Attention Economy


Monday, December 16, 2013

Very Funny - Satirical Takedown of Grade Inflation at Harvard


A very entertaining and funny piece by Nathaniel Stein


On a more serious note,
For a background on grade inflation at the Ivy Leagues, see:
http://vivekjayakumar.blogspot.com/2013/12/dangers-posed-by-grade-inflation.html



UPDATE:

Mitch Daniels and Jim Clifton discuss an alternate measure of Higher-Ed success in their WSJ op-ed. They rightly note:

“The American higher education system is the world's best. Yet even this great system, which is a magnet for the brightest and most motivated students from around the world, is facing hard, unprecedented questions: Are too many young people going to college? Are they learning anything meaningful while they are there? Can whatever they are learning possibly be worth the escalating costs they are paying, or the soaring debt they are incurring?

Gallup's hundreds of business clients report that many, if not most, college diplomas don't tell them much about graduates' readiness for productive work. Average grades have been inflated, and just about every business leader knows it. Degrees are increasingly awarded in subjects of questionable academic—let alone market—value. Many employers today see a diploma as something that shows a student had the brains to be admitted to college and maybe the discipline to finish. But they sure don't see those pieces of paper as proof that a graduate is remotely prepared for workplace performance or leadership.”