Are AISG Teachers Fair and Equal when Grading?

This article has been posted anonymously to protect the students in this article who have given their opinions.

Every year it is exciting to learn which teacher you have for your classes. Most want the ‘easy’ teacher, but do the teachers differ that much in their grading?

Moderation amongst teachers is very important when grading papers. For mathematics, it may be easier to grade papers as an answer may be inarguably right or wrong. It may seem less subjective than grading writing; however, there still may be a difference amongst the teachers. For example, a teacher may mark one point lower than another teacher for not a straight enough line on a graph, or for not using pen on a test. With English and other subjects which are heavily writing-based, such as the social sciences, there may be much more subjectivity in grading, but do grades differ that much between teachers?

I know when I first moved here, everyone was asking to see my schedule, not only to see if we had the same classes, but also to see which teachers I had. I was constantly asking different people which teachers were easy and which would mean more effort on my part. It seemed most people already knew which teachers were much harder and which were easier, even if they had never had that teacher. I was constantly hearing, “Oh, I’ve never had them, but I’ve heard they’re really easy.” Now, I’m not saying that this phrase of “they’re really easy” instantly means they’re super-lenient with grading. I understand that an “easy” teacher could mean a lot of different things. It could just mean that they never give homework, or they are just a super nice person and the adjective ‘easy’ has replaced ‘nice’. However, I’m wondering if other students believe there is a difference in grading.

One anonymous student believes that within the social sciences, the way you are graded truly depends on your teacher. Within their grade’s social science classes, “[their] teacher and the other teacher who teaches the same subject, teach two completely different things and have two completely different tests.” This does not mean their grading differs, but it means the teachers teach in different ways, which could change how a student performs in the class. Supposedly, “the test the other teacher gives is way harder and the kids in that class are always complaining about the difficulty of the tests and how they compare to our supposedly easier tests. The students in that class never finish their tests because they are so much harder; however, they still do really well on the tests. This is annoying because there are people in our class with the easier tests who are not getting those high grades.”

These two teachers and their grading styles may be hard to compare considering how differently they teach, but it is interesting to see that there is a difference among the teachers who are teaching the same subject, and the students are noticing the difference. This student also comments that “this one certain assignment was supposed to be all the same amongst the classes, but the other teacher grades them way different and takes points off if they do one thing wrong, whereas our teacher is more lenient about what we do and grades more on content.” This student notices the differences the teachers have and understands how this affects the grading.

Another anonymous student speaks about their English classes and says, “everyone says my current teacher is an easier grader than the other teacher; however, the problem with my teacher is if they like you, you are almost confirmed a better grade.” This student believes there is some bias when grading specifically with this teacher and says, “if you knew my teacher liked you and you deserved an A-, you would receive an A, whereas if they didn’t like you, and you deserved an A-, you would receive a B+.” It may be hard to understand when a teacher likes a specific student or not, but that does not change the fact that students are noticing differences and are taking into account the biases the teachers may have.

I spoke to one other anonymous student and they chose to speak about their current English class as well. They said that their teacher always says, “their grading depends on the mood they are in and it affects how the paper is graded. There was one time where the papers were handed back and our teacher told us that everyone who had done this one specific thing in their papers, was graded harder because they were in a terrible mood when grading them. The fact that they acknowledge that the mood affects the grading is a problem.” This student believes the teacher should not have their attitude affect grading; however, another student says, “teachers are only human, they cannot always be consistent in their grading.” These two students both believe teachers vary when grading, but have contradicting opinions on whether or not this is a problem.

From these interviews I have conducted, I have begun to understand the view the students have on grading at this school. Overall, it seems they are worried about the difference in how teachers teach, and what type of content is tested when related to the grades given. The students are also worried about how the teacher’s bias and attitude towards the situation or student changes which grades are given out.

Personally, I do not think it is possible to be fully unbiased or equal when grading, especially when the teachers personally know the student and it is not physically possible to always grade the exact same way every single time. However, I think the teachers who teach the same courses and classes should try to make the classes more equal by giving out the same tests and teaching the same content. I believe teachers do often strive to do this, but it seems some students do not feel this way. I would love to hear your opinion, so feel free to leave yours in the comments down below!