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> 10 of us got 5s and 10 got 4s on the AP Physics exam There is no problem if a subset of the total population does very well (or very badly). But if half of a

> 10 of us got 5s and 10 got 4s on the AP Physics exam There is no problem if a subset of the total population does very well (or very badly). But if half of all AP takers got 5s and the other half got 4s, then it would be time to reexamine the test. Similarly, if there was a study group in a class that did very well, that's no problem. But if nearly the entire class gets As, that signals that the class could be more rigorous, cover more material, etc. I get why they don't do this — they don't want to disadvantage students as they go looking for jobs. But some schools are happy to have a reputation for for tough grading. My college had freshman courses where only 10% could get an A or A- (this amounted to 3 students, since the classes were capped at 30). It's a very selective college, so pretty much all of the kids were "A students" coming in. Among graduate schools and top employers, it's known to be a school that is very academically challenging.

ceejayoz 3y ago
> But if half of all AP takers got 5s and the other half got 4s, then it would be time to reexamine the test. Maybe, maybe not. If you spot check and a statistically significant sample shows kids are indeed learning first year college physics effectively in AP courses, perhaps you do a little happy dance and be glad something's working. Employers don't seem to be hiring Harvard grads and going "holy shit this person doesn't know anything they're supposed to know" to half of them. Employers seem to be generally happy what an A student from Harvard comes to them with. > But if nearly the entire class gets As, that signals that the class could be more rigorous, cover more material, etc. Or that you've got a self-selecting population of high-achievers. > My college had freshman courses where only 10% could get an A or A- (this amounted to 3 students, since the classes were capped at 30). That's depressing. "You're an A student, but I'm required to give you a B for organizational reasons" is an absoutely nasty thing to do to a college kid.
- gnicholas 3y ago
  > Employers don't seem to be hiring Harvard grads and going "holy shit this person doesn't know anything they're supposed to know" to half of them. That's because they (1) know there's rampant grade inflation and (2) use other indicators to assess candidates. And I've definitely heard people grouse about Ivy League grads, and how they'd rather hire from other places. > That's depressing. "You're an A student, but I'm required to give you a B for organizational reasons" is an absoutely nasty thing to do to a college kid. "Organizational reasons"? No. It's because they view grades as a tool to let kids know how they are doing compared with their peers. If you don't want to go to a school like that, there are plenty of grade-inflationary schools out there for you to go to.

ceejayoz 3y ago

> But if half of all AP takers got 5s and the other half got 4s, then it would be time to reexamine the test. Maybe, maybe not. If you spot check and a statistically significant sample shows kids are indeed learning first year college physics effectively in AP courses, perhaps you do a little happy dance and be glad something's working. Employers don't seem to be hiring Harvard grads and going "holy shit this person doesn't know anything they're supposed to know" to half of them. Employers seem to be generally happy what an A student from Harvard comes to them with. > But if nearly the entire class gets As, that signals that the class could be more rigorous, cover more material, etc. Or that you've got a self-selecting population of high-achievers. > My college had freshman courses where only 10% could get an A or A- (this amounted to 3 students, since the classes were capped at 30). That's depressing. "You're an A student, but I'm required to give you a B for organizational reasons" is an absoutely nasty thing to do to a college kid.

gnicholas 3y ago
> Employers don't seem to be hiring Harvard grads and going "holy shit this person doesn't know anything they're supposed to know" to half of them. That's because they (1) know there's rampant grade inflation and (2) use other indicators to assess candidates. And I've definitely heard people grouse about Ivy League grads, and how they'd rather hire from other places. > That's depressing. "You're an A student, but I'm required to give you a B for organizational reasons" is an absoutely nasty thing to do to a college kid. "Organizational reasons"? No. It's because they view grades as a tool to let kids know how they are doing compared with their peers. If you don't want to go to a school like that, there are plenty of grade-inflationary schools out there for you to go to.