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Re: Concerned About Grades



I thank Wes Davis for his comments about the response "life is not fair."
Although it may be true, it is no excuse for tolerating unfair practices.
Shall we excuse apartheid by saying "life is not fair." You know I can give
plenty more examples, so I'll spare us all having to read them.

In any situation in which we suspect "life is not fair" the question arises:
can we do anything about it? If we automatically respond no, I think we are
neglecting our duty as human beings. I don't care if you come to that
conclusion from religion or from secular humanism. The opposite conclusion
(since life is unfair I'll just put up with it and get the most out of life
I can, and the heck with everybody else) is common, but not the way I choose
to view things.

The title of this thread (Concerned about Grades) indicates some of us are
indeed concerned and wondering if anything can or should be done about it.

It is true that all means of evaluating academic ability and probable
success are imperfect, and we always need to (1) avoid putting too much
emphasis on them (2) remember that statistics describe the group rather than
any particular individual.

It has been pointed out that schools not only question GPA and Class Rank,
but also SAT/ACT scores. This is true. There have even been court cases
challenging standardized tests on the basis of racial bias, etc. It has
also been pointed out that some college admissions and scholarship staff do
not really care about being fair.

One of my responses to this is: I know we are trying to be accurate and fair
at Bluffton College, but it is difficult and it keeps getting more
difficult. We do have a certain amount of scholarship money available... we
have to do so, and we have to award it in order to stay competitive... and
so far we are not simply saying "life is unfair" so just choose a certain
number of people to give it too... rather, we try to award scholarships as
fairly as we can. Therefore we are struggling with the interpretation of
high school grades, class rank, and standardized exams scores. We move
slowly because we don't have good answers. But we are not throwing in the
towel.

My second response deals with advising. As an advisor I often have (weekly)
students in my office trying to decide if they want to be doctors or
teachers or lab scientists, etc. Although it is difficult to make
conclusions about someone with an ACT score of 25 in terms of medical
school, etc. I can certainly predict a student with a 20 ACT is not likely
to be accepted into medical school let alone survive medical school. I can
predict that a 30 ACT student has a much better chance, but I realize there
is no guarantee... that high-scoring student might goof off in college,
might lose focus, might fall in love, etc. Students are paying me not only
to lecture and grade papers, etc... they are also paying me to advise them.
Advising is a very tough job. It keeps me very humble. But I do not say
"life is unfair." I try to give the student as much insight as I can, and I
try to answer their questions as honestly and accurately as I can.

During advising, knowledge of a student's standardized-exam score helps.
Knowledge of college grades helps, but not as much as it used to. Knowledge
of high school grades helps even less. I was under the impression we were
discussing this because we are asking if there is anything we can do to make
this situation better. If not, so be it. But let's not blow it off by
saying "life is unfair."


Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817