Sequential dependencies in grading: A threat to fair educational assessment?

Anyone will agree that grading exams, essays, and theses should be done as objectively and independently as possible; however, most grading is inherently subjective and susceptible to bias. This innovative project will investigate an overlooked but potentially large source of bias, namely sequential dependencies. Whenever people perform a series of judgments, their current judgment is influenced by their previous judgments. Teachers’ grades are unlikely to be an exception. Are teachers more likely to give a higher grade after a streak of lower grades and vice versa? And how big is this threat to the fairness of educational assessment?