Grading and Bias

Brightspace Learning Management System

This year my school adopted a learning management system! We picked Brightspace and rolled it out just as school started. It was a rocky roll out at best, and a real struggle for many. Despite the rollout challenges, a pandemic, and hybrid/virtual schooling as a result of the pandemic, there are a lot of great opportunities within this system. One of them is grading. Not only can you grade things in the system, marking everything up, using rubrics and more, but you can anonymously grade to eliminate bias.

My history with grading bias

As a high school student I used to really want to take the plunge and write a truly atrocious essay, or submit subpar work and see if I still got an A. I was a strong student with a great work ethic, and by my junior year I started to think that it really didn’t matter what I submitted. I’d still get an A. Despite great intentions, I never had the courage to try it.