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Fairness

what is fairness?

Fairness is a perception. It is based on interpretations of behavior. It is not focused on the intent behind the behavior. It is tied a lot to the idea of what is ethical. 

When teaching, fairness is vital. Trust between a student and teacher is key toestablishing a safe learning environment where students are willing to take risks in their learning. This trust can be undermined if a perception of unfairness exists.

Rodabaugh describes 3 types of perceived fairness: interactional fairness, procedural fairness, and outcome fairness.

interactional fairness

Interactional fairness is the interaction between the instructor and the students.

 The University of Nebraska-Lincoln describes it as consisting of the following…

    – impartiality: treating everyone equally. 

Being mindful of the fact that if you favor a student or like students differently that may “foster differences in interactions.” An example of that difference in interactions may be calling on one student more often which results in them dominating class discussions

    – respect: treating everyone politely by “listening to, carefully considering, and giving thoughtful replies” to student ideas regardless of situation or student actions like misbehaving

    -concern for students: caring about students and their academic and social-emotional development

    –integrity: being consistent and truthful. 

For example having open conversations about policies such as homework and teamwork, procedures such as listening to others, & decisions that are made and why there are important. Also, be consistent with academic goals. This is often laid out in the form of state standards & enables fairness to be understood. It is important if you observe or hear a student feeling as though something is unfair, have an open conversation with the student about their feelings and have a thoughtful dialogue about their validity.

    –propriety: being politically correct and socially correct

procedural fairness

Procedural fairness consists of the rules for grading and classroom administration.

 The University of Nebraska-Lincoln describes it as consisting of the following…

    – course workload: considering abilities and level when designing the course and expectations. 

Consider student’s social emotional development in addition to the academic expectations. 

What skills are they working on? Many freshman in high school and college are just now learning study skills and may not have been taught them. Kindergarteners are just learning how to follow instructions. Middle school students are learning how to make good choices now that they have more freedom to make those choices in the school setting. 

    – assessments: having well-written, clear assessments that cover concepts taught and expected. 

For example, many educators reuse tests – which is totally fine and there is good reason to do so! As new standards and course materials are provided, cross check the assessments to ensure that what is covered on assessments is something still taught by you. 

Check for any assessment questions that may have some ambiguity. For example, one year it was realized that an assessment used by many educators stated “How many ones are in the number 62. The intended correct answer was “2.” The correct question should have stated “what digit is in the ones place?” 

    -feedback: providing feedback that is prompt and constructive. 

Meaning if a student answered any questions incorrectly, provide an explanation for the correct and incorrect answers. 

    –responsiveness: seek out and respond to feedback from students. Give thoughtful consideration, take action to valid student complaints, provide clear expectations and criteria and answer student questions.

outcome fairness

Outcome fairness consists of the “distribution of scores and grades.”

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln describes it as consisting of the following…

    – institutional practices: follow policies regarding when and how grades will be distributed. Since students compare grades, align distribution of graded work across similar courses. Stick with these practices once you say them. Do not change during the year unless something really isn’t working for the students and you’ve had conversations with them about it. 

    – multiple assessments: grades should reflect student performance accurately. The more assessments given the more accurate the results. 

This ties into the assessments described in procedural fairness. Meaning that they should be well-written, clear, and cover concepts taught & expected. They should also allow students various ways to demonstrate their understanding. Meaning that they respond to students’ tendencies: some tend to excel on objective, multiple choice assessments while others excel with projects or essays.

    -criteria: providing expectations such as syllabuses, grading rubrics and weight of grades. Additionally, students should be informed of the thought behind the criteria and assessments chosen. They should know what they are working towards – class rank, passing expectations, etc.

    –individuality: grade students individually on independent assessments and collaborative assessments. This can be achieved by incorporating peer assessments in collaborative, group work. 

equity + Equality = Fairness

To review…

equity: giving students the tools they need to be successful. Equity is needed to give all students a chance at being successful. 

equality: everyone being treated the same way. Equality is needed because it provides a standard. 

fairness: the perception of the ethical values demonstrated in the interactions between educators and students. 

Equality works towards fairness but it cannot work unless everyone is the same. Equity must be present to help make everyone the same. This is how fairness is achieved. By combining equality and equity.  

For example: 

Consider a student’s academic journey as them running a marathon. Equity is needed to give all students a chance to finish the race. It is giving a handicap person a wheelchair to use during the race or a child a bit of a head start compared to an adult. In education, it is giving the student who has a hard time reading small print glasses so that he/she can see just like everyone else. Equality is needed to establish a baseline goal for success: everyone work towards a finish line. In education, it is the state standards like every child is taught to learn to read or the amount of growth to work towards. Fairness is the referee making sure no one cheats in the race by cutting someone else off. In education, fairness is making sure all the students all equally get what they need to be successful.  

Fairness is what happens when the balance between equity and equality is mastered. 

fairness and the whole child

By taking into consideration all aspects of each student, meaning looking at the whole child, it can be determined if fairness is occurring in regards to the education of that student and all students. Fairness only occurs if the whole child approach is utilized. 

how fairness can look

ACADEMIC CONTENT AND SUPPORT

This can look like…

    – Providing small group instruction to all students. The instruction covers individual skills that each student is working on.

    – Providing assistance to all students depending on the degree to which they need it. Examples include… while all students take the math assessment, pull the students who cannot read it to a table so you can read it to them OR allowing some students to work independently while others work in a small group.

    – Having the same expectations for all students. Examples include…setting clear agreements for how to treat others & provide students who need assistance in making good choices in regards to those rules with a sticker chart; having all students complete a project on the same topic while providing student choice in terms of how to present the project; requiring high achieving students to complete an extension of the project while providing other students the option to do the extension activities if they want to. 

    – Expecting all students to enroll in a certain number of courses but providing different course types such as general education, pre-AP, AP, IB, internships, technical classes, etc. 

academic standards

This can look like…

    – Having learning goals set for all students but modifying and/or customizing the standards for students based on abilities

monetary resources

This can look like…

    – providing students to qualify for free or reduced-lunch meals

    – taxing citizens and then dividing those funds based on needs

    – allowing all schools to have parent-teacher organizations/associations 

how to foster fairness

in a school/state/district

    – Provide educators with the exact same professional learning opportunities while allowing them choice in terms of which PD courses they choose to enroll.

    – Require all educators to hold certain credentials while allowing them different avenues for obtaining credentials (attend college program, obtain alternative certification). 

    – Host school/district wide professional learning events at local schools based on local campus/district goals for all community members to attend.

    – Provide books/funds to create a library in each school while allowing librarians and teachers to choose materials based on student interests.

    – Provide programs for all students including college ready courses and technical courses.

    – Establish and use universal policies/protocols to ensure there is a fair and objective way to determine individual student needs, monitor their academic progress, and implement support systems for individual students. 

in classrooms

This can look like…

    – Provide personalized learning opportunities for all students.

    – Provide all students with supplies they need to be successful including different types of papers to use, different instructional materials, etc

   – Engage in professional learning opportunities that focus on fostering personalized learning and the whole child approach

    – Focus on the needs of all individual students.

    – Focus on all students individual growth in the skills they are working towards when comparing them to peers rather than their raw score on an assessment that covered universal standards. 

    – Strengthen the connection between school and home so all caregivers have the knowledge and resources to help all of the students learn. Host caregiver information meetings at the beginning of the year, send home educational resources to all caregivers, provide caregivers with newsletters of their student’s individualized academic goals and ways to reinforce those skills.

      -Allow all students to demonstrate their knowledge of content in various ways.

    – Provide instruction to all students in a variety of ways – small group, one-on-one, whole group, visuals, hands-on/kinesthetic, verbal

    – Provide all students with resources in their most fluent language and at their independent reading level

    – Provide all students choice in terms of materials, seating options, etc.

provide equity in an equal way to promote fairness!

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Next up, spend some time reflecting on your current classroom practices. Where do you see fairness in your instruction and classroom practices?  How are your students impacted as a result of the ways you ensure fairness is provided to them? Let us know your thoughts. 

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