Re: Concerned About Grades (longish-er)

[Joel Rauber <Joel_Rauber@SDSTATE.EDU>]

> Classes composed of students from a narrow range of ability
> (at the top
> end) are relatively rare in most schools, and generally exist due to
> factors such as selection/admission criteria for the class
> or, perhaps,
> the school. (Even AP classes at top college-prep institutions have a
> considerable range of student abilities represented.) In such
> cases, it is
> certainly reasonable that the grades should be quite high.

For the sake of argument, lets say I agree to the above.  It implies that
these legitimate cases should be quite rare as opposed to the rather common
application of the above that many people in this thread are possibly
worrying about.


> I certainly do not criticize students for FEELING that a straight
> percentage grading system is "more fair."

I wouldn't criticize students for this feeling as well, but I'd try to help
them understand that their feelings "ain't necessarily so".


> I do not even
> criticize teachers
> who make students feel this way as a part of their attempts
> to address the
> need for a positive affective environment in the class.

I might criticize them (not for trying to maintain a positive environment)
for the reason that they are engaging in implicit criticism of other
teachers who quite honestly and for good reasons may be using other grading
systems and would therefore be poisoning the atomsphere in those other
teacher's classes.

BTW, would you criticize teachers who use the other approach to grading?

> But I
> do recognize
> that this appeal to emotion is a STRATEGY for establishing class
> atmosphere. We should  be honest enough to acknowledge a
> strategy as such.

Should they be honest enough to acknowledge this to their students?


>  My love of intellectual
> endeavor for
> its own sake is strong enough that I would be happy not to
> participate in
> this system, but as long as it remains the reality, I shall
> not shirk my
> responsibility to be dilligent and conscientious in my ranking duties,
> both through my grading and in the way I fill out college
> recommendation
> forms.

I really like what you wrote above and respect it.  It gets at the heart of
what I said in one of my original posts.  My University publishes a catalog
that claims C's are average, B is Superior and A is Exceptional. (and I
don't want to quibble about a whether this means an exact statiticians
definition of average, let's stipulate that it means what the layment on
the
street my mean with ordinary use of language).  This is patently not the
case when one looks at the typical grades.  I'll use some strong language
here (and I admit I'm not guilt free), but this appears to me to be fraud.
Either by the University or by the faculty, or (more likely in my opinion)
as the result of all sorts of complicated pernicious systemic effects and
historical inertia.  And nobody, except the above comment has addressed the
ethical issues in my statements above.  Which are complicated and difficult
(Should I have used "that").

Mike Edmiston doesn't need my defense, but the "life is not fair" response
to his post misses Mike's point and aspects of my points.  One of the
issues, is whether or not grade inflation has made life less fair (or I
suppose more fair).  Mike gave a very cogent example where it has made life
less fair in a way that didn't used occur.  I'd venture to say that it is
an
example that brings to the fore some of the ethical issues involved
regarding grading.

As another anecdote:  I used to date a woman who came to the US from Soviet
Russia.  She was an expert in languages and translation.  I was taking
German classes at the time and the topic of discussion one time came around
to the kinds of grades that were being given in german classes and the
apparent grade inflation in those classes.  Her remark, comparing my
language instruction to hers was to say that "apparently, only in Socialist
Countries are students allowed to know their true ability in the language".


Joel Rauber
Joel_Rauber@sdstate.edu