Lawry,
You're lucky that grade creep ('grade inflation' over here) has not
affected students in the *whole* country as it has affected us here because
of centralised control of our university entrance system and the wish to
show that governmental policy is producing better educational results from
year to year.
Besides the fact that our state school system continues to break down apace
with armed guards now being installed in scores of inner city schools, the
grade creep phenomenon has now affected a minority of private schools as
well as state schools at Advanced-level (government-controlled) exam stage
(university entrance).
This year, out of 108 subject units, the examiners' markings of 74, and
involving 91,000 sudents have been affected by downgradings (that is, grade
'disinflation') at central level because grade creep had been carried too
far this year -- and the universities would have been swamped.
The result of this downgrading exercise is that thousands of students who
should not have gone to university have now enrolled this autumn, and
somewhat more who should have gone have not been able to.
Here's one example out of thousands. Edward Harrison, 17, who studied for
five Advanced-level subjects and planned to go to Oxford received four A
grades and one B grade (in French) instead of the necessary five A grades.
His teachers disputed the B grade with the central authorities, who
informed them he only received an E grade in one of French modules, thus
pulling down what would have been an A grade to a B. It now turns out that
the module had been marked as an A grade by the examiner but had been
pulled down to an E grade by the central computer, this module being
particularly effective in enabling sufficent numbers of students to be
downgraded.
As you might guess, all hell has broken loose, because even those students
who have gone to university (but might have gone to better ones) want their
A levels upgraded to fairly show their true results in their CVs. The
politicians are now accepting that the credibility of the A-levels has been
so compromised that they are thinking of bringing in another exam, such as
the International Baccalaureate, which is set and marked by a body
independent of government.
Like our National Health Service, our state education and examination
system, both products of 50 years of experimentation and central control,
is now falling to pieces.
Keith
At 09:25 05/10/02 -0400, you wrote:
>"Grade creep" has been a major phenomenon at many - but not all --top
>universities over the last years. Assuming that if a student is good enough
>to get in, the student 'must' do well, grading has become more generous,
>with A and B+ averages not unusual. Specifically, I know this is true at
>Harvard, Yale and Stanford. Grade creep has NOT occurred, as far as I can
>tell, at Duke and Berkeley. I doubt but don't know that it has happened at
>Swarthmore, Haverford, Caltech or MIT, and would suspect but don't know that
>it has at Princeton. And that rounds out my list of 'top' undergraduate
>universities.
>
>I doubt that grading discriminates at any of the institutions between those
>who got in on 'merit', 'affirmative action', or 'legacy' (parent's
>attendance) admission policies. Athletes and 'affirmative action' admission
>at some institutions generally have special coaching available, but I would
>guess that these efforts are seriously intended to help the students with
>their learning, and, consequently and legitimately, grades.
>
>Cheers,
>Lawry
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Keith Hudson,6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England
Tel:01225 312622/444881; Fax:01225 447727; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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