Michael Horn argues teachers shouldn't grade their own students because it creates an adversarial relationship, introduces bias, and undermines learning. Carol Dweck's research shows students sabotage performance when they feel judged. Western Governors University separates grading from teaching, with coaches and independent assessors, improving fairness and outcomes.
Hi everyone. Welcome back to my YouTube channel. Excited to talk about my latest piece for Forbes, why teachers shouldn't grade their own students. That sounds really controversial, right? Because of course teachers grade students. That's what's always happened. It's as American as apple pie, you might say. But it turns out that just like apple pie, the sugar calories maybe aren't the right calories for you. So too, with teachers grading their own students, three reasons why one, it creates an adversarial relationship. Carol Dweck, the Stanford professor who's noted for the growth mindset, has documented how students will sabotage their performance when they think that teachers are judging them. And of course they are in our current system, because teachers are grading them. Secondly, bias teachers grading their students, it often leads to grade inflation because you just want to represent that that student worked hard and did well and showed up on time. Or third, bias in the other direction, student can complain, oh, I didn't get a good grade just because my teacher didn't like me. Which further creates a destructive relationship that poisons the well of performance in schools. So what do we do about it? Good question. Not quite sure, but I think Western Governors University in Higher Education offers a model that K12 schools ought to look to. At Western Governor's University, which is an online university, and it's competency based, teachers don't grade their own students. Instead, they have a separate set of faculty who's solely responsible for grading students. That creates objectivity. It enables them to see who's graded correctly, whether it's in line with other people. And it eliminates all that bias that we were talking about. Because if you get a bad grade, you have to redo something. It's not because your teacher didn't like you. Your teacher literally doesn't know you who's doing the grading. Instead, you have a teacher who's your advocate, your coach, and is there for you all the way. And that's how it should be.
