4 ms·
It depends on what you want grades to express. If you want grades to express students' strength relative to each other, a quota of say 35% A's per course might
by koliber 10y ago
It depends on what you want grades to express.
If you want grades to express students' strength relative to each other, a quota of say 35% A's per course might be appropriate.
On the other hand, if grades are meant to show how students do an a more objective and time-invariant set of criteria, maybe grade inflation is OK. Maybe it means that student's are getting generally smarter, or more efficient at learning. IQ has been rising over time as well, as has efficiency in many workplaces. Perhaps grade inflation, at least partially, reflects this as well?
I am not saying that this is the case. Rather I would like to throw a hypothesis out there, as it is one that is not often expressed. I would love to hear arguments for and against the above ideas.
- Retric 10y agoUS IQ's have stopped increasing, we are also getting shorter.
- pc86 10y ago[citation needed]
- Retric 10y agoAmericans shrinking as junk food takes its toll https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/04/usa https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/apr/04/usa America Loses Its Stature as Tallest Country http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/12/AR2007081200809.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08...
- whamlastxmas 10y agoThe article, at a glance, doesn't really seem to give information on the data that lead to a "shorter" conclusion. Does it account for the fact that the US receives a ton of immigration from Mexico and South America, whose population is quite short? Are American families with no hispanic genetics also getting shorter? My guess is no.
- nommm-nommm 10y agoThe article addresses this, >Others argue that student bodies have simply gotten smarter, but by a variety of metrics, this is not the case: standardized test scores and graduate literacy have not improved as grades have risen. and links to http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/01/same-performance-better-grades/384447/ http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/01/same-pe...
- sbprof 10y agoI use grades to express both relative strength and objective performance. Here's how I do it: 1. The individual grade a student receives on each component of a course is a reflection of their mastery. These grades are not force-ranked or subject to a curve. Therefore, the student may draw conclusions from each grade about opportunities to improve. 2. The overall grade a student receives for the course is force-ranked. I strive for a distribution of no more than 25% A's, and no more than 50% B's. This grade is therefore a reflection of a student's relative class standing, and not necessarily their actual mastery. Thoughts?