Impairment of teacher efficiency during extended sessions of test correction

The relationship between monotonous work, mental fatigue, and reduction in efficiency has been discussed at length in the literature. This paper examines a theory, based on the interactions revealed in those studies, that uninterrupted examination of a large number of tests over an extended period of time, leads to inconsistency in grading. Three specialists judged typed compositions of seventh-grade pupils, and independently awarded the grade of 80% to 31 papers. These compositions were submitted to 60 female teachers. Each teacher received all 31 papers, stacked in one of three different, randomly arranged sequences. The subjects, unaware of the earlier review, were asked to read the compositions in one sitting and in the order in which they were stacked, and to assign a grade. There was no communication between teachers in the project with regard to the task. The variable found to contribute significantly to the grading pattern was the order in which the essays were arranged. The first tests received lower grades, on average, than those awarded by the specialists. As the teachers worked their way through the stack, the grades gradually rose, and eventually exceeded those given by the specialists. The discrepancy between the mean evaluation of the first papers and last papers in the pile was approximately 10%. Teacher seniority and other variables tested did not contribute significantly to the process.