Why do teachers take so long to grade and return certain assignments?
This is a question that all students seem to ask and that has been around forever. Are teachers unaware of student frustration around the timeliness of feedback and simply going at their own pace, using their own grading system and returning work? Or are there other motives and reasons for this trend?
Currently, graded work takes too long to make its way back to students. Teachers should aim to grade more quickly in order to provide students with more immediate feedback.
Students report that it can take over a month to get a paper returned, even though there are many benefits to more timely feedback. The sooner papers are graded, the sooner students can learn what they did wrong and how they can implement changes in future work.
English, history, and even science papers are generally graded very thoroughly and carefully, but that attention to detail takes time, which raises the question: is it better to grade more quickly, but potentially less effectively, or more slowly, but more carefully?
“There is a sort of debate among teachers about what matters more to students,” English teacher Ms. Emily Harnett said. “Is it having immediate feedback or thorough feedback?”
Ms. Harnett acknowledges that at Haverford teachers have a smaller student population than in public schools.
“Because it is possible to give fairly substantial feedback on every paper, we choose to do that rather than prioritizing advantages of immediate feedback.”
Ms. Emily Harnet
“Because it is possible to give fairly substantial feedback on every paper,” Ms. Harnett said, “we choose to do that rather than prioritizing advantages of immediate feedback.”
Ms. Harnett notes that teachers have many constraints and demands on their time, and sometimes one responsibility, (such as writing comments for progress notes) has to take priority over grading papers.
This response then raises another question: are teachers over-scheduled? If so, should the school prioritize grading student work first, and then other activities.
Given the many benefits of prompt feedback, if teachers are over-scheduled, the administration might want to consider putting a precedence on grading work first rather than other activities, especially since the majority of students would prefer it this way.
The benefits of more immediate feedback on student work can be seen in math classes. Students report that math teachers are generally faster at grading than other teachers. According to several current Algebra II students, the benefits of that quick feedback are huge: it helps math students figure out immediately what areas need improvement, what questions need to be asked, and where the weak areas are so that practice and review can be more targeted.
The student body as a whole will be more satisfied and will benefit more academically with a faster pace for feedback on assignments.
Teachers should return work back to students in a more timely manner. This is a small change in the community, but one that will help students succeed in high school.
Teachers should return work back to students in a more timely manner. This is a small change in the community, but one that will help students succeed in high school.