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!) In Selena' case, and based on research I have read, I would try to implement (or possibly take into consideration when making the test)culturally relevant curriculum. I would try to think of ways Selena may be able to relate experiences based on her own cultural experiences to the test so that you can better set her up for success and she can hopefully have a better understanding of what the questions on the test are asking. I would also consider revising how you weigh grades overall. Though tests can be a good indicator of how a student is progressing and retaining information, you also have students that retain information well but experience such issues as test anxiety. Other studnets may just have differnet learning styles and testing could not be a strong point (and then you have those such as Shelly who only does what she has to and makes it just fine). I would still use test results as a means to determine what topics need to be addressed and where students may be struggling, but I would also give more weight to other aspects of the class.                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: Rated On: February 11, 2013 2:33 pm Rated By: Michelle Plumer                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement No The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original No Comments: Rated On: March 3, 2013 8:14 pm Rated By: yTuGyd                 Rating The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes The suggested solution is original Yes Comments: Rated On: April 18, 2013 7:49 pm Rated By: Elizabeth Powers