About This Episode
Season 8. Episode 8.
Grades have been a fixture of education for generations, but how much does an A, B, or C really tell us about what a student knows?
Joe Feldman, author of Grading for Equity, and Dr. Shantha Smith, CEO of Crescendo Education Group, join Education Insight to rethink some of the most familiar parts of grading. From late work and homework to test retakes and second chances, we explore what grades should actually measure, why changing long-standing practices can be controversial, and what a better approach to communicating student learning might look like.
Featured Guests
Dr. Shantha Smith
CEO, Crescendo Education Group
Biography
Dr. Shantha Smith is the CEO of Crescendo Education Group. Although she now leads the organization, she continues to work alongside teachers, school leaders, and district teams as they navigate instructional change and implement more equitable grading practices. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Dr. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in Special Education from Virginia State University, a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction with a Reading Specialist concentration from Trinity College, and a PhD in Special Education and Special Education Leadership from George Mason University in 2015. Prior to joining Crescendo Education Group in 2021, Dr. Smith served as an instructional leader and Equity and Excellence Coordinator in Northern Virginia and was the 2020 recipient of Virginia’s Mary Peake Award for Excellence in Education Equity. Over the course of her 25+ year career, she has served as a teacher, coach, district leader, and advocate for educational equity. She specializes in helping leaders move from vision to implementation by building the systems, capacity, and conditions necessary for sustainable change. Her experience spans teaching, coaching, and leadership across PK–12 settings. She is passionate about helping educators create learning environments where grades accurately reflect learning, students remain motivated, and instructional practices support success for all learners. When she is not supporting educators and school systems, Dr. Smith enjoys traveling, reading, and teaching yoga as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200).
Joe Feldman
Founder, Crescendo Education Group
Biography
Joe has worked in education for over 30 years as a teacher, principal, and district administrator, and is the founder of Crescendo Education Group (crescendoedgroup.org), which since 2013 has supported K-12 schools, districts, colleges/universities, and state boards of education nationwide to improve grading and assessment practices to be more fair and accurate. His writings have been published in Education Week, Kappan, Education Leadership, District Administrator, US News & World Report, and Black Press USA. The second edition of his book, Grading for Equity: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How It Can Transform Schools and Classrooms (Corwin) was published in 2023. His organization, Crescendo Education Group, has partnered with the National Education Association as well as the American Federation of Teachers, National Association of Independent Schools, and Stanford University’s Challenge Success. Joe has presented at numerous education conferences, and his work has been profiled in Education Week and the Wall Street Journal. He leads the Equitable Grading Project, which published the 2024 report, “Can We Trust The Transcript? that analyzed the accuracy of over 33,000 grades and the impact of improved grading practices.
Joe earned his B.A. from Stanford University and a Master’s degree in Teaching and Curriculum from the Harvard School of Education. He lives in Oakland with his wife and two children.
