The effect of variations in handwriting and print on evaluation of student essays

The variety of factors contributing to the quality of handwriting or print provides an opportunity to determine the extent to which teachers are influenced by the interaction between different bias elements during evaluation of examinations. Fifty-three teachers evaluated compositions that had been awarded grades of 80% by impartial experts. A comparison was made of scores assigned to essays containing a variety of biasing factors: legibility as opposed to illegibility, use of different writing tools, and employment of esthetic devices such as color or underlining. Findings: the hypothesis examined was supported, indicating that assessors cumulatively incorporated biases deemed pertinent and fair into the grade, and overlooked those considered irrelevant.