The relationship between grading and teacher judgment

This paper presents two studies examining the interrelation of grading and teacher judgment. Study 1 revealed the structure of teacher judgment two teachers and their classes, based on data from long-term ethnographic research. Through inductive analysis of teacher statements about students, four criteria by which teachers judge their students were identified: performance, aptitude, effort, and communicativeness. Using quantitative data from 639 students and 32 teachers, Study 2 explored the relationship between the criteria for teacher judgment identified in Study 1 and the grade assigned to a particular student. Evaluation questionnaires that teachers completed about their students were used. All four criteria identified in Study 1 positively correlated with the grade, but as the multiple linear regression analysis showed, the final grade was most influenced by the category of performance. However, a teacher’s perception of a student’s performance did not always fully align with their performance as measured by a standardized test.

Less is more

Teacher perceptions of student abilities can affect crucial placement decisions that, in turn, affect student opportunities to learn. The author’s research shows that this is particularly the case with black students who have earned high scores on math assessments but who, on the basis of teacher judgment, have not been recommended for placement in algebra in 8th grade. The author suggests a “less-is-more” approach — that is, remove teacher judgment from placement decisions and use universally available academic achievement performance data. This will increase the true identification of high-performing students, thereby increasing the opportunity to learn among students of different demographic backgrounds and reducing achievement gaps.