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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!) I can understand his frustration concerning the two students, but tests should not be the only means to determine if a student has learned the curriculum. The grading policy should be determined by the school district. If the grading policy is not determined by the district, I would suggest that the teacher reevaluate how much assessments and assignments should weigh for his class. A good balance is represented when assessments weigh 60% and assignments weigh 40%. This allows those students that are poor test takers to at least have a chance to pass the class and prove they know the material through classwork and homework. Performance assessments should also be implemented as a way to determine if the student knows the curriculum. Also, for those students that score high on tests and never do the work (like Shelly) they learn a valuable lesson: if they don't do the assignments they cant pass. It makes them accountable for participation and assignments, which carries over into adulthood. Also, the teacher needs to refer Selena for RTI. She needs to acquire test taking skills (eliminate obvious incorrect answers and learn how to read the question for example) because she must pass the CRCT to go to high school. High stakes testing will follow Selena in the future: when she tries to get into college, or progress in a profession, and if she struggles with testing now she will struggle with it for the rest of her life. |
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