One of the ways improvement in student learning is evaluated following the implementation of novel pedagogy is to examine whether the distribution of final letter grades in the course changed or not. For the majority of those who have published their implementations of specifications grading, the distribution of final letter grades either shifts in the direction of a larger percentage of collective A and B grades or remains the same ,102] (Table ). The reported impacts on course drop, fail, withdrawal (DFW) rates are mixed. Some adopters of specifications grading report a decrease in their overall DFW rate while others report no change or an increase . Noell et al. observed an increase in the DFW rate, noting that the Ds and Fs decreased, but the Ws increased . The increase in withdrawals was attributed to the transparency of the specifications grading system allowing students to know if they would be able to pass the course before the withdrawal deadline. Table . Number of publications that reference how implementing a specifications grading system impacted course letter grades and DFW Rates.