What a disappointing message to have to give someone. A teacher who must act as both coach and judge has divided loyalties. As a coach, I want my students to do well. I do what I can to help my students so that they will do well. As a judge I am responsible for issuing meaningful evaluations.
Dishonest evaluations erode standards until they lose their meanings.
When a student tells me a story like this, I generally accept it at face value. Whether or not a student's dog died, or the student will lose reimbursement for the course or may lose his or her scholarship or even be kicked out of school, the student may still not be able to do work that measures up to the standards of the course. If anything, academia is about intellectual honesty. What a terrible position to be forced to act both as coach and judge. Grading formulas One solution is external standards, outside judges.