Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You give an above-average mark because of the good ideas.
Like most foreign language teachers, you don't only look at grammar. You also look at how well ideas are expressed.
If all the mistakes were due to the student's ambition, you might give a high mark. However, because you just reviewed past participles, you should give a lower mark.
Giving a high mark is a disservice to Asad. After all, if he doesn't get the basics, he'll never communicate effectively in the language.
"Grading an essay is always an exercise in judgment because you want to reward creativity and risk-taking, but you want to correct errors," says foreign language teacher Timothy Pope.
If the errors relate to an area recently covered, the mark will suffer. "I would certainly mark that lower than someone who made more mistakes that they couldn't have expected to get right," Pope says.