Re: Student Evaluations of Teaching

[Herbert H Gottlieb <herbgottlieb@JUNO.COM>]

On Sat, 01 Jan 2000 15:23:56 -0700 Jim Green <JMGreen@SISNA.COM> writes:
> I have studied Mark's web page and warmly concur that grading is just
> getting out of hand.  For example, do I understand correctly that at
> the  likes of Stanford only A's and B's are given -- with the arrogant
> belief  that all C and lesser students just have not been admitted.
Perhaps some high schools and some colleges are highly selective because
they are located in areas populated by professionals.  ...places where
the
parents have strong family ties ... and are genuinely interested in the
progress
of their children in school.  Such students usually have good study
habits,
an ingrown work ethic and superior intelligence. If such students had
attended most other high schools and colleges they would be in the school

arista, honor roll and dean's or phi beta kappa lists.
Should they be given grades of C, D, and F if their work ranks near the
bottom of the school body?

On the other hand what would you expect to happen in most of the inner
city
schools where students have poor work habits, low motivation, and
difficulty
with basic reading, writing and speaking? Should such students get A
grades
just for trying hard?

Have you ever heard of a student who complains to her parents and school
supervisors that her grades on one or two of her classes were too high
considering her low effort and inability to obtain high scores on
relatively easy
class tests and final exams?

Have you seen many student evaluations of  teachers where the teacher
is castigated for making the work too easy and giving grades that were
too high??

Herb Gottlieb from New York City
(Where the best teaching usually goes unnoticed in the inner city
schools)