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!) I would definitely suggest revising the assessment system. I think that incorporating projects allows the students like Selena to excel when traditional tests do not show her true knowledge and potential. Also through projects, you have tangible proof of why a student like Shelly does not receive a higher grade and her grade is more accurate of her effort. In the past I have had to incorporate different assessment strategies so that I could accurately assess the student. Also, you might want to think about doing (if possible) a weighted grade where 60% of the grade is summative assessments/tests/projects and 40% is formative assessments which could be from daily grades. Also, something that I have found useful with students that you described is giving them an oral exam where they have to have a conversation with me on a topic or verbally show me how to work through a problem. This has been very beneficial for my ESOL students because the vocabulary they might not recognize on a written test they are still able to communicate how to complete the problem. Also, it makes students like Shelly work for her grade and earn the B that she has.