Keith, I want to distinguish between grade creep (where the overall level of grades rises) and grading 'on the curve' where grades are fit to a preset distribution curve, and retain their average from grading cycle to the next. With grade creep, the average grade rises from cycle to cycle. Yes, the argument for defending grade creep is that the students are getting better, but I see little evidence for that, again from anecdotal observations.
I do wonder to what extent my own biases affect these judgments I am making. For example, I am greatly aware of the growing linguistic inability of students, and I have a background belief that if a person can't express themselves well, it is unlikely that they can think well, either. (Worff, and all that.) But then I wonder: perhaps I am not accepting a youthful vernacular that in fact can communicate as well as mine. Perhaps I am just applying the prejudice that an older generation has for a younger one? In the end I did not have the pleasure of coming to university in England; I chose to go the US, though England was closer to where I then lived (Switzerland) and in many ways more sympatico, as the single largest national group of my teachers until then had been British. Coming to the US was quite a cultural shock. I was nearly slapped into 'remedial' English because I didn't write in 'American." (And I still am grateful to my spell-checker for worrying about my zeds and 'u's...I don't think I'll ever get those straight. But then, I still automatically insert that missing 'e', as well!) In the US, we went through a period some7-8 years ago (locally) in which high school students and younger were the subject of 'self-esteem' worries by grown-ups and teachers. Correcting the grammar of a student was viewed with concern, as it might discourage them from writing. So kids were being encouraged to 'express' themselves regardless of grammar, spelling, descriptive values, etc. Then it began to dawn on the grown-ups and teachers - and even a few parents - that they were graduating dunces from one class to the next. The pendulum has now swung back, with the aid of standard State-wide testing, and a new ethos that recognizes academic standards and achievement. I do not know how good the standard tests are, nor whether they permit the kind o diversity of learning curricula and styles that seems necessary if the range of human experience and capacity is to be supported and manifested. Not having great confidence in the ability of bureaucrats to get their arms around problems that are in the least bit complex or nuanced, and automatically worry about it. Standardization around the wrong content or approach may be worse than the chaos of having no standards. Cheers, Lawry -----Original Message----- From: Keith Hudson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, October 05, 2002 3:35 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Grade creep (was RE: the Power of a Yale Education and a good Silver Spoon. Lawry, At 11:52 05/10/02 -0400, you wrote: >Greetings, Keith, > >I am only an anecdotal observer of grade creep, and I can well imagine the >chaos that it would cause when grades are link institutionally to school >funding, or to university automation. If I understand you correctly, you >are saying that A-level grades were artificially downgraded to counter grade >inflation? That would just compound the chaos -- no? -- by introducing one >more irrelevant variable? Yes, grade creep (inflation) has been occurring for many years in a fairly uniform way (though particularly so in maths and science subjects) -- though this view is strenuously resisted by the educational left-wing who say that it is not the case that exams have been getting easier but that school students are working harder. I would rather believe the sight of my own eyes in seeing exam papers over the years since I did them -- and also the view of the former Chief Inspector of Schools who also believes that standards have dropped. Until recently, the increasing number of those qualifying for university has been matched by considerable growth in the number of universities. However, this has been tailing off in the last year or two so grade creep has probably been obscured by interfering with the exam marks -- bringing some or all of them all down. The three main exam boards are under an overarching government Qualification and Curriculum Agency which can carry out the downgrading in any subject they like on their computers. I say "probably" because it is suspected that this has been going on for some years but not proved -- *until this year* -- when it was done so obviously and so maladroitely that the schools (private and state) erupted. If the QCA had done this intelligently by shading down all the grades uniformly then, as before, no-one would have noticed but this time they chose only some subjects in a seemingly arbitrary sort of way (though there was probably some deeper reason) it and shifted the grades downwards in great leaps, say from A to E! Or even from A to complete failure in some modules. The QCA, like other government agencies is supposed to be independent but that's nonsense, of course. Its Chairmen and Chief Executives are come under tremendous Ministerial pressure. The previous Chairman resigned a year ago, and the Chief Executive resigned last December (no reasons given in both cases -- they've both probably received golden handshakes for signing secrecy agreements). The last Chairman resigned last week after saying publicly that the Minister for Education had been acting improperly. >Decades ago, I took my A-levels and did well enough that Oxford/Cambridge >were available. But then, I decided to come to America to find out what my >native country had to offer. As with other key decision points, I wonder >how my life might have turned out had I pursued that first plan. So you were at school here then? Keith > >Best regards, >Lawry > > >-----Original Message----- >From: Keith Hudson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] >Sent: Saturday, October 05, 2002 11:28 AM >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Grade creep (was RE: the Power of a Yale Education and a good >Silver Spoon. > >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 > >--------------------------------------------------------------------------- - >-------------- > >Keith Hudson,6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England >Tel:01225 312622/444881; Fax:01225 447727; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >________________________________________________________________________ > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------- Keith Hudson,6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England Tel:01225 312622/444881; Fax:01225 447727; E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ________________________________________________________________________
