{"id":618,"date":"2025-10-01T09:37:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T02:37:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/?p=618"},"modified":"2025-10-01T09:37:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T02:37:49","slug":"effective-ways-to-improve-student-achievement-through-fair-firmness-in-assessment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/2025\/10\/01\/effective-ways-to-improve-student-achievement-through-fair-firmness-in-assessment\/","title":{"rendered":"Effective Ways to Improve Student Achievement Through Fair Firmness in Assessment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In the world of education, the way teachers assign grades is often seen as merely an administrative formality. However, recent research shows that <strong>high and consistent grading standards<\/strong> can significantly impact students&#8217; motivation, performance, and even their future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In daily practice, grading standards among teachers often vary. A student&#8217;s work that earns a <strong>B in one class<\/strong> might only be worth a <strong>C in another<\/strong>. While these differences are understandable, as each teacher has their own style and expectations, in reality, <strong>this can significantly affect student motivation and achievement<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students may become confused about academic expectations and feel it is unfair or unclear how to improve. This inconsistency creates <strong>instability in the learning environment<\/strong>, which can hinder students\u2019 long-term development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A 2020 study by <strong>Seth Gershenson<\/strong> analyzed data from around <strong>350,000 Algebra 1 students<\/strong> in the United States. He used standardized math test scores as a benchmark to compare two groups:<br \/>One group was taught by <strong>teachers with lenient grading<\/strong>, who gave high grades even when standardized test scores showed otherwise. The other group had <strong>teachers who graded strictly but fairly<\/strong>, giving grades aligned with students\u2019 actual performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The results were striking.<\/strong> Students taught by stricter graders showed <strong>a 17% improvement\u2014one standard deviation higher<\/strong>\u2014on standardized math tests. This was <strong>twice the gain<\/strong> compared to students taught by lenient graders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gershenson also presented a graph showing improvements based on teacher grading categories:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Teachers with low grading standards<\/strong>: only showed an improvement of <strong>7.3%<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Teachers with medium grading standards<\/strong>: yielded an improvement of <strong>10.8%<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Teachers with high grading standards<\/strong>: led to an improvement of <strong>16.9%<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/copy-of-esl-elf-efl_20251001_093444_00001379040169413330268-1024x512.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-616\" srcset=\"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/copy-of-esl-elf-efl_20251001_093444_00001379040169413330268-1024x512.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/copy-of-esl-elf-efl_20251001_093444_00001379040169413330268-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/copy-of-esl-elf-efl_20251001_093444_00001379040169413330268-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/copy-of-esl-elf-efl_20251001_093444_00001379040169413330268-1536x768.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/copy-of-esl-elf-efl_20251001_093444_00001379040169413330268.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This proves that <strong>the higher the teacher\u2019s expectations<\/strong>, the greater the positive impact on student achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although many students favor \u201ckind\u201d teachers who give high grades easily, research shows that this approach <strong>can actually hinder their growth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Gershenson explains that when students <strong>receive passing grades for content they haven\u2019t mastered<\/strong>, they tend to become <strong>complacent<\/strong> and <strong>fail to reach their full potential<\/strong>. Over time, this leads to knowledge gaps that are difficult to close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the other hand, when teachers set <strong>high standards<\/strong> while providing <strong>emotional and instructional support<\/strong>, students are more motivated to work harder. They come to understand that success requires effort, and they gain confidence because their accomplishments reflect real achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being a teacher who sets high standards is not the same as being harsh or unsympathetic. On the contrary, the <strong>combination of high expectations and genuine emotional support<\/strong> is the key to student success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Teachers must communicate to students that they <strong>believe in their potential<\/strong>. Messages like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u201cI know this is difficult, but I believe you can do it.\u201d<\/em><br \/><em>\u201cI\u2019m giving you a low grade not because you can\u2019t do it, but because you haven\u2019t shown your best yet.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2026send a clear signal that their effort is valued, and that <strong>failure is part of the learning process<\/strong>, not the end of the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Teachers who practice <strong>fair firmness<\/strong> not only lead to better test scores but also bring about long-term benefits. Research shows that this approach can <strong>increase graduation rates, boost college enrollment and completion, cultivate grit and perseverance<\/strong>, and <strong>reduce achievement gaps among different social groups<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being a \u201ctough-but-fair\u201d teacher is indeed challenging, especially in systems that often pressure educators to &#8220;soften&#8221; grades to avoid conflict or maintain school statistics. However, data shows that <strong>firmness coupled with belief in students<\/strong> is the most effective approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rather than being a barrier, high and consistent standards become <strong>a foundation for true student growth<\/strong>. Students learn to face challenges, value the learning process, and develop resilience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In an ideal education system, every student is encouraged to reach their fullest potential. And to achieve that, they need not only support but also <strong>clear, high, and consistent standards<\/strong>. Teachers who set high expectations with sincere care are the true agents of change in the education world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the world of education, the way teachers assign grades is often seen as merely an administrative formality. However, recent research shows that high and consistent grading standards can significantly impact students&#8217; motivation, performance, and even their future. In daily practice, grading standards among teachers often vary. A student&#8217;s work that earns a B in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[20,21,25,22,23,24],"class_list":["post-618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-en","tag-education","tag-english","tag-english-language","tag-learn","tag-learning","tag-learning-english"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":619,"href":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618\/revisions\/619"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/compasspubindonesia.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}