Like many math teachers, Crystal Frommert was used to questions like “What can I do to get my average up to an A?” and “How many points off if I forgot units?”⁣ ⁣ She wished the middle and high school students she taught over the years were focused on learning, but rather than blame them, she reflected on how she had “contributed to the grade-obsessed culture” by praising students “based on their grades rather than their effort and improvement.”⁣ ⁣ So she and a group of teachers at her school shared strategies and resources to de-emphasize grades in their classes—“even though we still had to give them.”⁣ ⁣ 1. Adjust your language: Rather than using threatening statements about grades, Frommert shifted to encouragement, such as, “You did really well with simplifying radicals. I’m looking forward to seeing how you apply that skill to the Pythagorean theorem.”⁣ ⁣ She also shifted her language with parents: “I would email or call with information about the concepts or skills their child wa...