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!) There are many ways to assess students, not just by using the typical multiple choice assessment. Students can be assessed using performance tasks to demonstrate what they have learned. These assessments can be writing, projects or a higher level learning task that requires them apply what they have learned in a unit. Selena might do very well on a performance assessment. It sounds like she is either experiencing test anxiety or doesn't understand the information in that format. Selena's grade may go up if different assessments are used. However, as we live in the day and age of state assessments conducted in the multiple choice way, it is still important for Selena to develop test taking strategies. I have to do this with my special education middle school students. Throughout the year, I read them their tests aloud. I observe what they are good at and I teach them test taking strategies such as eliminating answers and highlighting key words such as what is NOT and example. Teaching the kids these strategies is just as relevant as teaching the material. Shelly is evidently a good test taker, however she is not participating in daily class activities. I think if assessments were performance based, you may find that she is not performing as well. Performance tasks require a lot of effort more so than a typical assessment. If these are calculated into the students grade, it would be more reflective of what the students know and what the students are completing on an everyday period on in class performance. To do my grade book, I use multiple assessment including multiple choice and performance based to show an adequate picture of how well my student understands the material and how much work they are putting into the course.