Comments on: Test graders show bias

By: Tracy W

Tracy W — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:06:24 +0000

This sort of prejudice in judging appears to be a problem outside India. While I don't know of any work specifically on teachers, blind auditions for orchestras has been found to make a difference to who is offered a job, and blinding peer reviewers has been found to make a difference to which first-authored papers get published.

By: Luann

Luann — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:02:38 +0000

This is particularly interesting as we consider the new education plan to evaluate teachers based on student test scores. Why would an accomplished teacher be willing to work in a high-needs school?

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Tweets that mention Test graders show bias « Joanne Jacobs -- Topsy.com — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:38:57 +0000

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By: Sarah Ebner

Sarah Ebner — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:44:04 +0000

I do think this is very interesting, and at the same time not surprising. However, perhaps people should think closer to home before they (we!) judge. Pupils all over the world can be (and often are) labelled, whether it’s for being of the “wrong” caste or social background, or for their intelligence or behaviour. In the UK some recent research suggested that children often get a bad reputation as soon as they start school – based on their parents’ background or some early behavioural problems (inability to sit still etc). This is at age 5 and can be carried throughout their education.

By: Crimson Wife

Crimson Wife — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:02:01 +0000

This is why grading should be done “blind”…

By: allen

allen — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:28:03 +0000

I misplaced my affirmative action score card.

Is it OK to belabor Indians for their still very common discrimination on the basis of caste or are Indians a protected specie in the same sense that Muslim treatment of women is an unacceptable subject for polite conversation?

By: Lightly Seasoned

Lightly Seasoned — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:45:29 +0000

It does say the bias flattened out toward the end of the session; theory is that at the beginning, the scorers were trying to find the range and made some assumptions about who would represent them. That is a sort of bias, but a different problem.

That’s why many of us skim an entire set of essays before actually grading them. Personally, I then sort them so I’m alternating strong and weak papers — keeps me more consistent.

By: tim-10-ber

tim-10-ber — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:04:43 +0000

how did these results compare to the actual scores when the caste of the system was not known…sadly the article does not say…