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In Artie Kohn’s “The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation” in Bergmann’s Academic Research and Writing, the author is skeptical regarding if the issue of grade inflation is really existent. It is shockingly apparent after reading the portion of the essay stating Harvard University’s two headlining quotes, each quote’s dates were spread apart by over a hundred years (Bergmann, 2010, pg. 260). Those representing Harvard University in the quotes come off as rather egotistic and overly confident in nature. The author states within the essay “To say that grades are not merely rising but inflated – and that they are consequently ‘less accurate’ now…is to postulate the existence of an objectively correct evaluation of what a student (or essay) deserves, …show more content…
There is such injustice within the arguments, and the fact that it can be stated that individuals are not good enough and are not at a certain level instead of aiming to guide students down the path they believe would help benefit them is unsettling. Yes, Harvard is highly looked up to, but that does not mean those higher up within the university can take advantage of that and belittle hard-working students, who even though may not be at the highest level student-wise, worked so hard and applied to such a prestigious university because he or she has high goals and standards. Within Kohn’s essay, a writer for The Chronicle named Henry Mansfield stated that healthy universities should not aim to expose an error in grade inflation, which I greatly agree with (Bergmann, 2010, pg. 264). Students should be motivated and trained for greatness, rather than getting knocked down by the highest within their
In her article, “The Case Against GRADES”, Alfie Kohn discusses the grading system and its faults. She opens her argument with information from an older psychological study that proves the negative impact of the current grading system, and she reinforces this with the proof that “no” research has contradicted this statement. Also, she gives many key reasons including: “Motivation”, “Achievement”, “Quantification”, and “Curriculum”. Kohn supports these topics with other reasearch for why the system is failing the students. She asserts that, “… the absence of grading is a necessary condition for promoting deep thinking and a desire to engage in it.” As support, she offers other solutions and then debunks them by proving that they would not solve
“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.”
Staples wrote, “Professors at every level inflate to escape negative evaluations by students, whose opinions now figure in tenure and promotion decisions”. (935) to tell the truth, I disagree with Staples opinion. I ponder on if it really the students or is it the professor. If a couple of students leave a bad review that will not make the professor look bad if they are giving them the grades they deserve. Why are the students in charge of the professor’s job? That is a question no one can answer. There are several aspect to consider whether or not the professor could be doing the job for the money or have too much pride in letting others see them do bad. Those aspects should be taking into consideration when speaking about grade inflation. I feel as if Staples is putting more blame on the students and parents than the teachers and administrators. Even if colleges use Staples’ proposal colleges are still faced competition among online universities. Students who attend a college campus generally end up in debt causing more people to steer toward receiving their diplomas online. Therefore, grade inflation will continue to rise because of the fear among
In the article “Don't Send Your Kid to the Ivy League” by William Deresiewicz, Deresiewicz explains the flaws within the coveted ivy league system. He begins by explaining his experience in the ivy league acceptance process and how the applications are read and judged by the acceptance panel, some applicants have too many educational qualifications and too few extracurricular activities, others have too many extracurricular activities but low GPA’s and class rankings, and others must be judged based on contributions to the college by their parents. He then transitions into how college students have over achieved but have no purpose or drive, they do things to get into college but don’t know why they want to go or what they
Alfie Kohn’s proposal to stop grading students sounds great except that it oversimplifies problems in education and what really harms students. In his own article Kohn states the obvious objections towards grades, yet dismisses them and interjects that a gradual reduction in grading will eventually lead to more successful students. However, schools around the world have grading systems similar to the U.S. grading system yet their students continue to thrive. The problem is not grades, the problem is more complex and complicated. What harms students is inequality, unmotivated teachers, Common Core, lack of creative outlets, expensive tuition, and student mental health.
Why Colleges Shower Their Students with A’s” by Brent Staples argues on the current grading practices in the U.S colleges and universities. According to Staples, colleges and universities keep the students from attending the less interesting classes such as humanities. He says, colleges are issuing more A’s because of the increasing consumer demand and competition among colleges and universities. He asserts that the importance of college education is deteriorating because of the result of grade inflation.
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.
Goode, Stephen and Maier, Timothy W. “ Inflating the Grades” Dissent Fall 1997: 102-04 in Mary Lynch Kennedy and Haley M. Smith. Reading and writing in the Academic Community. 2nd ed, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall 2001. 345-350.
An anonymous professor. self-dubbed “Professor X“ laments in his article the “Iv, Tower about the flaws of the educational system that he/she must deal with personally. Being an English professor teaching an intro to English n ight-c la.. Profe.or X often must deal with the under, gilled students that attempt to get a degree, despite their lack of proficiency. Professor X 's mtic le is mainly an anecdote that emphasizes the position he is in as -the man who has to lower the hammer, and hold these under-qualified students to college standar.. and often give them the failing grade. Marty Nemko however, author of "America ' s Most Overrated Product: The Bachelor 's Degree", .scusses in his aMcle the overemphasized importance of the bachelor 's degree, and offers grueling statistics and arguments that sup, in favor of some people abstaining from higher education and pursuing other. just as respectable career paths. Zachary Karabell. in his essay *The $10,000 Hoop-, questiorts the wisdom of the automatic r., most Americans give to someone who holds a degree. Karabell insinuat. that a higher education Ls almost overrated. and that street-smarts can never be replaced by a plaque on the wall with a dean 's signature on
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.
Maybe, the graduates might justify they were not prepared for the high level of academic learning, but nobody becomes a lawyer, doctor, or historian because it is easy. Possibly, many of the graduates grew up in an institutionalized environment since grade school going to private schools followed by college. Similarly, Wikipedia.org states about John Kennedy Junior who went to different private schools until he went to college, much the same as many of his fellow graduates (web). Thus, like John Kennedy Junior they too have lived in a protected environment a majority of their
In “The Case Against College” Linda Lee tells us exactly who belongs in college, they are “the high-achieving student who is interested in learning for learning’s sake…. And those who seem certain to go on to advanced degree’s in law, medicine, architecture, and the like,” (670). But just because there are certain people who belong in school does not mean that those are the people that attend. Those who are more privileged just happen to be in a position that allows them to partake in certain amenities, one of them being a higher standard of
In “The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation,” he evaluates the existence of grade inflation and provides strong statistical evidence in order to prove his opposition. At the beginning of his essay he provides quotes from Harvard Professor Harvey Mansfield and Harvard’s Committee on Raising the Standard to illustrate that even top elite schools believe that grade inflation is a serious problem in our education. He then goes on to inform the readers that after investigating the topic, there is little data to support such claims that grade inflation is a problem. This is because many of the reports that have created self-reports and simply unreliable. He then moves forward by comparing SAT scores with grade, which is examined by “Evaluation and the Academy: Are We Doing the Right Thing,” a report that was announced by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (155-157). Kohn then transitions by providing four assumptions that seem to the threaten grade inflation. In his conclusion he states, “The relevant research is to arrive at one overriding conclusion: The real threat to excellence isn’t grade inflation at all; it’s
Grade retention, better known as “staying back”, “being held back” or “repeating”, has been the topic of much debate within the educational system. The controversy which surrounds this long-standing issue has been reinforced by such topics as the recent endorsement of academic standards. Research indicates that “the rate of retention has increased by approximately 40% in the last 20 years with as many as 15% of all American students held back each year and 30-50% held back at least once before ninth grade” (Dawson, 1998). These discouraging statistics pose copious problems within a school system. The difficulties can be appreciated at the organizational level, as well as inside the classroom and, most troubling, within the individual students. The consequences, both positive and negative, reverberate throughout the school system. Grades retention is an issue which requires a prodigious amount of examination and should be considered carefully and thoroughly.
I do not agree that these Ivy League schools are the only schools that are able to begin and make the changes in higher education. As in many aspects of higher education changes begin on the bottom up. More grassroots programs and projects have enacted change than Presidents or Chancellors. The moral role of higher education and its leaders to provide their students an education that shapes character can be affected by their misguided ideas of merit. If higher education institutions do not begin to realize the importance of character versus merit, society as a whole, will continue to place the individual over the collective good and social injustices and inequality will continue to be prominent