Re: [Phys-l] failure is always an option

["John Clement" <clement@hal-pc.org>]

As to failure always being an option, it is NOT.  I just got a memo from the
director of instruction about tests this week.  Because of a faculty member
death, one day was taken out of instruction for the funeral.  Since this is
the last week for seniors, tests scheduled on that day had to be moved.  The
memo essentially gave some advice about the change of test dates.  It also
advised putting the material in the final unless "you need a test to raise
student grades".

Now I know what tests are useful for, and I always thought they were
supposed to be evaluation, learning experiences, and whips to force students
to study.  Also everyone knows that the administration changes grades to
passing if the student might fail and not graduate, or if they are needed
for a winning game.  In addition, if students do not like a textbook, the
teacher is coerced into changing it.  Never mind that the book is much
better than the alternatives.  Essentially the director of instruction knows
very little about what good instruction is.  The students rule the roost
because it is a private school and they need the money to keep it going.

I was at another high school where the teachers were forced to sign a
document saying that they would not fail more than 15% of the students.  At
my school one math teacher found out that his grades had been printed and
passed out to the science department to compare grades.  Of course if I
discuss a student's grades with another teacher this is considered
unprofessional, but the administration is not bound by this.

But let us remember that private schools, do not do a better job than public
schools according to a recent metastudy.

As far as recommendations go, I only give them to students that I consider
worthy, and turn down others.  But I always give information gathered from
the Lawson test and the FMCE so the information is substantive.  I do have
at least several students who score close to 100% on the FMCE.  This is a
very good predictor for the first physics course, but not necessarily for
subsequent ones.

John M. Clement
Houston, TX


> Two observations, one firsthand one not.
>
> Grade Inflationi:  We just graduated our 2008 class at Rice
> University.  7% of the students had a GPA > 4.0, 30% were above 3.8.
>
> Standard tests:  I have read, though I don't remember where, that SAT
> scores correlate much more strongly with Socio Economic Status than
> with college GPA.  In my own discipline, there is ZERO  evidence that
> GRE's correlate with success in graduate school, but all of my
> colleagues, who had high GREs believe they are predictive.
>
>
> --
> Richard E. Grandy
> Professor
> Philosophy & Cognitive Sciences
> Rice University
> Houston, TX USA