In order to treat all students equally, instructors must evaluate student performance against:

Evaluating student performance against an established objective standard ensures fairness and consistency in assessment. Objective standards provide a clear benchmark that all students can aspire to meet, regardless of their individual backgrounds or personal circumstances. This approach minimizes biases that may arise from personal beliefs or subjective interpretations, thus promoting an equitable environment for learning.

Objective standards are typically based on predefined criteria, such as performance metrics, learning outcomes, or skill competencies. By adhering to these benchmarks, instructors can fairly assess each student’s knowledge and abilities, making it easier to identify areas of strength as well as those needing improvement. This also fosters a transparent evaluation process, where students understand what is expected of them and how their performance will be measured.

Using personal ethical codes or subjective expectations would introduce variability based on individual instructor biases, while comparing students against only the top performers could misrepresent the capabilities of the majority. Thus, the objective standard serves as the most effective means of ensuring that all students are treated equally in an educational setting.