by now, you know that grades, in general, don't make much sense to me. Take a look at this example how the numbers don't add up:

In a class with 391 possible points, a student has 195 for a 50% F.

Seven of the assignments have 100% scores, which account for 73 points, meaning the student is perfect on nearly 20% of the material. Obviously, this is not a completely inept kid.

Three missing assignments account for 49 points -- 13% of the total. How much incentive does the student have to make them up? Based on the late penalties outlined below, I'd say there's very little incentive.

Penalizing learning

The student is penalized 25 points for several late activities. These penalties are harsh -- 50% of the value of the activity. Pretty tough for a 13-year-old. If I turn something in late to my principal, I certainly don't lose half of my pay.

Our sample student receives 28.5/99 on two tests, with no evidence of a retake on either. (Don't even get me started on the problem with two tests being 25% of the value of what a student produces in 45 days of work.)

These numbers simply don't add up. I got to thinking that if a report card grade is absolutely necessary, why can't we at least help students like this one taste a little success? So, I did some basic math, and here's what I came up with.

Raising the bar

If the late penalties are eliminated completely, this adds 25 points to the student's total score. Assume that the teacher does some re-teaching/coaching and the student retakes both tests. If the student improves to just 60% on both, her test total increases to 59/99.

These two simple changes (eliminating late penalties and bringing low test scores to just 60%) bring this student to a grade of C. Even if the student gets only 50% on one of the test retakes, she'll still get a C-.

I'd much prefer narrative feedback over the grade, but if some effort is made to help students perform well and embrace learning, the grades they have to get will increase. Then, perhaps they'll feel better about themselves and develop a thirst for learning.

As long as numbers exist, they might as well add up.

Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Grades are inherently unfair

By Reed Gillespie

If grades matter as much as many say, we need to make reforms.

via: MrMillersBlog.com

I’m the proud father of identical twins. Essentially, they possess similar academic and non-cognitive skills. Yet, their high school experiences were dramatically different, as were their GPAs.

The discrepancies came down to one, randomly assigned variable—their teachers.

In science class, one twin’s teacher weighted homework at 40%, while the other twin’s teacher didn’t calculate homework. In another subject, one teacher allowed extra credit while the other didn’t. Similar subject exams ranged from 10% to 20%.

Of course, these differences are only the tip of the iceberg.

Dinner conversations frequently focused on these differences. “I wish I was allowed to turn in extra credit.” “You’re so lucky to have her. She’s so much easier.” “I’ve worked so much harder, but I only got a B and you have an A.”

Such disparities shouldn’t exist.

By no stretch of the imagination am I fan of more regulation, and since grades are here to stay, we need to make significant grade reforms. Here’s a simple 3-step policy:

Each school should collaboratively develop its own grading policies. The policy should include what goes into a grade and how grades are calculated. As the policy is formulated ask the following questions:

What can and cannot be included in grades?
How do we ensure that grades indicate student understanding?
Will extra credit be allowed?

via: silentstudents.com

Will redos/retakes be permitted? If so, how will they be computed?

Next teachers should meet in grade-level or subject-specific teams. Each team should describe what they want their students to know and how this will be measured (performance indicators).
Teachers articulate their grading policy to students and parents.

The above reforms will take time and energy, but effective grading policies require deliberate planning. Reforms will enable grades to accurately reflect what students have learned and are able to do.

If we must have grades, we should strive to ensure that they indicate the same level of learning in classrooms across the spectrum.

Reed Gillespie writes about education for Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Reed on the Our Team page. Follow Reed on Twitter here.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

The game of school

By Reed Gillespie

“What do I have to do to earn an A?”

If you’re an experienced teacher, you’ve been asked the above question too many times to count. We need not look any further to provide definitive proof that our archaic grading system has failed our students.

Instead of being motivated to learn, students enter our classrooms motivated solely by grades. The good students have learned to play the game. They turn their work in on time, answer a couple of questions in class, fulfill the rubric’s requirements, and occasionally—when necessary—they complete extra credit to ensure they’ve accrued the necessary points.

The end of the marking period arrives and the student has “earned” an A. At an awards ceremony, the student receives an Honor Roll Certificate; her name is published in the school newsletter and maybe even in the local paper. Perhaps, she even receives a certificate for a free pizza from the local pizza parlor. Her parents proudly display their “My Child is an Honor Roll Student at XYZ Middle School.” So while seemingly, everyone wins, nothing could be further from the truth.

We are teaching compliance, not learning

Our current “if-then” grading system rewards students for compliance, instead of learning. With the focus on outcomes, students will take the shortest and easiest path to the A, including cheating. Such a system takes away from the love of learning and reinforces superficial learning, instead of true understanding.

By ditching our current grading system in favor of the SE2R approach or another Standards-Based Learning system, students will take control of their learning. As Daniel Pink suggests in Drive, “increasing student autonomy promotes greater conceptual understanding, better grades, and enhanced persistence at school and in sporting activities, higher productivity, less burnout, and greater levels of psychological well-being.”

Ridding our schools of our antiquated grading system won’t be easy, but doing so will increase student learning and their love of learning.

Reed Gillespie writes about education for Brilliant or Insane. He is a longtime educator and blogger. Learn more about Reed on the Our Team page.

Thursday, January 23, 2014

In case you missed our series on eliminating grades

Thanks to you, our series, "Strategies for eliminating traditional grades," has been very popular. In case you missed any of the posts, here they are in the order that they were published.

Please share these with friends and colleagues, so we can keep this powerful movement against traditional grading going.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Taking the grades out of assessments

Fifth in a series on strategies for eliminating traditional grades

by Reed Gillespie

For many, the word “assessment” conjures up thoughts about all that’s wrong with education: standardized testing, final exams, grades, etc.

But an effective assessment strategy actually eliminates grades.

A 1991 study by Masaharu Kage revealed grading quizzes lowered students’ intrinsic motivation and led to poorer learning when compared to self-monitored, non-evaluative quizzes. Other studies have similar results.

Assessments are an important part of learning, but educators tend to leave students out of the process. Having students participate in their own evaluation, while detaching grades, increases learning.

Involving students in assessment

Here’s a simple strategy that involves students in the assessment process, creating a sense of ownership and increasing their commitment to learning.

Students complete a formative assessment. This can be a quiz, classwork, project, etc.
After completing the assessment, students turn their work into the teacher. If you’re concerned about student confidentiality, have students use random IDs instead of their names.
Working individually, in groups, or as a class, students create a separate “answer key.” While students work, the teacher provides assistance, informally assesses performance and determines whether re-teaching will be necessary.
Students return the corrected work to their teacher who then passes it back to the original student. This step allows the teacher to further measure student understanding.
Students keep a copy of their “answer key” and use that to double-check their peer’s feedback.

By working with the students through the entire process, the teacher uses the assessment as a source of information and, if necessary, can provide high-quality corrective re-teaching. Students receive instant, specific and descriptive feedback without the stigma attached to grades. Working together, the teacher and the students make choices about what to focus on next in their learning.

With the emphasis on learning and mastery, students will be more intrinsically motivated and more willing to take risks to expand their learning.

Reference

Kage, M. The effects of evaluation on intrinsic motivation. Paper presented at the meetings of the Japan Association of Education Psychology, Joetsu, Japan.

Reed Gillespie writes about education for Brilliant or Insane. He is a longtime educator and blogger. Catch more of Reed's work here. Follow him on Twitter here.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Eliminate grades with digital feedback

Fourth in a series on strategies for eliminating traditional grades

One of the fears of discarding traditional grades, in favor of a system like SE2R (Summarize, Explain, Redirect and Resubmit) is wondering how to efficiently deliver it.

To deliver effective narrative feedback on a consistent basis, digital tools, like Google Drive, and Kidblog are crucial. These social networks allow teachers to provide written narratives directly next to or beneath student activities, and to create a two-way conversation, which leads to mastery learning.

The video above shows part of SE2R in the comment stream. The student is Redirected to prior learning with a link to a classroom presentation. He's then asked to improve the work and Resubmit it.

Providing this kind of feedback in the virtual world entices students to act immediately. In the Google Doc, for example, the student can click on a link to prior learning, make immediate changes to the work and inform the teacher in the comment stream, when changes have been made.

Reviewing this activity can take place on your Smartphone or tablet, so this amazing teaching and learning can happen anywhere.

So, if you want to eliminate traditional grades, use digital feedback. Your students won't be punished by a number or letter, and they'll love you for teaching them in their world.

Read the prior post in the series here, and keep the conversation going.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

All things considered, what should your grade be?

Third in a series on strategies for eliminating traditional grades

The more educators hear about the power of meaningful narrative feedback, the more their interest in feedback over grades grows.

via: 123rf.com

The question that crops up more than any about eliminating number and letter grades is, "How are report cards handled, if there are no points throughout a marking period?"

Make it a conversation

When I transitioned my classroom to results-only learning, I stopped placing numbers and letters on every activity and project students ever completed. When time for district-mandated report cards arrived, I met with individual students to discuss their learning during the previous nine weeks.

We would review all activities and projects and discuss the narrative feedback I'd given and the conversations about learning that we'd had. Since students grow up in a system that uses A, B, C, D, F grades, they are keenly aware of how this system works.

I made it clear to them that I had no interest in the report card grade, because I knew how much they had learned. Then I'd say, "All things considered, if we have to assess your learning with a letter, what should it be?"

The students would contemplate the question and the work they'd done and assign themselves a report card grade. Occasionally, I might disagree with them at first, so we'd continue the discussion, but these times were few and far between.

What's amazing about this is that you'll find that your students, when taught about the value of self-evaluation, become very critical of their own work, which important for both academic growth and maturation in general.

So, begin assessment by replacing numbers and letters with narrative feedback. Then, when report card time comes, ask your students to grade themselves. You'll be amazed at the results.

Read the first and second articles in the series

Monday, January 13, 2014

How to stop measuring your students

Second in a series on strategies for eliminating traditional grades

via: mcclungsworld.com

The workshop audience, filled with K-12 teachers and administrators, loved the idea of narrative feedback. "I think we all agree that this is good for kids," one participant said, "but how do we measure achievement?"

This is a common question, brought on in most cases by parental demands, college admissions officers and a political quest to win a mythical global education competition.

How do we measure achievement? Don't!

Although answering the how-do-we-measure-achievement question with a simple, We don't, may seem glib, it's a mindset that teachers need to embrace, if we're going to win the war on punitive grades.

Once educators understand that achievement can't be measured with simple numbers, percentages or letters, evaluating learning becomes easy.

The picture above is as misleading as any graphic can be. The numbers say nothing about learning, because we don't know how these students are being evaluated, although it is definitely with some kind of standardized test.

One must wonder what factors contribute to some groups being at the bottom of the graph. Might it be that a student who is hungry can't concentrate on a test? Is it possible that others come from crime-ridden neighborhoods, and concern over their own safety far outweighs the questions on a multiple-choice test?

Evaluation should always be done with feedback

So, stop measuring. If your school mandates high stakes tests throughout the year, ignore all other testing until those tests arrive. Stop grading papers, projects and participation.

Engage students with interactive lessons, collaboration and technology integration. Then, converse with them about learning.

When someone says, "How do you measure achievement?" Tell them you don't. Explain that students provide work product based on mini lessons; you observe constantly, and discuss what is learned and what is not.

Ask students, perched conspicuously at the bottom of the graph above, what they have learned, instead of handing them a paper-and-pencil test. You'll be amazed by their answers.

Read the first article in this series here

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Overcoming the weekly grades mandate

First in a series on strategies for eliminating traditional grades

After promising to do all I can to eliminate traditional grades in schools this year, supporters have surfaced here, on Twitter, Google+ and other social networks. One issue that continues to crop up is with people who want to stop grading but say their administrators mandate weekly grades.

Administrative mandates like the one Allison mentions in her tweet are exactly the sort of misguided approaches to assessment that inhibit learning. Typically, they exist only to placate parents, who see the grades as a measurement of weekly progress -- another fallacy.

Use two-pronged approach to solving this problem

One: begin a conversation with upper administrators about why weekly grades hinder teaching and learning. Explain that you want to eliminate grading your students with numbers and letters, because these false measurements do not provide effective feedback to all stakeholders.

Instead of weekly grades, come up with an alternative that will satisfy administrators. Some sort of narrative feedback -- even brief comments about progress -- should suffice.

Two: If administrators are slow to react to your suggestions (sometimes congress moves faster than education), at the very minimum, bring students into the conversation about weekly grades.

If a number or letter measurement has to be uploaded into an electronic grade book, why not allow your students to decide on the grade. They will be very good at it, if they are coached properly on self-evaluation.

At least this is a start.

Read the second post in this series here. Meanwhile, please keep the conversation going.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Alfie Kohn's new book challenges Myth of the Spoiled Child

Thanks to a Twitter conversation about grades, someone mentioned Alfie Kohn, catching the famous author's attention.

via: Amazon.com

He responded with a tweet about his forthcoming book. I tweeted back at Kohn, asking him what the book was about, and moments later, he shared this: "Thanks for asking. Here's the flap cover for the forthcoming book (Da Capo Press, April)."

This may seem parenthetical, but I have to say, I just love Twitter.

You can find a synopsis of Kohn's new book, The Myth of the Spoiled Child: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom about Children and Parenting, at Amazon.com, where you can also pre-order the book at a discounted price.

I ordered my copy today; should be a wonderful spring-break read.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

My take on Alfie Kohn

I'm a big fan of Alfie Kohn and his work. Kohn has written widely on the deleterious effects of traditional education practices like homework and grades.

In this brief segment from my interview with ASCD, I discuss how Kohn has influenced my own work.

Who influences you?

Friday, January 3, 2014

War on grades begins and readers are curious

My New Year's resolution, launching a war on traditional grades in all schools, is sparking plenty of attention here at Brilliant or Insane and on social media. Good questions are cropping up -- encouraging me to believe that this resolution is gaining traction, rather than ridicule.

~~A 75/100 55%~~

I'm running into people like Anneke Radin-Snaith here, at workshops and on numerous social networks; most are inspired and asking questions like Anneke, who posted the ones below here:

Anneke Radin-SnaithJanuary 2, 2014 at 8:05 PM

First of all, I love the idea of feedback instead of grades and have slowly been moving in that direction for a while now. Reading your piece brought up a few questions for me. What age do you work with and do you see this method as applicable across the board? How much time does this take? Do you use this method with every assignment, or only some? When you involve students in grading themselves (for report cards) do use some type of process whereby they look back at their work/progress?

Let me fire the first salvo at grades by addressing these issues in order.

Narrative feedback, using the SE2R system, is effective in any grade or subject. Meaningful two-way feedback creates a conversation about learning, which should start at a young age and continue throughout adulthood.
The SE2R system is time-consuming. When learning is done right, though, teachers should spend most of their time providing feedback, using a variety of tools. Remember, all feedback does not have to be written. Much of it can be part of verbal conversations.
Narrative feedback should be the evaluation system used for all activities, projects or assessments. It frames learning far more effectively than numbers and letters ever can.
For report cards, the student must be involved in deciding the final grade. At the end of a marking period, I sit down with every student and reflect on all activities, projects and feedback. Then, I ask a simple question: "What grade should you receive?" Students are our most important stakeholders. Leaving them out of any final report card grade is poor practice and a true injustice.

It is this kind of dialogue that will help us win the war on traditional grades. Please keep the questions and comments coming.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

This year I'm serious about my New Year's resolution: Eliminate traditional grades in every school

In the last few years, I've been pretty good with New Year's resolutions. One year, I promised to have a golf handicap in the mid teens. With plenty of practice and a little coaching, I made it happen. Another year, I lost 10 pounds.

My 2014 resolution is far more daunting than shaving a few golf strokes or cutting out fast food. This year, I'm promising to change education forever.

I'm going to encourage teachers everywhere to stop grading their students, using points, percentages and letters.

It may be crazy, but. . .

Sure, this may seem like an inconceivable, ridiculous, completely crazy idea.

After all, wasn't flying a plane inconceivable? Wasn't the microwave a ridiculous idea? I mean who in his right mind would eat something exposed to radiation? Wasn't the Smartphone a completely crazy thought? Could an internet-ready computer and high-functioning video camera really be placed inside a four-inch mobile device?

If these outrageous inventions could become realities, revolutionizing travel, eating and communication, why can't assessment be changed?

The plan

Any successful resolution or goal needs a plan. Here's how I intend to stop traditional grading in its tracks in 2014:

Share this 5-step blueprint for eliminating grades with teachers nationwide often.
Enlist the help of educators in my Personal Learning Network. This must be a widespread grassroots effort.
Create open forums with parents and school leaders about the value of SE2R feedback over traditional grades (more on this later).
Write about the power of feedback and the failure of grades. There's plenty of prose coming on this subject.
Get the publishing lobby to buy in. I've been hard on education publishers, like Pearson, who capitalize on education reforms, like the Common Core. What if a powerhouse publisher decided to put its resources behind narrative feedback? Imagine the possibilities.

So, in 2014, I'm going to war, and my enemy is traditional grades.

Are you ready to join the fight?

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Most popular posts of 2013: are they brilliant or insane?

It's been an exciting and wild year in writing for me. ASCD published two of my books, Role Reversal and The 5-Minute Teacher. I wrote articles for Teacher Librarian, Learning and Leading with Technology, SmartBlog on Education and eSchool News, to name a few.

Because of my love of blogging and the popularity of my work, thanks to you, I decided to post daily content here at the newly-named Brilliant or Insane Blog.

via: nobelprize.org

Here are the most popular posts of 2013

KidBlog is no longer completely free -- When I realized that the popular education blog host moved to a paid upgrade platform, I wasn't happy. This post prompted a social media uproar and a mix of upset users and KidBlog defenders.
Dear Parents: I want to stop grading your children -- With a promise to redouble my efforts to end traditional grading, I started by giving teachers a letter that explains the reasons for ending grades.
Top 5 reasons homework fails children -- This post originated earlier at ASCDEDge but was hugely popular here, when I posted it this year. Homework is always a hot-button issue among educators.
Top 5 reasons to eliminate guided reading -- What can I say, teachers are passionate about what they teach and Top 5 posts typically generate a lot of views. This one was no different.
Hey Major League Baseball, I'm breaking up with you -- I began my journalism career as a sports writer, so I enjoy the occasional post about sports. I'm not completely sure why, but this one got plenty of run here at Brilliant or Insane?
KidBlog CEO defends move to pay platform -- After many shares of my original post revealing KidBlog's move to a freemium model, co-founder and CEO Matt Hardy commented, sparking even more dialogue from the blog's users.
We must teach our kids about Nelson Mandela -- The death of the former South Africa president inspired this post. Hopefully, it will encourage teachers to keep Mandela's memory alive.

So, what do you think? Are any of these blog posts brilliant? Are any insane?

Please comment. There's much more to come in 2014.

Friday, December 27, 2013

Eliminate grades: here's your 5-step blueprint

As 2014 approaches, it's time for teachers to commit to the kind of change that will truly transform education. The easiest place to start is with assessment.

The fix? Eliminate traditional grades.

via: navigatingbyjoy.com

When I speak at schools and conferences, most teachers I encounter love the idea of eliminating grades, especially when they see a viable alternative, like SE2R feedback.

What attracts educators to the SE2R model is the idea that students are redirected to prior learning, when they have not mastered a concept. Then, they are given the opportunity to resubmit their work for further evaluation and feedback. This process leads to mastery learning.

What discourages teachers from using meaningful narrative feedback over number and letter grades is fear of backlash from parents, administrators and college admissions boards.

5-step blueprint for success

Realize that you are accountable first, and foremost, to students. We owe students the best chance to learn, regardless of any mandates we receive from bureaucrats.
Tell parents exactly why you want to stop grading their children. When you explain that you want to provide detailed feedback on all activities and give kids a chance for real mastery learning, how can parents argue?
Team up with principals. Approach the principal with details about your plan to eliminate number and letter grades. Outline the benefits of meaningful narrative feedback. Emphasize that the SE2R model leads to mastery learning. Invite her to review the feedback and the results.
Bring students into the report card conversation. If your district mandates report cards, sit down with your students at the end of each marking period and discuss the grade. Talk about what work was completed and what skills were acquired over time. How did students handle your feedback? Then, simply ask them to grade themselves. You'll be amazed at the results.
Share your success with district and community leaders. The best way to turn this into a movement that will forever change education is to share the results of feedback over grades with the people who have the power to influence widespread change.

The only way to spark real change is to act. Sweep away your fears and use this blueprint. Stop grading your students, and witness the thrill of independent learning.

Mark Barnes is an education author and consultant and the publisher of Brilliant or Insane. Learn more about Mark on our Team page. Follow him on Twitter here.

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Students may take years to learn responsibility

Deadlines teach responsibility, one educator suggested at a workshop I was recently conducting at Penn University. Narrative feedback and multiple opportunities to improve an activity are solid approaches to teaching and learning, the same teacher observed, but "don't some things have to be due when they're due?"

"Why?" I asked. "Are your students training to be neurosurgeons? Is that homework you assign going to save a life, if it's turned in on time?"

via: afs.org

These queries were met with a swell of skepticism. "What about learning to pay a mortgage on time?" she persisted.

"Twelve-year-olds don't pay mortgages," I replied.

Numerous people in the audience chimed in with similar examples and counters, until a voice of reason punctuated the discussion with this observation: "Some skills are developmental."

Agreeing wholeheartedly, I amplified the woman's point. Giving a student a failing grade, just because a deadline isn't met only punishes her, I explained. It doesn't teach responsibility.

Ongoing dialogue is needed

Rather than handing out low grades, like Christmas coal, we better serve our students by discussing the importance of completing tasks on time. One of my favorite conversations goes like this:

"I want to provide important feedback to you about your work. If you submit this part of your project at the end of the week, I'll have feedback for you by Monday. This will help you moving forward. The responsibility is to your learning. I want your work, no matter when it's done, but if you meet this due date, it helps us all."

Add to this an example of a "real life" deadline, like paying a mortgage, and students begin to see why due dates are important.

Some young students take years to get this.

A decade ago, I taught 8th grade. Two years later, I taught 10th grade at our high school, and I had the good fortune of having some students a second time. I was amazed by their development in many academic skills, such as meeting deadlines and taking responsibility for assignments and projects.

It seems to me that a combination of teacher intervention, parental guidance (in some cases) and maturity turned these students into more responsible young adults.

Deadlines had little to do with it.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

5 good things in education in 2013

As someone who is typically critical of American education, I recently took a look back, reflecting on what's positive about teaching and learning in our country. Here are five good things that happened in education in 2013.

via: digitaltrends.com

Minecraft -- Gaming in the classroom is trending, and games like Minecraft are showing educators how this kind of student engagement can transform classrooms in a variety of subjects. Minecraft can teach kids powerful lessons about engineering, architecture, planning and complex thinking, while doing it in a way students enjoy.
STEAM education -- the addition of "arts" to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) is long overdue. STEM education became popular when bureaucrats started scaring school leaders with the idea that we are losing some mythical global war in the areas of math and science. I'm all for STEM for different reasons, but adding the arts into the mix, creating STEAM, adds creativity to the sciences -- an integral piece of applying any skill.
ASCD's EduCore -- I may not be a stentorian voice of approval for the Common Core State Standards, but if standardized education is the current trend, we should do it right. Education publisher and professional development leader ASCD has made Common Core integration much easier with its interactive website, EduCore. Disclaimer: I do work for ASCD, but as a former classroom teacher, I haven't seen a better tool to help educators in a long time.
Mobile learning -- The charging bull of education, mobile learning picked up even more speed in K-12 classes nationwide in 2013. What started as a few 1-to-1 schools, using iPads, has become a major movement, with students using cell phones, iPods, Kindles and an array of tablet computers for a myriad of learning activities. With the power of the Internet in students' hands, the sky or, perhaps more apropos, cyberspace, is the limit.
Non-traditional grading -- Granted, this one may be a bit self-serving, but I have witnessed firsthand some schools enhancing their grading practices and other schools eliminating traditional grades completely. With many enlightened methods driving education, the most enlightened -- eliminating number and letter grades -- seems to be gaining traction.

What is on your 2013 "Good-things-in-Education" list?