“Can You Just Check This Real Quick?” How to Stop Pre-Grading Student Work

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A student raises his or her hand while working on an essay or a test. The question? “Can you read this and tell me if it’s good?”

It happens ALL the time. If you aren’t prepared, you’ll spend the entire period basically pre-grading work that you’re going to then grade again when it’s turned in, but now it doesn’t reflect what the student can do independently. That’s a problem.

When I was a new teacher, I often said “yes” to these requests because I wanted to be helpful, and I certainly didn’t want to seem mean. Sometimes, I wasn’t quite sure where the line was when it came to helping too much. I also hadn’t really had time to think about whether doing this was fair to everyone or helping students in the long run. I hadn’t ever EVEN HEARD the idea that summatives should show what kids can do INDEPENDENTLY… or maybe I had, but I’d forgotten it…

Somewhere around the one billionth “Can you just check this real quick?” I realized I needed to think this through. Was I undermining the students’ independence? Invalidating the final marks I was giving for summative essays and tests?

Here’s how I think about these situations now, plus strategies that actually work in my classroom…

Why This Request Is a Problem

It’s a fairness issue. If I stop and give feedback to the three kids who are bold/pushy enough to ask me to pre-check their work, what about the other twenty-five who never ask? Often, the students who always ask are not even students who typically struggle with ELA: they’re simply the loudest kids, the neediest kids, or the ones most comfortable seeking reassurance. Favoring those who ask by helping them/pre-checking their work/telling them if it is or isn’t up to snuff isn’t fair to everyone else in the room. Some students are so shy they’d never ask you anything in a million years, let alone whether you’d pre-grade their work, and many simply think it’s not okay to ask for help on a summative (which it isn’t), so they’d never ask either. I want to be fair to THOSE kids, the ones who ARE NOT asking me “Is this okay?”, and that desire to be fair has to outweigh any fear I have of looking “mean” if I don’t pre-check work for kids who ask.

It invalidates the assignment. On a summative paper, test, or project, a big part of what we are assessing is whether a student can figure out —whatever it is— ON HIS OR HER OWN. For example, can the student look at his or her own writing and recognize a vague claim, a run-on sentence, or evidence that isn’t actually doing any work? If I catch those errors for kids before they submit, or they ask me whether they’ve achieved something or not (and I tell them yes or no), I am not really measuring their independent skills! Same goes for a test or a project that is supposed to be summative. If I tell the student whether “X” part of it is “good” or not, he or she isn’t independently doing the work!

It creates problems for me. When a student asks me to “check” something, say it’s a paragraph on their final essay, I’m not going to find one issue. I’m going to find a handful, and I don’t have the time to verbally walk every student through every issue before the due date and then do it all again during grading. It’s not fair to all students if I thoroughly check one student’s work and not everyone else’s, but it’s also not fair to ME and MY time! There’s a related problem with answering “is this good” on a paper or a test, and it’s this: if I tell the student that something is “fine” but then do not give the student 100% on that part, he or she (or the parents) may come back at me, angry that I said it was okay when it wasn’t. Even if “it’s fine” or “that’s good” doesn’t mean 100% to ME, it usually does to students and parents!

How I Changed

First, I gave myself permission to stop overhelping during summative work/testing because I felt like I needed to if a student wasn’t understanding something. I trusted that I delivered the content well, had good rubrics or test prep that I went over with students, and gave plenty of actionable feedback on their formative work leading up to the summative.

Second, I started being explicit when we started a summative that it WAS a summative, and I explained that I couldn’t “help” them or “check” things (and why that wouldn’t be fair). Of course, I always explain, as well, that if they have a question about the mechanics of the test or something I’m not grading (like when they don’t know a key word, and knowing that word isn’t what I’m testing), then that is okay.

At some point, a summative assessment has to actually assess whether kids can do or understand something on their own. Letting them struggle a little and maybe even allowing them to earn a lower grade (when they would’ve been bumped up if I “helped” them) is what I NEED to do in order to get the data I need about where they actually are and what they need going forward.

Remember: they (and their parents) need that data, too. It’s no good giving students grades they couldn’t earn themselves and then having them blindsided by poor standardized test scores or poor grades in future classes when they are being assessed WITHOUT extra help.

Strategies I Use

1. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have time to grade everyone’s work twice. Plus, I need to see what you can do without my help.” This is what I say, again and again if needed. I don’t say it in a mean way or as if they should know it already. I say it with kindness. But they need to understand that if I read the whole thing and tell them what to fix, I’ve essentially graded it once before I grade it for real, so the version they hand in isn’t really independent work and doesn’t count as a summative assessment.

2. Require a specific question. My students learn early in the year that “Can you check this?” will be answered with, “I’m sorry, but no.” However, if they ask a specific question and that question is helping them move forward with the essay or test but not giving them points they haven’t earned on their own, then that is okay. For example, one fixed comma will not move a student’s grade, so “Should I use a comma before this quote?” is something I’ll typically answer. Or, “What does this word in the directions mean?” will also typically get an answer, unless knowing that word was part of what I taught and part of what the test is assessing. Training students to ask precise questions is great because it forces them to identify what they are actually unsure about (rather than the “shot in the dark” of “Is this okay?”); plus, it keeps me from accidentally falling back into the habit of reading over (and grading) the whole piece of writing or a whole section of a test.

3. Point back to the rubric and any resources they are allowed to use. Every major writing assignment comes with a rubric my students have seen in advance and are allowed to refer to while writing. Every test was preceded by a study day, a study game, or a study guide. When a student asks me to check his or her work, I can ask, “What does the rubric say about that?” or “Do you remember what we said when we went over that yesterday?” More often than not, they can answer their own question once I prompt them in this way. If not, I tend to say, “Just try your best. I bet you’ll do great!” or “Just go with your gut; you can do it!” or “Don’t let this little piece of it bog you down. Give it your best guess and then move on to something you KNOW is right/KNOW you can get right.” Sometimes, they just need help with strategies for dealing with anxiety or perfectionism.

4. Build in revision, not pre-checks. This one is the biggest for me, and it made the most difference with students, parents, and administration: I grade the summative as they submitted it, no sneak peeks or “checks” or “that’s good” before the submission. BUT students know they can revise or retake afterward. That takes the pressure off getting it “right” the first time and redirects everyone’s energy toward genuine revision or studying afresh, which is where real growth happens. With timed essays, they get a new prompt (unseen beforehand); with formal, typed ones, they revise and then get the average of their first and second submission; with tests, they get a new test version covering the same topics.

5. Consider skimming rough drafts. If students have a rough draft due date, this “chunks” writing for them (which is a good practice for high-school-aged kids), AND it allows me to do a quick skim and leave comments about 2-3 major issues they can then work on before the final due date. I give the rough drafts 10 points just for being finished and submitted on time, and this also gives me a data point for parents and admin if the student receives a very low score on the final draft. Often, I can point to the fact that he or she did not do the rough draft and therefore did not take advantage of my feedback before the final submission. Chunking and reviewing drafts is also a great way to help parents and students see that you are on their side and are working hard to help students succeed.

6. Use structured peer review. I don’t just say “swap papers and give your friend some editing suggestions.” Instead, I give everyone a specific checklist tied to the rubric (or just give them the rubric); this way, their feedback has a focus and some direction from me. It cuts down on them skimming quickly and then just writing things like, “Looks good,” and drawing smiley faces… It’s not a replacement for my eye, but this kind of peer review can catch a surprising number of issues, AND it builds their editing muscles at the same time. (Read more here!)

7. Ask a guiding question instead of reading over someone’s test or paper. When a student is anxious (and that’s often what’s driving them to ask me, “Is this okay?”), I’ve found it’s helpful to ask the student, “What’s the biggest thing you’re worried about?” This allows me to see where the question is coming from. I can then potentially help them with coping skills if it’s just their anxiety talking, and/or I can decide whether helping them with the issue would help them move forward without “pre-grading” anything/whether they are really asking me whether something is right or wrong (and answering would bump their score in a way they didn’t achieve on their own).

All in All…

I’m not advocating for shutting students out or refusing to help students. Of course not! I’m talking about being intentional about when and how we help, so that summative work measures what students can do on their own.

Teaching each student to trust his or her own judgment and to tolerate the discomfort of not knowing if he or she “got it right” until it’s graded is part of the larger “life curriculum” students SHOULD be getting in school.

Once I started taking “can you check this” seriously and responding better, requests did not disappear, but they have gotten a lot more specific, students learn to trust themselves more, and my summatives actually show what kids can do on their own!

Image Credits: Canva

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