How Do You Spell ‘Harvard’? With an Endless Supply
of A’s
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/how-do-you-spell-harvard-with-an-endless-supply-of-as-5d358cf4
A new report looks at grade inflation, a problem that is proliferating far beyond the Ivy League.
Addressing the Grade Inflation Collective Action Problem
https://www.ed.gov/about/homeroom-blog/addressing-grade-inflation-collective-action-problem
Christopher Schorr:
When an “A” grade becomes a participation trophy, grades cease to function as meaningful records of student achievement and content mastery. This causes several problems.
First, absent the ability to make finer distinctions—such as between “excellent,” “good,” and “merely adequate work”—student effort wanes, causing learning and skills acquisition to plummet. Second, without reliable indicators of student knowledge and diligence, employers and graduate admissions officers are forced to turn to other, potentially less useful, criteria to evaluate candidates. Finally, grade inflation (paradoxically) contributes to higher student stress—because students come to regard anything short of an “A” as akin to failing.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/how-do-you-spell-harvard-with-an-endless-supply-of-as-5d358cf4
A new report looks at grade inflation, a problem that is proliferating far beyond the Ivy League.
Addressing the Grade Inflation Collective Action Problem
https://www.ed.gov/about/homeroom-blog/addressing-grade-inflation-collective-action-problem
Christopher Schorr:
When an “A” grade becomes a participation trophy, grades cease to function as meaningful records of student achievement and content mastery. This causes several problems.
First, absent the ability to make finer distinctions—such as between “excellent,” “good,” and “merely adequate work”—student effort wanes, causing learning and skills acquisition to plummet. Second, without reliable indicators of student knowledge and diligence, employers and graduate admissions officers are forced to turn to other, potentially less useful, criteria to evaluate candidates. Finally, grade inflation (paradoxically) contributes to higher student stress—because students come to regard anything short of an “A” as akin to failing.