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Does Grade Inflation Matter to the Modern Day Student?
Does grade inflation really matter? Jordan Ellenberg is the author of the article that is under question regarding why grade inflation does not matter. There are two different viewpoints to this argument, one corresponding to the answer of yes it does matter, or no; grade inflation does not matter and the world of education and the students are making a big deal about absolutely nothing at all. Grade inflation can matter internally due to the fact that it can be difficult to motivate students to excel, at the higher end of the GPA standings, students are lumped together as all being smart and above average at that high a level. Grades should motivate the students, but only the ones that
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The very last line in the authors’ work “Grades are—should be—many things. But ritual fetish objects they are not.”, this line without a doubt exemplifies that the ranking of students along with their grades distinguish them. In other words, Ellenberg is referring to what is known in that the inflated grades are reliable for taking measures of the actual or true ranking of those individual students, just like the grades that are “uninflated” are thought to become in actuality. All statistical tests are based upon making assumptions. Trying to interpret any statistical relevance is useless until you have reviewed that …show more content…
I would like the class to be based on not only attendance and participation but on all things equally. I do not prefer classes that are weighted heavily on tests, because I along with countless other individuals am not a good test taker and consider myself to have test anxiety. I am not lazy and am attentive to all due dates, and complete all my homework and assignments up to the utmost of standards, but still in some classes I do not do well on the tests, and I pay the ultimate price in doing so. I fully understand the material and can even teach it to my pears to an extent but I do not do well on most tests. Intelligence can not only be measured by a test. It can be measured on how that person perceives more than just a complex worded question or two. I do however prefer the Criterion-referenced type of performance measurement; everyone is graded upon the quality of performance that is based on the person’s willingness to receive a certain grade. If you put in enough effort, even if you are not good at taking test you will eventually get what is
The author states that when he was a kid, he was very pleased to get a B grade and now students see those grades as mediocre to say the least. When he attended Tufts in late 1960s, a “B” in certain courses was something that he could dream about. Primack states that GPA’s across the nation have risen since the 1960’s. He believes that this issue could be due to teachers not wanting to give out bad grades in fear that students will not want to take their classes. He uses Harvard University as a prime example of a college guilty of grade inflation. “About 15 percent of Harvard Students got a B-plus or better in 1950. In 2007, more than half of all Harvard grades were in the A range.” One of the questions being proposed by him is could the grade inflation be due simply to the fact that students are getting better? Primack simply refutes this argument by stating, “Privately, many faculty members and administrators say colleges are unwilling to challenge and possibly offend students and their hovering tuition paying parents with some tough grade love.” The writer claims that “grade inflation hides laziness on the part of the students, and as long as it exists, even faculty who want to do a good job grading don’t feel they can.” The statement is based on the belief that grade inflation is the result of fearful and “scared” teachers but does not have any real evidence to back it. If in fact laziness is the problem being covered up by grade inflation, the work force could be affected badly in the future. Phil Primack seems to be addressing an audience of teachers and some students across the country. He repeatedly talks about grade inflation being on the rise and being a problem. He gives good examples that without a doubt prove that grades have in fact risen since 1960. Primack calls on the audience to act and to change the way they grade in the
In the op-ed, “Grade Inflation Gone Wild,” Stuart Rojstaczer addresses the concern of grade inflation and its effects on students. Rojstaczer uses several different methods to prove his point of view to the reader. Rojstaczer links grade inflation to the sinking quality of education, as well as the rise of college alcoholics. While this op-ed does a satisfactory job appealing to the reader on a person-person basis, many of Rojstaczer’s main claims do not hold any scholarly evidence. This analysis over “Grade Inflation Gone Wild” will discuss whether Rojstaczer has written this editorial solely to convince readers of his opinion, or does Rojstaczer present a credible claim in higher education’s grade inflation.
“Making the Grade” by Kurt Wiesenfeld Newsweek magazine, June 27 1996 brings to light an issue that has been glazed over by society for some time, grade inflation. It’s highly disturbing that “we lament that schoolchildren get “kicked upstairs” until they graduate from high school despite being illiterate and mathematically inept, but we seem unconcerned with college graduates whose less blatant deficiencies are far more harmful, if their accreditation exceeds their qualifications”. The issue of grade inflation is not simply an issue of students feeling entitled to higher grades than they have earned, it is a problem that directly impacts our society in a multitude of negative ways. Perhaps the “gold star” mentality started out with the good intentions of creating children with positive self-esteem, however, a direct result is lazy adults with a sense of entitlement for no reason, who lack qualifications to adequately and safely perform their jobs.
Grades do motivate students to do better but, grades cause students to want to get a good grade instead of fully mastering the material. They look at school just trying to pass which promotes cheating on tests and homework. They also will choose the material that is the easiest and choose a class with a professor who doesn’t care to raise their GPA. School is supposed to be about learning and understanding new material to help gain knowledge and a new way of thinking.
In “How Grading Reform Changed Our School,” author Jeffrey A. Erickson discusses about how it is common in high schools to pass each student by their accumulated average of the entire class period. He described many examples to display the way of grading in high schools such as in behaviors, lessons, and tasks. He talks about the changes that were made and were in effect to achieve a grading average that reflects the student 's’ abilities and knowledge .
The article written by Michael Thomsen addresses the issue: should we as a society continue using a standardized grading system. Thomsen includes many reasons supporting his ultimate conclusion that we should not continue with any system of standardized grades. However, the reasons he uses to support his conclusion are affected by significant ambiguity which weakens the overall argument.
According the three leading effects of grading outlined in Kohn’s paper, the number one effect of grading is “grades tend to reduce students' interest in being taught.” I would agree with his argument grading and testing puts pressure on getting excellent grades and takes the focus off understanding and on “performing” acceptably. When I was younger, I was ferocious reading lately the only reading I accomplish is required for a class or studying a textbook. It was enjoyable since I loved reading; I was not required to read all the books I read due to my genuine love for reading and words. Because of that, I excelled in English.
Former professor of geophysics, Stuart Rojstaczer, in his informative op-ed piece, “Grade Inflation Gone Wild,” featured in “Christian Science Monitior(2009),” investigates grade inflation among universities today. Rojstaczer’s purpose is to inform and educate universities on the inflation of grades, and how an A has become the average grade among those schools. He adopts a dismissive tone when generalizing and addressing the students on their behaviors and actions. Rojstaczer found over 80 universities with data on they’re grades, using this he was able to better understand the inflation and also analyze possible solutions. His logos based writing portrays a negative connotation on todays students and their ability to achieve within the classroom. There is no hiding that the standard for grades has been on the rise sense the 1960’s, and is now at an average GPA of a 3.0, but rojstaczer may have lost his audience with his arrogant approach.
Before we can look at how grading affects learning Farber suggests we look at how it has affected students (333-334). The greatest effect of being graded happens to the individual. Farber asks, “Did you need grades to learn how to drive?” We have become “grade junkies.” Without the grades students can’t learn (333). Vogel agrees that students believe grades are the motivating factor in learning, but only for the money. Students want the grades because high GPA’s equal high paying jobs (338-339). Another negative effect of grades is that students want the best grade with the least amount of learning but this causes conflict with professors because the professor’s goal is different compared to the student’s (339). Grades have positive effects too. Farber believes that grades give us discipline, but not self-discipline. True self-discipline comes from wanting something not coercion (334). Farber defines self-discipline as revising one paragraph all night because one enjoys it (334.)
The Consequences of Grade Inflation When students arrive at university, professors expect them to understand the material to an exceptional standard. The problem is that grade inflation is occurring more regularly in secondary schools and universities across the country and when these students’ marks are sent to universities or colleges, the student may be given multiple scholarships for something that he/she should not have earned. Grade inflation is conceived between both students and teachers, meaning that the students are given higher grades when they have inadequate learning, reading, and verbal skills, while the teachers do not have to grade as many papers as they should in the real curriculum. There have been multiple examinations that have confirmed that grade inflation is very real and still occurs today. Students seem to think that they do not need to put forth much effort in school to do well, and grade inflation encourages this thought.
Seeing this, the ability of grades to influence and create positive and negative roles to students remains to be the responsibility of the educator. Given that grades help manifest a standard for students to adhere to, teachers must try to create an environment where they can facilitate and motivate students to do better (Tomlinson, 2001). By using grades as an instrument for development, it can create a positive perception for students to improve and seek connections with instruction and course content.
“there is the question whether grade inflation matters, even if it is real. Elaine Allensworth, the
It is believed that tests are a precise measurement of a student’s ability. Intelligence testing misinterpreted if the test is unreliable. The test must be “consistent and stable “reading” of a person’s ability from one occasion to the next, assuming the person’s ability remains the same.” (book) There could also be an error in scores. When taking the test, students may be in a foul mood, unmotivated, may have cheated, or have horrible test taking skills.
“What makes a child gifted and talented may not always be good grades in school, but a different way of looking at the world and learning.” That’s what the senior United States Senator from Iowa Chuck Grassley once said. When students get a “F” on their exam, that does not necessary means they are stupid, or they do not know the material. It could only mean they have a different way of learning, or a different way of explaining the material which the teacher is not aware of. There are different ways of learning that students have, and there are different ways they apply their knowledge into real life. Therefore, grades are not the best way to judge the students’ standing in their classes, nor is it the best way to judge their learning process. In addition,
The renowned intelligence quotient, or IQ was created by William Stern. This incorporates a person’s mental age and their actual age to discover where they fall intellectually compared to other people (Myers, 2007, p.444). When measuring intelligence, according to Myers (2007), it is important to realize that “Today’s intelligence tests therefore produce a mental ability score based on the test-taker’s performance relative to the average performance of others the same age” (p. 444). Many people question how credible intelligence tests are since intelligence itself could mean several different things to a person. Perhaps to compensate for this, numerous ability tests are in place at schools and workplaces.