Are Essay Grades Fair?

Authors

  • Leonora Archer

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15362/ijbs.v1i0.10

Abstract

The Bahamian national examination, the BJC, given at the end of junior high school is used by the majority of educators as a basis for selection of students into higher level courses. Most BJC examinations include essay-type questions, however it has been noted that English Language examinations allocate more than 50% of the total marks to questions requiring essay-type answers. This research was undertaken to determine whether the essay test provides a reliable measure of the free writing ability of junior high students. It sought to answer the following questions: i) do marks given for an essay test vary when the scripts are graded by different examiners? ii) would marks given for an essay test vary when different topics were given to the same students? and iii) would marks given for an essay vary when different marking schemes were used?

Author Biography

Leonora Archer

Secondary School Teacher and graduate of the University of the West Indies/College of the Bahamas Education Programme at the College of the Bahamas.
COLLEGE FORUM

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How to Cite

Archer, L. (2008). Are Essay Grades Fair?. International Journal of Bahamian Studies, 1, 19–22. https://doi.org/10.15362/ijbs.v1i0.10

Issue

Vol. 1 (1980): College Forum

Section

Original Articles

License

The IJBS is an open access journal that does not charge article processing fees. As such, copyright is retained by the author. Authors may freely distribute their article as long as reference to the publication of the article in International Journal of Bahamian Studies is retained. A Creative Commons License is applicable to the IJBS.