.3 Teacher Judgement


Another problem is that we often use testing to make professional judgment unnecessary. Teachers often avoid judgments because then they have to defend their judgments. If a teacher follows a formula: 80-90 is B, 90-100 is A, and so on, then you just add the scores up and divide. You have a formula and you can defend it. You don't have to make any judgments.

If you think about it, education is all about judgments. It's not about formulas, it's about judgments. And it's like the judgments I made to give the kid the A when he cheated to get it and I won with that because it taught him not to cheat. It made him so embarrassed about cheating that he didn't cheat anymore. I won. But it was a judgment, a risk. Sometimes I make judgments and I lose. Okay. But making the judgment is a very important part of the process.

For example if a class or course is sequential and if a kid got an A in the first six weeks and a B in the second six weeks and a C in the third six weeks, what should the semester grade be? Most people say B - the average of the three grades. I would say the highest grade should be a C+ and maybe even a C. Because my prediction of future success is C - or less! If the same student had a C, B and A, then the only grade to give is either an A or perhaps an A-, because the grade is mostly used as a predictor of future success. If I just average up the scores and both of these students get B's, I have disguised very important information. One of these students is headed for disaster, the other is headed for success and I give both of them the same grade.

I owe both students the most accurate feedback. Even the C+ which recognizes that the first student has done some better things in the past should be accompanied by a conversation to make sure that he/she knows help is needed to turn that around. The second student, I'd be much more inclined to just give a straight A than an A- because they're doing great and I want to give them a pat on the back and say hey you're off and running. You've solved the equation, you're learning fine. So let's not use testing to make professional judgments unnecessary. Let's always accept the responsibility to make the professional judgment that will give students - and anyone else using the test results - the most accurate feedback possible.

Discussion:
Student: But society won't let you do that.

DWA: Why won't they? I do that all the time.

Student: If a high school teacher does just what you did, you'd have every parent in wanting to know why their son or daughter got that grade.

DWA: And I'd be happy to talk to them and defend it, because if I make a professional judgment, then I accept the responsibility for defending it. Part of that judgment is that the way that grades are used is as predictors of future success.

Student: But will the system let in the schools do that?

DWA: I think teachers can do it. I don't see any problem in doing it. However, if you're a teacher and your principal tells you, "you can't use judgment," you have to use an arithmetic average, then you use an arithmetic average. But if the principal allows you discretion then you take discretion. And incidentally, even if you're in a school district where they take away your discretion, you can always find ways to weight the most recent grades such that they count more. For example, if you had a situation where a student got a C in the first marking period and a B in the second marking period and a B in the third marking period and you want to give them a B or a B+ for the semester, there are several ways you can do that "statistically." For example you can make their grade higher than you ordinarily would in the third marking period for the average to come out according to your judgment. You need to reserve for yourself that kind of discretion. This is not something which is done under the table or done covertly. I'm perfectly happy to have all of my judgments open and available for review. In other words I'm not doing anything covertly that won't stand the light of day. I have to be able to explain to the kid and to the parents why I did that. I want to explain to the parent in the case of the A-B-C, look your kid is going downhill and someone needs to have a good hard reality check to know what that means. I'm very happy to turn that grade around if the kid's performance turns around.

Student: But by grading that way, you're not taking into account that the student started out making an A the first six weeks. What if something is happening at home in the student's personal life that is affecting the child's time to study. Then you've already labeled that kid as being on a path of failure, when if you try to find out what is going on with the child you might help turn it around.

DWA: Let me respond to that at two levels. Because you are quite right that something may be going on outside in the kid's life. But if something is going on outside they're still on a path toward failure. And though I'm sad about the fact that something bad is going on in their life that is putting them on the path, that is the path they're on. Now if I can find out what's going on in their life and if I can provide some support system and turn it around, that's wonderful, but if I can't find a way to turn it around, the grade of C is still the best - the most accurate grade. I don't want to give a kid a B because they are having trouble in their life. If they're having trouble in their life, then I want to find out how to help them with that trouble in their life. I can give you a perfect example of that - Click on this icon for the "Story of Kurt "



Why is it important for teachers to accept responsibility for making judgments, even when such judgments may be hard to defend?

Mrs. Stewart teaches and Algebra I class at a high school where Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II are required classes for graduation. There is a student in her class that made an A the first 9 weeks, a B the second 9 weeks, a C the third 9 weeks, and then got a D on the final exam. What grade assignment should Mrs. Stewart give this student?