Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Higher Education

Following the film on college grades and classes, I researched grade inflation so as to better understand it.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/14/the-history-of-college-grade-inflation/

As you can see from the illustration, A’s have drastically increased over the last 60 years. B’s have remained steady, for the most part. C’s have increased as well. While there is a decrease in D’s and F’s, it doesn’t seem as large a shift as the other grades.

Further research showed that private universities have the most grade inflation, even when compared to public schools that are “equally selective” in admissions.

The authors don’t attribute steep grade inflation to higher-quality or harder-working students. In fact, one recent study found that students spend significantly less time studying today than they did in the past.”

However, to offer some perspective on this issue, I found a contrasting article.

http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/gi.htm

They offer several explanation for an increase in grades.

“Even where grades are higher now as compared with then, that does not constitute proof that they are inflated. The burden rests with critics to demonstrate that those higher grades are undeserved, and one can cite any number of alternative explanations. Maybe students are turning in better assignments. Maybe instructors used to be too stingy with their marks and have become more reasonable. Maybe the concept of assessment itself has evolved, so that today it is more a means for allowing students to demonstrate what they know rather than for sorting them or "catching them out." (The real question, then, is why we spent so many years trying to make good students look bad.) Maybe students aren't forced to take as many courses outside their primary areas of interest in which they didn't fare as well. Maybe struggling students are now able to withdraw from a course before a poor grade appears on their transcripts. (Say what you will about that practice, it challenges the hypothesis that the grades students receive in the courses they complete are inflated.)

The bottom line: No one has ever demonstrated that students today get A's for the same work that used to receive B's or C's. We simply do not have the data to support such a claim.”

While grades may be rising, it seems there is very little to support the idea of “inflation”.

Brown: 9.3%

Columbia: 9%

Cornell: 18%

Dartmouth: 11.5%

Harvard: 6.9%

Penn: 14.2%”

-http://collegeapps.about.com/b/2010/04/04/ivy-league-acceptance-rates-for-2010.htm

These are the acceptance rates for applicants to ivy league schools.

With so few people being accepted, it makes sense that grades would be higher. While students may not be “smarter,” they may be better at taking tests and dealing with stress, leading to higher grades.

If grades are being raised unjustly, further research needs to be done to determine a solution

No comments:

Post a Comment