Student Brotherhood
In the SD
Rabbi, I wanted to ask a somewhat puzzling question,
We have a senior year student at our college who works on the SAT exam, and works very “well” and seriously… and indirectly, following a tough exam (which he claims the procedures come from above), he gives very low grades, in a careful examination as if it were a test, and even starts checking for plagiarism and will probably start to know about them.
For all students and for me too, this is a rather annoying issue, and the main reason that is most annoying is that he is ultimately a student who is supposed to be “one of us.”
So I wanted to ask, is there really a moral flaw here? Because ostensibly, after all, this is his job and he claims he does what he’s told. And there’s no “written” contract between the students that obligates them to help each other.
Also, it’s pretty clear that if he doesn’t work at it, they won’t find anyone else who will agree to do such meticulous work (I assume that if it’s not a student, he’ll want more money, and if it’s another student, he simply won’t be willing to do a good job like all the beloved testers from all the previous years)…
I ask this because on the one hand we are so nervous about him, and on the other hand, in a dry way it is not clear that there is anything wrong or improper here, and it is still quite clear to me that if I don’t need the money there is no chance (in God’s eyes) that I will agree to do this.
Ostensibly, he is acting lawfully, since he is doing his job faithfully, as is the duty of an employee, and according to honesty. It is true that even within the legitimate sphere there are different shades of rigor, and one does not have to take the more rigorous extreme.
Beyond that, there is common sense. In principle, it would be appropriate to make all the exercise examiners behave this way, and then the competition would be fair. But assuming that the overall situation is not in my hands, my strictness creates unfair competition between my students and other students (who receive a lower grade for the same work). On the other hand, it should be remembered that strictness is also beneficial for them, since they will have to be careful and study properly and know the material.
I don’t have a school answer with general criteria. You have to use common sense. It’s best to talk to the guy and tell him these things calmly (not with claims and complaints).
It reminded me of an episode in which the opposite pole is presented.
There was a course that required grammar in small details (a lot of assemblies and timings) and a friend of mine who was a good friend of the “responsible practitioner” who was in charge, among other things, of checking the tests heard from him when he was slightly under the influence of a lysna: the course staff consciously decided to do a double-check in both directions. The examiner skimmed over the answer, if it seemed generally correct to him without delving into the details, he gave it a high score, and if it didn't smell like anything to him, he gave it a low score – with deliberate negligence. They just made sure to arrange their internal scale so that the normal average of the course in all years would be maintained.
The explanation was this.
1. It is important to the faculty that the average remains similar (to maintain status and fairness), and they take care of that.
2. In addition, they make it very easy for themselves with a test that is supposed to be quite tiring.
3. And most importantly, there are almost no appeals, because almost anyone who was wrong ‘to their detriment’ can see that they were also wrong ‘to their benefit’, and if they appeal, then they will review the entire test and then there is a serious risk that they will find and fix what was in their favor, and not accept what was in their detriment, and so he left with his hands on his hips.
The grumbling about the randomness in the testing went through all the corridors, but no one came up with such a vile explanation.
An unreasonable argument (and not just unfair). After all, every student makes mistakes in both directions, and therefore if his total points are reduced, he will appeal. Regarding maintaining an average (correction), there should be a good discussion, and so on.
The appeal is not submitted to a high-ranking, decent judge, but to the one who examined the question in the first place, and in general, they do not like to change grades (neither up nor down. Actions that happen every day in many courses where someone who appeals rightly and is given 6 points then miraculously finds another question in which they are given exactly 6 extra points, and overall the balance is maintained). In any case, that is how it happened (scores that seemed almost like a random generator, and the aforementioned explanation given) and I also inserted heavenly hints for the benefit of anyone who might have stumbled upon this and was with me at the time and remembers the story.
As is known, what the student and the Breslav Hasid have in common is that both of their Torah is full of "examinations", and both strive to reach "Zion".
With the excellent "Hoshua Na Zion" blessing, Oni Bar Sita
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