In any sort of educational environment, there is an unspoken dominance of the instructor over the student. They have the control and they make the decisions. When it comes to a student’s grade, a teacher shouldn’t pass that task on to a student’s peer.

A student grading another student’s work can be as simple as switching papers to grade, but to many of the students who are trading papers, it can be rather frightening. Having another student be in charge of your grade can be intimidating in itself because if they don’t pay attention or miss-mark your paper, that can affect your grade. Also giving a peer the opportunity to control your grade is like handing them your grade book and letting them determine whether you pass or fail.

In my personal experience, I have had teachers who simply have their students switch papers and even another who assigned code names as to help maintain the privacy of a student’s grades. Even when code names were assigned, they weren’t assigned privately, and the sole purpose was defeated, as everyone could hear your name, so your peers could easily know if they had your quiz or not.

Just recently, the Supreme Court ruled it legal for teachers to use peer grading systems, as it does not violate the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This act requires that all schools receiving federal funding must comply with the policy that is stated, and simply put says that teachers can’t talk to a student about another student’s educational records without written parental consent. Educational records are defined in the act as “records, files, documents, and other materials”, which the plaintiff, an Oklahoma mother, claims a student’s work would fall under. Despite this argument, the court ruled that an assignment is indeed not considered educational record as it does not become a record until it has been recorded by the teacher.

Whether or not the grade has been recorded, a student’s grade is private, and should be kept between the student and the teacher. When a student has control over their peer’s grades it creates a tension, and can make any student in the situation uncomfortable, which is the last thing that anyone should be at school. In a place where the environment is supposed to be welcoming, students shouldn’t be forced into anything that makes them uncomfortable like peer grading.