Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Unfair Assessment I have been a successful middle school teacher. I know it sounds strange when I call myself successful, but I have received recognitions at the school and county levels for the quality of my teaching. I have a big dilemma this year. I have two students who are not your ordinary students. Selena is a Hispanic student who is an English Language Learner, but her English proficiency is quite high. She fully participates in all class activities, she functions well in group and individual work, and she is always motivated. She is an ideal student. However, she never makes passing grades on tests. Her current grade is an F. Shelly is a White student. She shows no interest in course activities. You cannot even know if she listening or not most of the time. She chooses not to do group work. If I force her, she does not really contribute. She also does not turn in any assignments. What puzzles me is that she usually receives the highest grades in tests. Her current grade in my course is a high B. If she had turned in the assignments, her grade would be an A. The course grade in my class is determined mainly based on what students make on tests, because I feel that tests are the only means for me to know whether students have retained what they learned or not. Lately I have been thinking that my grading is not doing justice to Selena. At the same time, I think Shelly does not deserve a B with the attitude she has displayed. I need to revise my assessment system. Please help me with this. Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) Some students have difficulty passing tests, which may be the problem for Selena. I would suggest she attend workshops that focus on test taking skills and maybe receive extra testing practice to determine factors that are preventing her from passing tests. She could be suffering from test anxiety. As for Shelly, it seems that she may be bored. She may benefit from differentiated instruction that is more challenging than what is regularly taught in class. I would also suggest the teacher consider changing the format of his grading standards. Although he uses tests to determine what his students know, the activities for grade percentages could be higher for students that complete assignments and return homework. In this case, Shelly would have to complete additional assignments in order to receive a passing grade.