Judging Students' Texts in a Digital Research Tool: Do Text Quality, Students' Gender, and Migration Background Impact Teachers' Text Assessments?

Teachers' assessments of students' writing are key for adapting instruction to individual needs but are often influenced by biases. The present studies examined whether student characteristics – gender and migration background – affect text assessments in the digital tool Student Inventory. In Study 1 (n = 117), pre-service teachers assessed six texts differing in quality and students' gender. In Study 2 (n = 127), students' migration background was manipulated instead. Texts were assessed holistically and analytically, considering content, style, and linguistic accuracy. Results from both studies showed that participants reliably differentiated between low- and high-quality texts on all assessment scales. The studies revealed small significant gender biases only for medium-quality texts. The findings suggest that the Student Inventory facilitates an objective assessment of students' writing and supports fair assessment practices, regardless of students' gender or migration background.