Originally posted by pfredawell, but it's been going on since the Vietnam War. apparently an effort on the part of the professors to keep the little darlings out of the draft.
I live and teach Mathematics / Calculus in Thailand.
Students with 80% scores are given A's [ 4.0 here ]
Exams are giveaways, with no one allowed to fail as retests are given until they pass.
They will not be held back even if they never pass.
In America or The West, if top Uni's give grades regardless of work and effort quality, what does that say abou ...[text shortened]... eons, lawyers, professors, judges, congressmen, scientists ?
America is in decline, maybe ?
http://cache.boston.com/globe/metro/packages/harvard_honors/
MATTERS OF HONOR
Harvard's quiet secret: rampant grade inflation
By Patrick Healy, Globe Staff, 10/7/2001
CAMBRIDGE - Trevor Cox is in the throes of his greatest challenge at Harvard University: A senior honors thesis about Abraham Lincoln's wartime attorney general. It's exciting and gut-churning, he says; it's also his first Harvard paper that doesn't feel like a sham.
''I've coasted on far higher grades than I deserve,'' said Cox, who has a B-plus average and leads Harvard's student volunteer group. ''It's scandalous. You can get very good grades, and earn honors, without ever producing quality work.''
This is Harvard's dirty little secret: Since the Vietnam era, rampant grade inflation has made its top prize for students - graduating with honors - virtually meaningless.
Last June, a record 91 percent of Harvard students graduated summa, magna, or cum laude, far more than at Yale (51 percent), Princeton (44 percent), and other elite universities, a Globe study has found.
While the world regards these students as the best of the best of America's 13 million undergraduates, Harvard honors has actually become the laughingstock of the Ivy League. The other Ivies see Harvard as the Lake Wobegon of higher education, where all the students, being above average, can take honors for granted. It takes just a B-minus average in the major subject to earn cum laude - no sweat at a school where 51 percent of the grades last year were A's and A-minuses.
...
Originally posted by zeeblebotI think a lot of it has to do with basic free market principles. A good business knows that it's important to please the customers. And a good government knows that its important to please the voters. And I suspect that most customers and voters find an A to be perhaps a bit more pleasant than a C.
well, but it's been going on since the Vietnam War. apparently an effort on the part of the professors to keep the little darlings out of the draft.
Originally posted by TeinosukeSurely these variations will average out in a group of this size? But I suppose it doesn't protect against all schools collectively becoming worse (for example as a result of a change in curriculum).
But there's still going to be year-on-year variation in the abilities of each cohort. In an exam I think you should be competing against an agreed standard, not against your fellow students in that year.
Originally posted by KazetNagorraThey will probably average out more or less, but I'm not sure that's the point. In any given year, there will be one or two students who fail who would have passed last year or next year; and people's exam grades end up determining the course of their lives to a considerable degree. I certainly don't think they should be at the mercy of this kind of random variation.
Surely these variations will average out in a group of this size? But I suppose it doesn't protect against all schools collectively becoming worse (for example as a result of a change in curriculum).
I we wonder whether some grade inflation may be alternatively explicable in terms of the Flynn Effect.
IQ scores, on the same test items, have been rising year on year for some time, at least until recently. This suggests, impossibly, that our grandparents were morons.
The alternative explanation is that people have been selectively getting better at the particular competencies IQ tests assess.
Could a similar explanation apply to college test scores?
(On the other hand, at the college where I teach, rated 10th in the UK, abut a third of the class cannot write simple English.)
Originally posted by TeinosukeI don't want to explain the ins and outs of the Dutch system, but exam grades themselves don't mean much. It's mostly about passing or not passing. You will always get people who just barely fail, and they should have just studied harder, no?
They will probably average out more or less, but I'm not sure that's the point. In any given year, there will be one or two students who fail who would have passed last year or next year; and people's exam grades end up determining the course of their lives to a considerable degree. I certainly don't think they should be at the mercy of this kind of random variation.
Originally posted by TeinosukeThe alternative is not to adjust grades, but then you have the problem that you cannot have identical exams each year, so some years might be easier than others, and thus unfair for a different reason.
They will probably average out more or less, but I'm not sure that's the point. In any given year, there will be one or two students who fail who would have passed last year or next year; and people's exam grades end up determining the course of their lives to a considerable degree. I certainly don't think they should be at the mercy of this kind of random variation.
I must note that in my life, the only important grade that mattered was the one that got me to the next level of eduction.
At Grade 7, my grades got me into a good secondary school.
At Grade 9, my grades kept me in that school.
At Grade 12, my grades got me into university.
After the first year of university (rather like "A" levels in other countries), my grades kept me in university.
At the end of university, my grades got me my degree.
Although I have told my employers that I have a degree, I have never once been asked to provide any proof, or provide my actual grades. My employers have been more concerned about my actual current relevant abilities and my past work experience.
Originally posted by twhiteheadProven ability 'on the job' is clearly the most important factor, although academic qualifications are a useful preliminary indication of the likely suitability of an applicant for a specific job.
Although I have told my employers that I have a degree, I have never once been asked to provide any proof, or provide my actual grades. My employers have been more concerned about my actual current relevant abilities and my past work experience.[/b]
However,employers should always require proof of any claimed possession of an academic qualifiation if only to verify the veracity of the applicant.
Originally posted by Sartor ResartusI heard this story once about a guy who had written on his CV that he had been a regional chess champion of some U.S. state or something. His employer checked it, and it turned out to be true. Funny thing is, most of the other things on his CV were fabricated, but they found out about that after they had hired him.
Proven ability 'on the job' is clearly the most important factor, although academic qualifications are a useful preliminary indication of the likely suitability of an applicant for a specific job.
However,employers should always require proof of any claimed possession of an academic qualifiation if only to verify the veracity of the applicant.
Originally posted by IshDaGeggGrandma and Grandpa didn't have study guides.
I we wonder whether some grade inflation may be alternatively explicable in terms of the Flynn Effect.
IQ scores, on the same test items, have been rising year on year for some time, at least until recently. This suggests, impossibly, that our grandparents were morons.
The alternative explanation is that people have been selectively getting better a ...[text shortened]... ege where I teach, rated 10th in the UK, abut a third of the class cannot write simple English.)
maybe it's just that the percentage of students taking the exam seriously and using study guides is increasing.
also, an increase in the leisure time available to improve base skills such as reading.
also, note that if the recent inflation in NY state exams was due to watering down the tests, maybe the students are getting worse, not better.
also, statements in various articles on George W. Bush's performance on the SATs sometimes include a comment to the effect that in the era he took the exam the tests were harder (although i read the statements a few days ago so maybe the comments were more to do with the mechanics of the test or something; but in that case, why mention them?)
Originally posted by AThousandYoungKal sucks (ha "Kal" cuz the transcripts stole all the C's).
Yep. Public schools have more rigorous standards than private schools. This is true for children and teens (NCLB does not apply to private schools) and it's true for adults. Didn't we go through this recently already?
UC Berkeley represent!
http://timeplots.com/2010/05/03/grade-inflation/
On the topic of grade inflation, any kid claiming/paying their way through Harvard should be there because they *want* to learn, so any kid should be coming out with a successful education and knowledge set. I doubt grades will matter much 5 years after college.