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 am not sure if your school district has mandated weights on grading percentages. If not, you should consider changing the way your tests are weighted. Another consideration is to look at alternative assessment methods. Some students are not strong test takers when it comes to written tests. With Selena being an English Language Learner (even though she is proficient in the language), she might not understand how to convey what she is thinking even though she understands the content. Many students like this do well on performance tasks. This could be taken as a test grade rather than a written test. Shelly is obviously an intelligent student, but lacks motivation it seems. Some students do not do well when working with other students. Does she interact well socially with other students? She also could have something going on outside of school that is making her withdraw socially. Have you tried talking to her about the situation? Her grade is a B because she does well on tests, but does not complete other assignments. If the weights for grading were changed, her grade might not be as such. I would have a conference with the student and her parents or guardians, if possible. Maybe this would shed some light on the situation. A student contract (saying that she will complete and turn in homework and complete other assignments) would be a good option to try. By having different assessment methods, you will be meeting the needs of all of your students. Giving a learning styles inventory or survey can also help with evaluating how your students learn best.