Pursuing Fair Writing Assessment: The Relationship Between Text Heterogeneity and Teacher Judgment Bias

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session Eight
  In Roundtable Session: Issues in Assessment Design and Use (Table 3)

Abstract

In any form of performance assessment, the pursuit of fair and objective judgment is affected by many factors and constitutes a great challenge for teachers and researchers. This paper presents findings of a research study which investigated the relationship between text heterogeneity and teacher judgment bias in the context of writing in English as a foreign language at elementary school in Europe (Switzerland). Results show that text heterogeneity strongly correlates with teacher judgment bias (r = .57, p < .001) and therefore constitutes an important factor that needs to be considered in the pursuit of fair writing assessment. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

Authors

• Ruth Trüb, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland
  Presenting Author

• Stefan Daniel Keller, Zurich University of Teacher Education
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jens Moeller, University of Kiel
  Non-Presenting Author

• Thorben Jansen, Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education
  Non-Presenting Author