A Better Way to Measure Learning

Are traditional grading systems holding your students back?

Most assessments rely on lag measures—after-the-fact scores that tell students how they performed… but not how they grew. On a 100-point scale, the message is clear: aim for perfection, then stop once you get there.

But real learning doesn’t happen at the finish line. It happens in motion. On the margins. In the everyday moments of iteration and insight.

This is why I wholeheartedly believe it’s time to reimagine assessment.
Enter: kaizen—the Japanese principle of continuous improvement. If you’ve spent more than ten minutes with me, you’ve likely heard me mention kaizen! It’s a mindset that values progress over perfection, and it’s powerful when applied to the classroom.

When students are invited to see learning as a spectrum—not a scoreboard—they begin to ask better questions, take bolder risks, and build the lifelong habits of entrepreneurial thinking.

‍Shifting to a kaizen-inspired model doesn’t mean lowering expectations—it means expanding them. Instead of defining success as a fixed destination, we create space for ongoing reflection, feedback, and iteration. Students begin to internalize the idea that growth is always possible, that effort matters, and that failure is part of the learning process—not the end of it. This shift can change the emotional climate of the classroom, empowering learners to see themselves as capable, creative, and constantly evolving.

‍What could that shift look like in your school?

Let’s reimagine success—one iteration at a time.

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