How Teachers Can Mark Answers
A mark tells a student where they are. A comment tells them what to do next. Only the second one improves anything.
The problem with most marking
A script comes back covered in red, with Develop!, Explain more, Vague and a mark out of twenty. The student reads the mark, looks at the red, feels defeated, and learns nothing.
The difficulty is not that the comments are wrong. It is that they describe a fault without describing a remedy. Develop tells a student that something is missing; it does not tell them what to write instead.
A marking method that teaches
Read the whole answer once without a pen
Decide what the student was trying to argue before you begin correcting. Marking sentence by sentence produces comments on sentences and no comment on the answer.
Mark the strongest sentence in the answer
Underline it and write "This." Students rarely know which of their own sentences was the good one. Showing them is the fastest way to get more of the same.
Choose one fault, not all of them
A script with eleven corrections produces no change. A script with one, clearly explained, usually does. Choose the fault that is costing the most marks.
Write the remedy as an instruction, not a diagnosis
Not needs development, but: "After each quotation, add one sentence beginning 'The effect on the reader is…'" A student can act on that tomorrow.
Give the mark, and say what would raise it by two
"14. To reach 16, begin each paragraph with a point rather than with an event." The specific next step matters more than the number.
Require a rewrite of one paragraph only
Not the whole essay. One paragraph, rewritten properly, teaches more than a second full essay marked the same way.
What to look for, in order of importance
| Look for | Question to ask | If it is missing |
|---|---|---|
| Answering the question | Does every paragraph relate to the question set? | This costs the most marks of anything. Address it first. |
| Argument | Is there a position, or only a description? | Ask the student to write their answer as one sentence, then use it as the introduction's last line. |
| Evidence | Is there a short quotation or precise reference in each paragraph? | Set a rule: no paragraph without evidence. |
| Explanation | Does the student examine the actual words? | Ask for one sentence about a single word in the quotation. |
| Effect | Is the reader or audience mentioned? | Give the sentence starter: "The effect on the reader is…" |
| Structure | Does each paragraph open with a point? | Ask for the first sentence of each paragraph to be rewritten only. |
| Retelling | Is the student narrating? | Ask them to cross out every sentence that only says what happens, and count what is left. |
| Accuracy of language | Are there errors that obscure meaning? | Mark only those. Do not mark every error in a Literature answer. |
Marking a class set in a reasonable time
- Read five scripts first without marking any. You will see the pattern of the class, and the common fault will become obvious.
- Teach the common fault to the whole class, before returning the scripts. Fifteen minutes of teaching saves thirty individual comments.
- Then mark individually, one comment each. Because the common fault has been taught, your individual comment can address what is particular to that student.
- Keep a note of each student's one fault. At the next piece of work, mark that first and say whether it has improved. A student who sees that you remembered takes the comment far more seriously.
The comment that works better than any other
Write a question in the margin instead of a correction: "What effect does this have on the reader?", "How do you know?", "Which word tells you that?"
A question requires an answer, and answering it is the work that produces improvement. A correction requires nothing, and usually gets nothing.