Universities told to end 'spiralling' grade inflation
https://www.bbc.com/news/education-46604765
Harvard economist (and former President of Harvard University) Larry Summers observes:
Harvard economist (and former President of Harvard University) Larry Summers observes:
“I think that the pervasiveness of top grades in American higher education is shameful. How can a society that inflates the grades of its students and assigns the top standard to average performance be surprised when its corporate leaders inflate their earnings, its generals inflate their body counts, or its political leaders inflate their achievements?
More than ethics classes this is a matter of moral education. And America’s universities are failing when “A” is the most commonly-awarded grade. If we really valued excellence, we would single it out.”
Catherine Rampell’s piece on the same topic:
Catherine Rampell’s piece on the same topic:
“These findings raise questions not only about whether the United States has been watering down its educational standards — and hampering the ability of students to compete in the global marketplace in the process. They also lend credence to the perception that campuses leave their students coddled, pampered and unchallenged, awarding them trophies just for showing up….
But it certainly makes it harder to accurately measure how much students have learned. It also makes it more challenging for grad schools and employers to sort the superstars from the also-rans”
Grade Inflation – The New Normal at US Universities
Grade Inflation – The New Normal at US Universities
“Students aren’t getting smarter," said Stuart Rojstaczer, a writer and former science professor who calls himself the country’s “grade inflation czar.” “They aren’t studying more. When they graduate they are less literate. There’s no indication that the increase of grades nationwide is related to any increase in performance or achievement”. …“If you give everybody an A, either people are not going to take it seriously or those who do take it seriously might get the wrong impression,” Healy said. “When students receive grades, they’re receiving feedback on how well they did in their courses, if they put in an equal amount of effort [in] each one. And [if] they receive higher grades in some subjects, they logically come to the conclusion that they are good at certain things. It wouldn’t normally occur to them that they happened to receive a grade that was out of line”. …Meanwhile, student evaluations could incentivize instructors to give their pupils higher grades than they deserve in an effort to “buy” higher evaluation scores, the study says.”
A very entertaining and funny piece by Nathaniel Stein
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/opinion/sunday/leaked-harvards-grading-rubric.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/opinion/sunday/leaked-harvards-grading-rubric.html