Negative Effects Of Anonymous Grading

The Problem

Students in both the United States and Mexico are facing a similar problem that concerns inequality in education. In the United States, the problem seems to impact females, students who are gifted, and students who have disabilities. There is a highly structured, uniform way of approaching education in the United States. Standardized tests and the newly implemented Common Core create a huge stressor for any students who are different from the average student. In Mexico, females face cultural expectations that prevent them from seeing education as an important part of life. Women are not expected to attend post-secondary or even secondary school. Therefore, women face adversity in school. Everyone deserves to receive a free and equal

These students who were formerly put at risk of losing scholarships, losing the possibilities of being accepted to the great colleges and universities of the United States, or losing confidence in their abilities could turn the statistics around and prove themselves in the area of education in ways they were never able to do before. Female students may gain faith in their capabilities and seek careers in scientific and mathematic fields, which is an area in which females are underrepresented (Obama, n.p.).

There are possible negative effects of anonymous grading, however. Throughout a course, as a student writes various essays and papers, the instructor becomes aware of the writing style or ‘voice’ of the particular student. Anonymous grading could either prevent the instructor from understanding the context of a written work because the instructor does not know whose test s/he is grading or the instructor may be able to recognize the writing style and continue to grade with a bias towards some students. The policy of anonymous grading must be heavily researched before being implemented in public