Th Ethics of Assessment

Revealing a student’s education record or even just one test without permission is a definite no. A student’s educational record is supposed to remain private between the student, parents and teacher. A teacher cannot release information without consent and if they do release the information without consent, the teacher could be fired. The Family Educational Right to Privacy Act restricts a teacher’s ability to share a student’s educational record without permission. It is unethical and potentially harmful to the student for a teacher to share a student’s grade with the class. Releasing educational records without permission is not the only unethical thing a teacher can do and I will go into further depth on this later in my writing.

I do not see how providing the class with a student’s poor grade will motivate the student to work harder. In fact, I believe it may do the opposite. In my opinion, the student may shut down in the class and that would harm the student’s growth. In order to learn at the optimal level, you must feel comfortable in a class. If I were to walk into a class and see my name visualized on a projector wall, with a less than adequate grade next to it, I would be mortified. In today’s classroom, with such issues as bullying and students trying to fit in with the rest of the class, the students already have enough problems to worry about, than to worry about the teacher sharing the students grades for all to see. It is just unethical and harmful to the student’s growth as a learner to release an educational record without consent.

Legally what a student receives on a test or any other grade is only between the student, parent and teacher. Once a student’s submits his/her work and it is then graded, the grade ...

... middle of paper ...

...g more diverse, so the teacher must be aware of his/her surroundings.

Overall, there are ethical and legal responsibilities a teacher must meet. FERPA, which is a legal responsibility, also has an ethical part to it. Sharing a students graded work, without permission is unethical and against the law. In order to be an effective teacher, one must be ethically and legally responsible to get the most out of the students. A student’s grade on an assessment is part of their educational record and if that student does not want the grade released publicly, it is the teacher’s obligation to comply. Revealing educational records by one student to others is not the only unethical thing a teacher can do. Teacher’s are in charge of the student’s grades and they must be fair to all of the students in the classroom; otherwise they are harming the student’s growth as a learner.