“Traditional grading” systems favor the way white people think, a University of Pittsburgh instructor says.

Alex Jennings “teaches a seminar in composition and Professional Uses of Social Media, decided to implement contract grading as a result of her own experience as a student with ADHD,” the student newspaper reported.

The instructor’s research “focuses on the ways queer theory and disability scholarship intersect with writing pedagogy,” according to her bio.

“Traditional grading systems don’t typically have much room for alternative ways of knowing or learning styles, so they only really prioritize a white dominant and ableist, neurotypical standard of knowledge and language,” the doctoral student told The Pitt News. “If you aren’t a white, cisgendered, able bodied and minded person, things are going to look different for you.”

Instead, Jennings uses “contract grading.”