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!) Just as differentiated instruction is more beneficial for a spectrum of learning styles, differentiating assessment can give educators a better idea of what our students are really learning. Using formative assessment strategies is just as important as using summative assessments such as cumulative tests. Selena's ability to comprehend and respond to written English may not be as strong as her ability to verbally communicate, so her poor test scores may simply be the result of her confusion with the testing format. Even students who are not English Language Learners perform at different levels in varying forms of assessment. Some may be better able to discuss a topic or apply it to a real life situation than to take a multiple-choice test about the information. More importantly, we must consider what we are training our students for as we teach them. The ability to recall information on a test is good, but being able to work with others in group settings and being able to apply the information in a practical way is a much more valuable life skill. I would suggest an assessment system which gives more weight to participation, projects, and discussion, rather than placing all of the emphasis on testing.