Say Anything Blog

Grades mean little or nothing any more.  For instance, many colleges require remediation for students who score less than a certain score on the ACT. Recently, they published grade inflation rates for students entering state colleges.  They essentially measured those students who achieved a GPA above 3.0 and looked at the rates at which they were remediated (in this case, scoring less than 19 on any one portion of the ACT.) The found an average grade inflation rate of 38%.  That means that grades are being reported at about a 38% higher level than the student is likely actually achieving.

I suspect it is more about lazimess on the part of some teachers.  It is more work to fail a student or justify a grade.  Parents will not accept that their little boy or girl is not a genius.  Teachers get tired of fighting parents like that.  It’s easier to give a good grade and go on.

I’m not saying it’s right.  I’m just saying it happens.

"Although I can accept talking scarecrows, lions and great wizards in emerald cities, I find it hard to believe there is no paperwork involved when your house lands on a witch.”
- Dave James

It’s only a single anecdote, but it seems to support Rob’s hypothesis:  My daughter will be attending HS next year; the same HS I attended many, many moons ago.  We attended an enrollment meeting for parents and students last month.  At the meeting, I was surprised to find out that all of the pre-AP/pre-IB, AP or IB classes have no grade requirement or testing policy.  Any student can select the advanced courses if they choose.  My thought at the time was, “Well, who cares.  Students who can’t hack it will fail.” But, come to think of it, the teachers have to be willing and able to fail students for that to happen.  So, it may be that my daughter will be attending advanced classes, for which she is well qualified by any objective measure, with Joe Average Student who might decide to disrupt class because they are bored and the school can’t fail the little dear out or disqualify him for the class because it might hurt his self-esteem.

Re the ACT, there is a long list of colleges and universities who no longer place as big an emphasis on SAT/ACT scores, one of them being Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. You can find the list here:
http://www.fairtest.org/univ/optional.htm.

Well I don’t mind it that there’s a way into college for people that screwed off in high school. 

And I’m sure the colleges are ok with letting in more students so they can get all of that tuition and government aid.

The big thing is that colleges should not be allowed to graduate people that are not prepared to be productive in our society.  If they take our tax money than we should have control on what it’s spent on.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

That means that grades are being reported at about a 38% higher level than the student is likely actually achieving.

Does that mean some who scores a 98% on a test and receives an A, really scored a 60% and should get a D.

"All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, nor from want of honor or virtue, so much as downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation.”
- John Adams

Maybe more like 38% more A’s than otherwise would have be been without the grade inflation.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

Troy,

It’s hard to say without a citation.  Perhaps Steve can provide us with one.  Steve takes the grade inflation rate to apply to grade itself, but perhaps it applies to the sampling of students (IOW 38% of the students had inflated grades).

Grade inflation is now a fact of life.  Over 30% graduate from Harvard with honors.

Grade inflation has been going on for some time. For instance, a “C” average used to be the typical grade most kids got. It was the statistical average grade. Now it is a bad grade.

Keep that in mind when you hear some people deride Bush for his “C” average in Yale. Bush earned those grades before the massive grade inflation.

Here’s a firm statistic that speaks to Rob’s point; here in Minnesota, we’ve got “top five” SAT/ACT scores nationwide, but 36% of incoming freshmen to Minnesota universities take at least one remedial course.  85% of those going into the community college system are unprepared for college level mathematics.

In other words, As & Bs in high school (average grades) no longer mean that a student is prepared for college.  As a result, we spend billions annually in Minnesota alone to create college dropouts.