Judging Philosophy

I believe that when a portfolio judge is determining whether or not a portfolio is to pass or fail the judge has to look at a few key guidelines. Before looking whether the writer has followed those guidelines the judge needs to decide if the writer has critically analyzed the work or the question that influenced the essay. If the judge can see that the writer has dug deep into their work and has analyzed its entirety, and not just an excerpt of the work, the judge can now move on to looking at the writing guidelines. Now when looking at a paper the judge has to decide if the writer has incorporated a brief, but thorough, summary of the text they are analyzing, and whether or not the writer's thoughts or topic of discussion has come through clearly. If these critical components of a paper are done correctly and up to par the judge can move on to the smaller components of an essay. These components would consist of proper grammar, punctuation, and a well documented work cited page. If these are also up to par I believe the paper should be passed on to the teacher for a grade varying from an "A" to a "C", or a passing portfolio. There is one problem I do have with the course goals and outcomes for the final portfolio assessment though. I believe that the judges and the teachers should be able to discuss the papers as they are being assessed for the simple fact that the judges have no idea what has happened in each class. Yes, the judges opinions are completely unbiased, but I feel in a way there should be some bias opinions brought forward in the grading process. The teacher can inform the judge who has actually analyzed the work and contributed good ideas in class and who has not. This will insure that the people who are not just skating by will get the grade they deserve, a passing one.