To offer students extra credit—that is the question.
In fact, it’s an age-old question, one that some systems, liked standards-based grading, claim to answer by completely eliminating it.
Personally, I’ve always found extra credit to be the easiest way to differentiate instruction for more motivated/more proficient students.
Other educators have different perspectives, which this post will explore.
‘It’s Growth Disguised as Opportunity’
Rose Hill is a veteran middle school reading and language arts teacher with 10 years of classroom experience. She is also active on social media under the name @PearlsOfPedagogy, where she shares teaching advice for educators and practical tips for parents:
When I first started teaching, I had extra-credit assignments typed up, copied, and ready before the first bell of the school year even rang. Students knew exactly what to do from Day 1 if they wanted to bump their grade. Back then, I thought I was being proactive. But over time, I realized that “extra credit on autopilot” wasn’t really serving anyone well.
Now, I approach extra credit differently: I gauge the climate of my classroom and the unique needs of my students before deciding what it looks like. Every class has its own mix—some groups are loaded with kids balancing sports, band, or after-school jobs. Others may have more students who just need that extra push to practice skills at home. Extra credit can’t be a one-size-fits-all approach, so I’ve learned to be flexible and intentional.
Extra Credit Is Still Learning
One of my biggest shifts was deciding that extra credit should never just be “bonus busywork.” Coloring a poster, bringing in tissues, or doing something unrelated to learning might raise a grade, but it doesn’t raise achievement. So now, every extra-credit opportunity I design ties directly back to the standards we’re covering. If we’re in a unit on figurative language, then the extra credit might be analyzing song lyrics or commercials for literary devices. During a persuasive-writing unit, it might be finding a real-world text to critique.
This way, students aren’t just padding their grade—they’re reinforcing skills they’ll use on the next assignment, test, or even in life. It’s growth disguised as opportunity.
Keep It Manageable
I also think about time. If I know my students are juggling heavy extracurricular schedules, I won’t assign extra credit that takes hours. That’s punishing the kids who are already stretched thin. Instead, I build in smaller, bite-sized tasks that can be done without overwhelming them. The goal is practice and accountability, not burnout.
Accountability, Not Loopholes
Speaking of accountability—one of my easiest and most effective extra-credit systems is tied to responsibility, not extra work. In my district, students get a 24-hour grace period for late work before losing points. I offer extra credit for students who don’t use that grace period at all. If they turn everything in on time, they earn a bump. No new assignment, no extra stress—just consistency and responsibility rewarded.
It sends a powerful message: Being prepared and managing your time is just as valuable as knowing how to analyze a theme. And honestly, that’s the kind of real-world skill colleges and employers will thank us for later.
Communication and Consistency
Anytime I offer extra credit, I tell parents at the same time I tell students. That way there are no surprises, and families can support their child’s planning. I also keep deadlines firm—extra credit isn’t an endless safety net. If it’s due Friday, it’s due Friday. That boundary matters.
When I’ve been on a grade-level team, I’ve also made it a point to share my extra-credit opportunities with colleagues who teach the same content. Nothing is more frustrating for families than siblings in the same grade having totally different systems. Aligning as much as possible keeps it fair and reduces confusion.
Students Keep the Receipts
Finally, I make students keep track of their own extra credit. If they don’t record it, submit it properly, or remind themselves of the deadline, that’s on them. It’s another chance to teach ownership of learning. If I do all the tracking, I rob them of the lesson.
The Bottom Line
My philosophy now? Extra credit should extend learning, not excuse it. It should be purposeful, manageable, and tied to responsibility. Most of all, it should reflect the classroom climate in front of me—not just the classroom I imagined on the first day of school.
That’s not only fairer to students; it’s a lot more effective for teachers, too.
‘Eliminate Extra Credit Altogether’
Joe Feldman, Ed.M,, has worked in education for over 30 years, including as a teacher, principal, and district administrator, and is the founder and CEO of Crescendo Education Group (crescendoedgroup.org), which since 2013 has supported hundreds of K-12 schools, districts, and colleges/universities nationwide and thousands of teachers and administrators to improve grading and assessment practices:
On the surface, extra credit feels like a win-win. Want parents to attend Back-to-School Night? Offer points to students whose parents come. Want students to attend a community exhibit or performance related to the current unit? Give them bonus points for bringing proof they attended. Want to build classroom culture? Offer points for organizing a class Spotify playlist. Extra-credit offerings like these can feel like harmless ways to motivate and engage students.
Plus, because it’s optional, extra credit seems fair: It doesn’t punish students who skip it and it offers a creative way to reward those who do more. But extra credit does more harm than good. The practice not only warps the accuracy of our grades and makes them less fair; it can also undermine the instructional integrity of our classrooms.
1. Extra Credit Reinforces a Points-Obsessed System
Grades are supposed to reflect what students know and can do. Yet extra credit turns grades into a point-collecting game. Need to get that B-plus to an A-minus? Find the extra-credit opportunities—wherever and whenever they’re offered. Raise your hand more often, turn in unused restroom passes, or perform a monologue of a character from the novel we’re reading.
With extra credit, we teach students that success in school comes not through learning but through point accumulation, regardless of where those points come from. It’s no surprise that students beg for extra credit at the end of a term: we’ve trained them to believe grades are about hustling for points, not demonstrating learning.
2. Extra Credit Allows Students to Be Less Accountable for Learning
When a student has a low grade that reflects weak understanding, extra credit becomes an escape hatch. Rather than requiring them to study more, receive support, or retest, extra credit adds points to their grade and can exempt them from learning.
Even when extra credit is tied to advanced work–going “above and beyond”—a student earns surplus points in one content unit and deposits them in another unit where the content was more challenging for them. Didn’t learn the difference between Federalism and Anti-Federalism? No problem, because in the next unit on the Constitution you can earn extra credit by giving a monologue as a Constitutional Convention attendee. The result is a grade that hides misunderstanding and misrepresents true achievement and allows students to be less accountable.
3. Extra Credit Devalues the Core Curriculum
By offering alternative ways to earn points, extra credit signals that required assignments weren’t essential after all. Why should students prioritize challenging core tasks if easier point opportunities—like bringing in tissues or food for a class potluck—can offset missed learning? Teachers burden themselves with creating and grading additional assignments, often unrelated to the curriculum they already designed, as if teachers didn’t have enough to grade!.
4. Extra Credit Exacerbates Differences in Students’ Resources
Although extra credit is open to all students, not all can access it equally. Many tasks require money, transportation, time, or adult support—resources unequally distributed among families. Research confirms that higher-achieving, better-resourced students are more likely to take advantage of extra credit, while lower-achieving students often don’t. What seems like an optional bonus actually widens opportunity gaps.
A Better Approach: If It’s Not Aligned With Learning Goals, Exclude It; If It Matters, Require It
The solution? Eliminate extra credit altogether. If a task or experience is valuable, make it part of the required curriculum. If a student hasn’t completed or mastered an assignment, give them the opportunity to redo it—not replace it with unrelated tasks. And if a task isn’t related to the content, exclude it from the grade. This ensures our grades reflect actual learning, not a student’s Pacman-like savvy at chasing points.
Yes, this may mean schools must provide classroom supplies instead of teachers “buying” them with bonus points, and the winning team in my unit-review Jeopardy game the day before the test earns only bragging rights. But that’s a small price to pay to teach our students that every assignment matters and that their grade reflects what they’ve learned, helping to imbue our classrooms with greater meaning, mitigate resource disparities outside our classrooms, and hold every student truly accountable for their learning.
Thanks to Rose and Joe for contributing their thoughts.
Consider contributing a question to be answered in a future post. You can send one to me at lferlazzo@epe.org. When you send it in, let me know if I can use your real name if it’s selected or if you’d prefer remaining anonymous and have a pseudonym in mind.
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