Equitable Grading for Multilingual Learners: Unpacking the Pillars and Defining Success
Equitable Grading for Multilingual Learners Three-Part Series
Part 1: Equitable Grading for MLs: Unpacking the Pillars and Defining Success
Part 2: Equitable Grading for MLs: Scaffolding, Mastery, and Assessment [Coming Soon]
Part 3: Equitable Grading for MLs: Changing the Conversation with Students, Families, and Colleagues [Coming Soon]
Take a moment to recall a grade you received during your schooling that felt either fair or unfair. How did that grade affect your sense of belonging, motivation, and identity as a student?
In this first article of our three-part series, we define equitable grading for multilingual learners (MLs), introduce our updated Five Pillars framework, and take a deep dive into Pillar 1: establishing clear, accessible learning targets and success criteria.
For MLs, grading is complex since students are navigating rigorous grade-level content while simultaneously developing academic English language skills. Often, traditional grading practices conflate English language proficiency with content understanding, resulting in grades that reflect cultural and linguistic barriers rather than MLs’ knowledge and effort.
Therefore, we need to move away from using grades to sort students into courses, programs, and other opportunities or to reward students’ behavioral compliance and instead toward a system that promotes equity and student advocacy by accurately documenting and sharing what MLs know and can do when provided the appropriate linguistic scaffolds.
Before we dive into the research and the pillars of equitable grading for MLs, let’s first reflect on your grading beliefs:
• Do your, your school, or your district’s current policies around late or missing assignments penalize MLs, who may need extra time or support for language processing and understanding the assignment, rather than providing an extended window to demonstrate their learning?
• Are you grading MLs on a strict criterion standard, or are you comparing their performance against fluent English peers?
• When you look at a final grade, can you confidently separate an ML’s actual content knowledge from non-academic factors like behavior, neatness, or classroom rules?
What is a Grade?
Grading can be defined simply as the labels assigned to share the levels or categories of student performance (Gottlieb, 2023; Guskey et al., 2024). Guskey et al. note that these labels can take many forms, such as letters, numbers, words, symbols, or even emojis.
However, these grades are not an absolute, immutable truth about a student but rather a snapshot of their performance at that moment in time on that particular task. Without explicit, objective grading criteria, implicit teacher bias routinely skews results for culturally and linguistically diverse students, such as MLs (Quinn, 2020). Therefore, we must establish clear, transparent criteria that shift grading toward constructive, feedback-rich environments that promote student learning and critical thinking.
Core Principles of Equitable Grading
In Figure 1, we adapt Guskey et al.’s (2024) core principles of equitable grading by pairing each foundational principle with specific considerations for MLs (Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2026):
Figure 1. Core Principles of Equitable Grading
Principle of Grading
Clarifiation
Importance in Grading MLs
1. Grades must be assigned to performance, not to students.
Grades represent a student demonstrating their knowledge and skills against established learning goals instead of a student’s nonacademic factors, such as work habits or class behavior.
MLs must first understand what the expectations are of a particular assignment or task that elicits a grade. We recommend having authentic models of exemplary work to share with MLs.
2. Grades must be criterion based, not norm based.
Grades are determined by how well a student meets specific performance criteria regardless of how their peers perform (e.g., not grading on a curve).
Educators must not compare emergent MLs, who are learning content and language simultaneously, to their fluent English peers who are learning only content.
3. Grades must be seen as temporary.
Grades are reflective of a student’s level of learning at a particular point in time and should not be considered permanent; as students grow academically, their grades should improve as well.
Viewing grades as temporary takes into consideration the time and effort required for MLs to acquire content through a new language. Grades further along in a course or content area could have greater weight as students acquire more language.
4. Grades must be accompanied by guidance for improvement.
A student’s grade should be accompanied by meaningful feedback that helps the student understand their performance’s strengths, areas for improvement, and ways to improve their performance in the future.
A grade alone may not be meaningful for an ML; feedback for MLs must be clear in what a student needs to do to improve and in a form that is understandable to them.
Guskey et al., 2024; Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2026
To turn these theoretical principles into practice, our team synthesized the research into the Five Pillars of Equitably Grading for MLs.
Five Pillars of Equitably Grading Multilingual Learners
Figure 2. Five Pillars of Equitably Grading MLs
- Define the content and language standards.
Incorporate scaffolding to support MLs in achieving the standards.
Support MLs’ progress towards mastery.
Assess MLs’ progress equitably.
Involve MLs, families, and colleagues.
Staehr Fenner et al., 2018; Staehr Fenner & Snyder, 2026
The Five Pillars of Equitably Grading MLs in Figure 2 outline our recommendations for addressing the core principles of grading through the lens of ML education. For each pillar, we explain the underlying rationale and provide practical steps you can take to put it into practice. In defining and describing the five pillars, we fully realize how intertwined effective instruction and equitable grading are. You simply can’t fairly grade MLs if you haven’t already positioned them to access the instruction of content.
Pillar 1: Define the Content and Language Standards
In setting up a system in which MLs can be graded fairly, we need to make the curriculum more visible to them. In order to remove possible barriers, teachers must first identify essential content and language standards students are expected to meet and develop student-friendly content and language learning objectives for MLs aligned to those standards. Also, we should identify success criteria for MLs in meeting those objectives and share models of strong work samples so MLs are aware of expectations. Exemplars should also include models produced by MLs at different levels of proficiency so they can see themselves reflected in exemplary student work.
For example, an eighth-grade Arabic-speaking ML named Zaynab may excel in algebraic calculations, but stumble on an assessment asking her to “interpret the real-world situation and formulate an equation” due to dense vocabulary like constant or rate. To make this standard equitable, the teacher explicitly shares a student-friendly version, such as “I can understand what is happening in a real-world math problem and write an equation that fits it” (Figure 3). Her Algebra teacher, Ms. Guerra, can also provide a bilingual, color-coded exemplar problem highlighting key terms and equation components, along with a clear success checklist (Figure 4), so Zaynab knows exactly how to demonstrate her math mastery.
Figure 3. Student-Friendly Objectives
Original Objective
Content: Students will be able to interpret the real-world situation described in the problem and formulate an equation.
Student-Friendly Objective
I can understand what is happening in a real-world math problem and what the numbers mean to write an equation that fits it.
Language Objective
Students will be able to construct an algebraic argument using precise mathematical register, utilizing sub-technical vocabulary (constant, rate, variable) and complex causal syntax to justify how their formulated equation models the contextualized real-world scenario.
I can use math words (constant, variable, rate) and a sentence frame to explain how my equation fits the real-world problem.
Figure 4. Student-Friendly Success Criteria
Success Criteria: “I can…”
▢ I can find the fixed, starting number and explain what it means (e.g., a one-time fee).
▢ I can find the number that changes or repeats and explain what it means (e.g., per month, per hour).
▢ I can arrange my constant and variable into a correct algebraic structure (y=mx + b).
▢ I can use a provided word bank (e.g., increases by, starts at) or a bilingual frame to state why I chose my equation.
Final Thoughts
Defining content and language standards through student-friendly objectives and clear success criteria lays the foundation for equitable grading. When multilingual learners understand precisely what they are expected to learn and what success looks like, grading becomes a transparent process that directly measures student learning. However, establishing clear learning targets is just the first step. MLs must also have the appropriate scaffolds during instruction and assessment to demonstrate their mastery of those content and language objectives.
In part two of this series, Equitable Grading for MLs: Scaffolding, Mastery, and Assessment, we will explore how to put these content and language objectives into action by incorporating targeted scaffolding across instruction and assessment (Pillar 2), supporting MLs’ progress towards true content mastery over time (Pillar 3), and assessing their learning equitably (Pillar 4).
References
Gottlieb, M. (2023). Assessing multilingual learners: A collaborative, asset-based approach. Corwin.
Guskey, T. R., Frey, N., & Fisher, D. (2024). Grading with integrity. Corwin.
Quinn, D. M. (2020). Experimental evidence on teachers’ racial bias in student evaluation: The role of grading scales. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 42(3). https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373720932188
Staehr Fenner, D., & Snyder, S. C. (2026). Advocating for multilingual learners: A guide for educators (2nd ed.). Corwin.
Staehr Fenner, D., Kester, J., & Snyder, S. (2018, February 21). The five pillars of equitably grading ELLs. Colorín Colorado. https://www.colorincolorado.org/blog/five-pillars-equitably-grading-ells
About SupportEd
SupportEd, LLC is a woman-owned small business based in Fairfax, VA specializing in Multilingual Learners (MLs). Founded in 2011 by Dr. Diane Staehr Fenner, best-selling author and ML expert, SupportEd meticulously crafts customized solutions to fit each client’s strengths, needs, and provides teachers and administrators the practical tools necessary to champion MLs’ success within and beyond the classroom. All SupportEd team members have prior experience in the classroom which enables the SupportEd team to provide realistic, actionable solutions. Services include online and in-person immersive professional development workshops, easy-to-implement tools and resources, and an array of supporting services. Visit supported.com or call (202) 660-1444 to learn more.
- Equitable Grading for MLs: Changing the Conversation with Students, Families, and Colleagues - October 2, 2026
- Equitable Grading for MLs: Scaffolding, Mastery, and Assessment - October 1, 2026
- Equitable Grading for MLs: Unpacking the Pillars and Defining Success - September 21, 2026
