Objective Assessments

It is vital that today’s educator assess students in objective and unbiased manners using a multitude of evaluation techniques. Diversity is common in the contemporary classroom which necessitates even more importance on impartial testing methods. Teachers must be fair, neutral, and sensitive to the needs of their students in order to generate the most successful learning outcomes. Fair evaluation demands the reduction of elements that can skew the results of a given assessment. The most important criteria entailed in this endeavor is creating assessments that are dependable, authentic, and fair. For an assessment to be fair it should provide equal opportunities for all students to succeed and demonstrate ability or skills, regardless of gender, culture, and learning preferences. Impartiality can be threatened if there is bias in the evaluation or expressed by the teacher.

If having students learn the required class curriculum and content in ways that are meaningful and aid in retention is the ultimate goal of the professional educator, then teachers need to think of ways to give every student a chance to succeed at assessments. There are numerous ways to accomplish this end beyond formal assessment and tests. Resourceful educators have the potential to assess students in a myriad of objective approaches.

Any evaluation technique can be objective if the teacher is cognizant of the potential for bias and takes measure to ensure personal perspective is excluded from their judgment. Valuing the process over the product over an extended period of time is an excellent way to assess students fairly. Another way to acknowledge and accommodate diverse learners is to plan assessments that value a variety of learning styles and abilities. It is imperative that teachers match assessments to appropriate learning activities. (Chilisa, 2000) Some examples besides formal tests would be:

Portfolios
Peer Review
Blogs
Exhibitions
Simulations
Exit Tickets
Games
Independent Study
Observation
Essays
Performance Tasks
Interviews
Surveys
Checklists
….and numerous others

Almost any task has the potential to provide meaningful data that can assist the professional educator as they determine the progress, strengths, and weaknesses of their students to communicate these results. (Chilisa, 2000) This information can be utilized to improve instruction and make it meaningful and impactful for each individual learner. “…a student is more likely to perceive a grade as fair if the student believes that fair procedures were used to reach that grade regardless of the value of that grade.” (Pepper & Pathak, 2008, p.361) It is my belief that it is not the modality of assessment that determines bias but the approach of the teacher to the administration of the evaluation and the collection of data. “Regardless of how important graded class contribution might appear to student learning, the fairness of the grading procedure is paramount for its effectiveness.” (Pepper & Pathak, 2008, p.361) The teacher must reject stereotypes, preconceived ideas or judgments about students, and value each individual student’s unique talents, gifts, strengths, and weaknesses. If we value our students for their diversity and their distinctive capacities, our perspective changes and makes each assessment tool as valuable and objective as formal testing.




Chilisa, B. (2000). Towards Equity in Assessment: crafting gender-fair assessment. Assessment In Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 7(1), 61.

Pepper, M. B., & Pathak, S. (2008). Classroom Contribution: What Do Students Perceive as Fair Assessment?. Journal Of Education For Business, 83(6), 360-368.