Szott Education Consulting

🔥 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐳 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫?

It is time we stop letting gradebook algorithms average everything under the sun, and start using our professional judgment to report 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲.

📣 Ready to move beyond the average in your classroom? Send me a DM and let's connect.

𝐈𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡, 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬?

We trust educators to design complex learning and adapt on the fly. But when it comes to grading, teachers are often forced to use weighted averages for all graded assessments.

Relying on professional judgment doesn’t equate to a lack of objectivity, it’s an elevation of the teaching profession. Context matters, and a single product never tells the whole story. And the truth is that objectivity was a myth in the first place.

Leaders: the most powerful thing you can do to reduce burnout next year is to build an assessment architecture that tells teachers, "𝑾𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖."

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫-𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫.

Algorithms can average past scores, but they can’t weigh the significance of a mistake or honour a student’s most recent growth.

It takes your 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒈𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 to gather the right evidence and "convict" your students of understanding.

A spreadsheet can't do that. Only you can.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧 "𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭" 𝐢𝐬 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍.

Professional judgment means decisions anchored in experience and shared standards.

🔥 We trust pilots to navigate storms, mechanics to fix our ailing vehicles, and doctors to diagnose patients based on their expertise. It’s time we give teachers that exact same professional respect.

Of course, there’s plenty that goes on behind the scenes to create a school environment that allows defensible professional judgment to flourish.

📣 If your school is interested in developing that environment, DM me and let’s have a conversation.

𝐎𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐲𝐭𝐡.

Averaging dozens of scores doesn't erase subjectivity, it just hides it in a spreadsheet.
Your professional judgment is far more accurate than a point-gathering algorithm.

𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭.

𝐔𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭.

If you’re a teacher, administrator, or parent, you likely know what I’m talking about.

Parents, you’re scared that your child’s grade need to be in the high 90s in order for them to get into post secondary. That’s a very real and understandable fear.

But this fear is routinely transformed into pressure on teachers to give more quizzes and tests, and to calculate grades from an ever-increasing number of these products. It’s stressing kids to the max and it’s burning teachers to the ground. No one is winning.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.
Sustainable and defensible assessment systems are possible.

💡If you’re a school leader who is worried about the long term effects your assessment architecture is having on your partners in learning, please reach out. Let’s have a no-pressure conversation about how we can partner together to reexamine your assessment architecture.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫’𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

I’m so glad to know that some schools really are having the conversations and debates about which assessments should actually contribute to student grades. I’m not just talking about formative vs summative; I’m talking about critical debates about whether or not to include early quizzes or tests in final grade calculations.

Every teacher needs a chance to voice their concerns, opinions, and beliefs around grading, even if those beliefs are met with opposition. All school need to provide real opportunities for every teacher to actually be heard and valued. It doesn’t mean that we are all going to agree and become best friends; it means that everyone’s voice matters.

Before we can talk about any kind of grading reform, we need a consensus-driven understanding of why we grade in the first place, and that requires every teacher’s voice.

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞.

It is a critical component of fair and accurate assessment, but it’s really about making reasoned, defensible decisions grounded in research-supported practices.

Developing this kind of defensible judgment requires two things:

💡 Knowledge: You need an understanding of research-supported practices and the actual mechanics of grading that honour those practices.

🤝 Support: Teachers need backing from administrators so they can exercise their judgment without fear of being undermined.

This all requires trust between teachers and administrators, and that comes with mutual empathy and support.
For more than 25 years, I have been a teacher at both the secondary and post-secondary levels, as well as a department leader.

If your school is looking for ways to support teachers in developing research-supported, defensible professional judgment for the upcoming year, drop me a DM and let’s have a conversation.

𝐒𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.

We need to assess the same standards for every student, but they don't have to demonstrate their learning in the exact same way.

Having opportunities to show what they know through different formats provides you with a preponderance of evidence to judge where they really are in their learning journey.

Don't let uncertainty about the mechanics of grading conversations and observations stop you from exploring the possibilities.

If your school is struggling to build triangulation into your assessment architecture, drop me a DM.
Szott Education Consulting can help.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐢𝐭.

Objectivity in grading is a myth. Every time you build a test or score a mistake, you are making subjective decisions. That subjectivity isn’t a liability, it’s your professional judgment in action.

Students don't need algorithms; they need the human face of assessment.