Justice in grades allocation: Teachers' perspective

Nura Resh*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

46 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this investigation I explore teachers' perspectives on just grade allocation. The study was carried out among language, math and science teachers in a national sample of Israeli high schools, where teachers were required to weigh a set of considerations that are used in the decision on grade allocation. Findings suggest that (a) a teacher's decision is based on a weighted combination of multi-principles of allocation, (b) equity by output (students proved academic success) is the ruling consideration, and (c) the weight given to the various considerations differ by teachers' subject matter expertise. The appeared difference placed science teachers vis-à-vis math and language teachers, unlike the expected humanities (language)-sciences (math and science) dichotomy. Comparison of grading considerations by student capacity suggests that about half of the teachers consider differential grading considerations for "weak" and "strong" students as just, attributing greater weight to academic input (effort) and need for encouragement when grading their "weak" students.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)315-325
Number of pages11
JournalSocial Psychology of Education
Volume12
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 2009

Keywords

  • Distributive justice
  • Grade allocation
  • Justice in schools
  • Teachers' evaluation
  • Teaching expertise

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