Are you tired of grading student work, only to have your comments and feedback ignored? The practice of assigning partial credit devalues the significance of grades, as the grades do not accurately reflect a student’s true comprehension and mastery of key skills and knowledge in chemistry. Specifications grading is an assessment philosophy rooted in three premises: 1) smaller bits of defined, discrete information are better received and retained; 2) reflection and remediation positively impacts student learning in that misconceptions can be rectified and content becomes more permanent and transferable; and 3) grades should be based on a set of standards where students demonstrate minimum competency in order to pass a course. In specifications grading, developed by Linda Nilson, the grade earned in the course is a direct measure of student competency in the knowledge and skills requisite in the course. Students have full control over the grades earned by demonstrating minimum competency of course objectives on a pass/fail system. These assessments can be retaken (with stipulations) until proficiency is demonstrated. When a course implements specifications grading, a set list of objectives is developed where each objective has its own targeted assessment. By focusing students’ attention on smaller, well-defined objectives, they clearly understand what is expected of them and can self-regulate what learning they must accomplish in order to reach the standard of minimum competency. Specifications grading also communicates to all stakeholders which objectives are truly essential to passing the course and to be truly proficient in chemistry, since students who achieve higher grades can clearly demonstrate that they have met the standards for minimum competency through this assessment methodology.