Teacher Favoritism – Fact or Fiction

Written by Jared Young

Scientists say that it takes seven seconds for someone to formulate an opinion about you. In school, those seven seconds could determine your academic success for the year - or they could be completely insignificant. While teachers may no longer give an A+ to the student who gives them an apple and a Christmas gift, teacher favoritism is still a controversial and touchy subject in today’s classrooms. From grade locking to treating students slightly differently in class, favoritism at SHS can have ramifications on classroom dynamics and even students’ grades.

No Big Deal

At SHS, the effects of teacher favoritism are not always serious. Although having a friendly teacher can be emotionally beneficial, “it really doesn’t matter,” said junior Justin Harris, who frequently witnesses small signs of favoritism in his classes. Recalling one time when his teacher acknowledged one student as she walked into class but ignored another immediately following her, “It was kind of sad but also funny,” said Harris.

Some point to SHS’s highly reputed and experienced teachers as evidence that there is no extreme favoritism, which would be a sign of unprofessionalism. Although junior Marissa Newman acknowledges the occasional story of favoritism “here and there…it’s not that big of a deal.”

Others applaud SHS teachers for refraining from explicitly favoring certain students. One manifestation of such favoritism is allowing some students to participate more than others. “This year, my [science] teacher does a good job making sure that kids who don’t usually do well, or don’t usually participate in class a lot, get involved regardless of their academic accomplishments,” said freshman Meghan Zecchini. “In most situations I think teachers... treat students pretty much equally.”

Drawing the Line

Though most students and teachers generally agree that explicit favoritism is infrequent at SHS, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen at all. Favoritism can sometimes even be blatantly unfair. “One time one of my teachers yelled at me for not doing homework, and then another kid didn’t do the same homework and nothing happened to her,” said Harris.

The harm of favoritism can extend to grades, especially for essays and papers, which are more subjectively evaluated. Since a teacher is aware to whom the assignment belongs, some claim that teacher favoritism unintentionally influences the evaluation. “If you like someone more, you are more likely to give that person the benefit of the doubt,” said senior Zachary Millman.

“[The student and teacher] would have inside jokes with one another... [so one student was] called on a lot in class."

Math teacher Doug Vermes, who, like many teachers at SHS, “strives to treat everyone equally,” takes measures to avoid subconsciously evaluating students differently. To mitigate imprecision in point deduction for incorrect answers on tests, Vermes grades all his students’ tests collectively page by page.

Favoritism also relates to classroom learning. Zecchini once had a class where her teacher’s favoritism disrupted both participation opportunities and the overall learning environment. “[The student and teacher] would have inside jokes with one another... [so one student was] called on a lot in class,” said Zecchini. Favoritism also had a directly negative effect for freshman Michael Lu. Despite raising his hand frequently in class, he was rarely called on because “[my] teacher…really hated me,” said Lu, who consequently received a poor class participation grade.

Classroom inequality can be a plus. For English teacher Seth Evans, calling on students unequally is in fact a means of balancing participation. “If a few students regularly dominate a discussion enough that they drown out the rest of the class, I will sometimes require them not to participate for part of the period, so the quieter students have room to find their voices,” said Evans. “Every person matters.”

Teachers Are Human

Though many teachers do their best to treat students equally, favoritism may occur anyway, regardless of whether teachers are consciously aware of it. “You are only human,” said sophomore Cameron Mattis, who claimed to have never met a teacher who didn’t treat students differently.

While most teachers do not consciously intend to favor certain students, some acknowledge that it happens anyway. “I don’t think teachers can help it… personalities just click. I know in my teaching experience that I have liked some students better than others,” said science teacher Richard Clark. “Having favorites is like with a dentist – even if one of your patients smells awful... the dentist still has to treat the patient. They may not like it, but they still have to. It’s the same with teachers.”

For English teacher Wes Phillipson, who also admits that he talks to different students differently, students who work the hardest are viewed most favorably. Hard work, according to Phillipson, is evaluated based on two criteria: “The attitude of the student is one level... the second is the inter-personal relationship when they come to visit me in my office,” said Phillipson.

“Having favorites is like with a dentist – even if one of your patients smells awful... the dentist still has to treat the patient.

Whatever the criteria are – for both student and teacher – certain pairs of personalities just click. So from the teacher’s perspective, some students are from the start “easier to get along with and relate to than others,” said Vermes.

Sucking Up

Some students who realize this sometimes try to adapt their personalities to their teachers’ tastes in order to win this favoritism. “Sucking up,” as it is commonly known, may be as simple as greeting a teacher in an overly friendly way or surprising him or her with an expensive gift.

“Some people are certainly more discreet about it than others. It’s just the way they… act in front of the teacher,” said junior Brian Chae, who frequently witnesses students sucking up to their teachers. “[I’ve seen] students constantly raise their hands…to get the teacher to like them,” said Newman. Depending on whether a teacher prefers the student who is overly polite or the one who is outspoken, sycophants present traits that adhere to the teacher’s preferences.

Though some think that sucking up to the teacher typically evokes a positive reaction, it can sometimes backfire. Indeed, many of SHS’s experienced teachers tend to recognize sucking up and can distinguish natural behavior from atypical whereas “the less experienced teacher may get played by it,” said Mattis.

“It’s not so obvious – not the cliché like ‘you look great’ or anything like that,” said Vermes. Though declining to comment on one “embarrassing” exception, Vermes recalls one time when his student “magically” sought extra help after having a meeting with his parents about his performance, “sucking up does happen so some degree,” said Vermes.

Get Your Grade Locked Down

With SHS’s atmosphere of high academic expectations, students who feel they underachieve can sometimes blame their disappointing performance on a form of teacher bias. “Grade locking” is when a student consistently gets the same grade on assignments regardless of the grade the student felt each assignment deserved. Like favoritism-influenced grading, grade locking tends to be claimed more frequently in classes with more subjectively evaluated assignments like English or History.

“I had a teacher once for whom it was impossible to change my grade no matter how hard I tried to write the essay,” said junior Ethan Kochav.

“It’s never intentional because your teacher reads your first paper, and he or she thinks it is really good they then have that mindset when they go into your next paper,” said sophomore Alex Kowalczuk. Though grade locking, as the name suggests, leaves students like Kochav fixed in their situation, the “lock” may not be the teacher’s fault at all. Many teachers agree that grade locking is merely a student perception. “I want my students to excel and I want them to surprise me. I am thrilled when a student who doesn’t usually do top notch work hands in an “A” quality paper,” said Evans. “The last thing I’d want to do in that situation is lock their grade.”

“Kids see that they are continuously trying but only getting B or B+ and conclude that they are locked in,” said Principal John Klemme. “I would say there is less validity to the student’s perception than the teacher’s perception.”

Teachers need to think constantly about how to be as clear as possible about laying out criteria, and students need to be fully responsible for taking the time and effort to truly learn the criteria, rather than simply relying on old habits.

A Perception

Thoughout the development of this article, student and teacher interviews were usually ambiguous and interviewees sometimes requested anonymity. The issue of teacher favoritism seems to be a reluctant topic for all, but is clearly an issue nonetheless.

When eight students were asked to confirm one particular story, in which a teacher allegedly referred to one student through a string of derogatory terms, they disagreed on the class in which it occurred, ascribing the remark to two different teachers. The difficulty in ascertaining the facts suggests that favoritism may be as much about perception as about reality for student and teacher alike.

Additional reporting by Kim Strauch, Allie Beizer, & Dana Bernstein