Subject: Re: [tips] grade inflation at Harvard and other places

[Mike Wiliams]

Hello All,

I think its possible we are trying to enforce variance that does not exist 
among students.  All or most of the students can actually have a
mastery of the material in the courses and deserve A's.  This is theoretically 
possible and likely happens at a University like
Harvard.  I have also observed this in medical school.  The students who 
finally get in are studying and test-taking machines.
They work extremely hard and actually know the material.  Instead of making 
tests that accurately measure this, they are
given horribly designed test items that have ambiguous multiple choice options 
and K-type questions etc.  The variance on
the test that forces the grades into a normal curve has nothing to do with the 
course content.  The variance is attributable
to test taking skill.  Most of them should get A's and we need to live with it. 
 Why is it so important to enforce a bell curve?

The Flynn effect is not applicable since grades are not normed.  The norms of 
an IQ test are updated.  The content may change
but this has nothing to do with the Flynn effect.  I am not convinced of the 
Flynn effect anyway.  It was discovered essentially
by accident and we never had a sufficient longitudinal study.  It should be 
called the Flynn suggestion.

Can you imagine how bad the grading would be if we graded by norms and only 
assigned a standard score?  We could end up failing
students because they performed less than peers even when they mastered the 
course.

Mike Williams
Drexel University


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[tips] left brain right brain

[Carol DeVolder]

I've been meaning to post this article about the left brain/right brain
myth. Hopefully this tiny url will work. It's from NPR and is a pretty nice
summary.
*http://tinyurl.com/mgp8oot *
Carol

-- 
Carol DeVolder, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
St. Ambrose University
518 West Locust Street
Davenport, Iowa  52803
563-333-6482

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Re: [tips] grade inflation at Harvard and other places

[John Kulig]

I believe there is grade inflation nation-wide but I am willing to cut Harvard 
some flack. They have become increasingly elite, and if they retain fixed 
standards for grades, grades should creep up. I am not necessarily defending A- 
as the modal grade. Here is some data from Chapter 1 of the Bell Curve. If it 
seems choppy, it is because I am piecing together info from different places in 
Ch 1. 

In 1926 the first SATs were administered and the average Ivy League & Seven 
Sister IQs (estimated from SAT) was about 117 (87th percentile). In contrast, 
the average student at a Pennsylvania college or university had an estimated IQ 
of 107 (though the "top" schools in Pennsylvania had IQs in the "75th to 90th" 
percentile range) according to the Carnegie Foundation. By the 1960s, while the 
Pennsylvania students moved upward to an average of 89th percentile in IQ 
(about 119 or so), students at Harvard increased more to the 99th percentile 
(130 plus). Harvard became disproportionally elite. 

The shift seems to have happened form the 1950s to the 1960s when Harvard 
shifted from a northeast "connections" school to a very competitive school 
based on SAT scores. In 1952 they accepted about 2/3 of applicants (9/10 if a 
father attended) and SAT verbal was 583; It jumped to 678 in 1960. A typical 
Harvard freshman of 1952 would have been in the bottom 10% of the 1960 class. A 
quick internet search shows there _current_ quartiles for Harvard which means 
the trend continues 

Test Scores -- 25th / 75th Percentile 

* SAT Critical Reading: 700 / 800 
* SAT Math: 710 / 790 
* SAT Writing: 710 / 800 
Interestingly, when I teach Measurement I sometimes refer to these effects to 
counter the impression that standardized tests are used to oppress people. 
History of their use shows the opposite - they allowed people from different 
backgrounds to compete even if they not have family connections or attend the 
elite prep schools of New England ... 

== 
John W. Kulig, Ph.D. 
Professor of Psychology 
Coordinator, Psychology Honors 
Plymouth State University 
Plymouth NH 03264 
== 

- Original Message -

From: "drnanjo"  
To: "Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)" 
 
Sent: Thursday, December 5, 2013 11:56:13 AM 
Subject: Re: [tips] grade inflation at Harvard and other places 








Part of this is a devil's advocate response, and part of this is sincere 
curiosity. 


Given inflated self-esteem, it’s not a good thing to give them high grades, 
because it only encourages a false sense of what they can and cannot do,” he 
said 



If you are running a top-flight selective institution, that accepts only 
high-flying all-A students, why is it shocking and wrong that those students 
continue to get As? Unless you are now changing the rules so that some of them 
must fail (which seems kind of ethically problematic and mean and punitive to 
boot.) 
By the way, I am not a fan of "self-esteem" one of the more horses**t 
constructs to come out of 20th Century (pop) psychology. 
"Here we have a system of numbers by which important decisions about human 
beings are made, about their future,” he said, “and those numbers are so lousy 
that academics should blush over even publishing them.” 
Maybe it speaks to some of the limitations of using numbers or letters for 
evaluation of complex and diverse individuals...a common theme in behavioral, 
social and health sciences. 
My .02 
Nancy Melucci 
Long Beach City College 
et al. 

-Original Message- 
From: Beth Benoit  
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)  
Sent: Thu, Dec 5, 2013 5:56 am 
Subject: [tips] grade inflation at Harvard and other places 

I recall that we discussed grade inflation on TIPS a while ago. This article 
appeared in today's Boston Globe. 
Beth Benoit 
Plymouth State University 
New Hampshire 
Harvard, other schools still fighting grade inflation 

By Marcella Bombardieri Save 
Harvard College is facing a new round of disapproval, and even ridicule, from 
some educators following news that the most common grade awarded is an A, more 
than a decade after professors pledged to combat grade inflation. 
Critics say that making top grades the norm cheapens the hard work of the best 
students and reinforces the deluded self-regard of many members of the 
millennial generation. 
Yet Harvard has illustrious company among universities struggling with how to 
turn the tide on several decades of rising marks. 
Princeton University is reconsidering the grading crackdown it instituted nine 
years ago, amid concerns that tougher grades are hurting Princeton graduates’ 
prospects for jobs and graduate school. At Yale College, where 62 percent of 
grades are in the A range, proposals to curb grade inflation are in doubt 
following student protests and faculty concern. 
Continue reading below 
Related 


* 12/4: Harvard professor raises grade inflation concerns 

Grade inflati

Re: [tips] grade inflation at Harvard and other places

[Christopher Green]

On 2013-12-05, at 11:30 AM, Jim Clark wrote:

> Has anyone ever examined or thought about the implications of the Flynn 
> Effect for grades?  If IQ tests need “recalibrating” every few years, is the 
> same true for tests and exams?

Funny, I seem to adjust my tests downward every few years. IQ is not the only 
contributor to (or detractor from) the quality of school work. :-)

Chris
---
Christopher D. Green
Department of Psychology
York University
Toronto, ON M3J 1P3
Canada

chri...@yorku.ca
http://www.yorku.ca/christo/
=


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Re: [tips] grade inflation at Harvard and other places

[drnanjo]

Part of this is a devil's advocate response, and part of this is sincere 
curiosity.

Given inflated self-esteem, it’s not a good thing to give them high grades, 
because it only encourages a false sense of what they can and cannot do,” he 
said


If you are running a top-flight selective institution, that accepts only 
high-flying all-A students, why is it shocking and wrong that those students 
continue to get As? Unless you are now changing the rules so that some of them 
must fail (which seems kind of ethically problematic and mean and punitive to 
boot.)

By the way, I am not a fan of "self-esteem" one of the more horses**t 
constructs to come out of 20th Century (pop) psychology.

"Here we have a system of numbers by which important decisions about human 
beings are made, about their future,” he said, “and those numbers are so lousy 
that academics should blush over even publishing them.”

Maybe it speaks to some of the limitations of using numbers or letters for 
evaluation of complex and diverse individuals...a common theme in behavioral, 
social and health sciences.

My .02

Nancy Melucci
Long Beach City College
et al.

 

-Original Message-
From: Beth Benoit 
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) 
Sent: Thu, Dec 5, 2013 5:56 am
Subject: [tips] grade inflation at Harvard and other places



 

 

 

I recall that we discussed grade inflation on TIPS a while ago.  This article 
appeared in today's Boston Globe.
Beth Benoit
Plymouth State University
New Hampshire
 
Harvard, other schools still fighting grade inflation


By Marcella BombardieriSave

Harvard College is facing a new round of disapproval, and even ridicule, from 
some educators following news that the most common grade awarded is an A, more 
than a decade after professors pledged to combat grade inflation.
Critics say that making top grades the norm cheapens the hard work of the best 
students and reinforces the deluded self-regard of many members of the 
millennial generation.
Yet Harvard has illustrious company among universities struggling with how to 
turn the tide on several decades of rising marks.
Princeton University is reconsidering the grading crackdown it instituted nine 
years ago, amid concerns that tougher grades are hurting Princeton graduates’ 
prospects for jobs and graduate school. At Yale College, where 62 percent of 
grades are in the A range, proposals to curb grade inflation are in doubt 
following student protests and faculty concern.
Continue reading below

Related

12/4: Harvard professor raises grade inflation concerns




Grade inflation is a problem far beyond the Ivy League, although perhaps not 
quite as much of a problem, according to Arthur Levine, an education scholar. 
For his book “Generation on a Tightrope,” Levine, president of the Woodrow 
Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, found in a national survey that 41 
percent of students had grade point averages of A-minus or higher in 2009, 
compared to just 7 percent in 1969.
“Harvard is leading the nation once again,” Levine said Wednesday, with 
considerable irony. “This is a generation which has grown up without skinning 
their knees. They’ve all won awards: best trombone player born on April 25. 
They’re used to having approbation. 
“Given inflated self-esteem, it’s not a good thing to give them high grades, 
because it only encourages a false sense of what they can and cannot do,” he 
said.
After a Boston Globe analysis in 2001 found that an astonishing 91 percent of 
Harvard College students were graduating with honors, officials released data 
showing that 48.5 percent of grades were A’s and A-minuses, compared to 33.2 
percent who received those marks in 1985.
In response to the uproar that followed, the faculty capped honors — summa, 
magna, and cum laude — at 60 percent. They also pledged to award more B’s, a 
largely self-policing policy, but deans said they would notify department 
chairman when professors were unusually lenient or stringent. For several 
years, Harvard officials published annual grade statistics showing that grades 
were creeping upward.
In response to a professor’s question at Tuesday’s meeting of the Faculty of 
Arts and Sciences, Jay M. Harris, dean of undergraduate education, said that 
the median grade awarded to undergraduates is an A-
minus, while the most frequently awarded grade is an A. The news was first 
reported by The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper.
Harvey C. Mansfield, a government professor who raised the issue, described an 
“embarrassed silence” at the meeting, where neither President Drew Faust nor 
the deans present commented on the issue. “Essentially, they’ve given up on 
it,” said Mansfield, who has long railed against grade inflation.
Still, Mansfield said, he was cheered that he received e-mails from members of 
the faculty council who suggested they may review the issue, asking him to 
write a memo to put it on their agenda.
Harris d

RE: [tips] grade inflation at Harvard and other places

[Jim Clark]

Hi

Has anyone ever examined or thought about the implications of the Flynn Effect 
for grades?  If IQ tests need "recalibrating" every few years, is the same true 
for tests and exams?

Take care
Jim

Jim Clark
Professor & Chair of Psychology
204-786-9757
4L41A

From: Beth Benoit [mailto:beth.ben...@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, December 05, 2013 7:57 AM
To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS)
Subject: [tips] grade inflation at Harvard and other places







I recall that we discussed grade inflation on TIPS a while ago.  This article 
appeared in today's Boston Globe.
Beth Benoit
Plymouth State University
New Hampshire

Harvard, other schools still fighting grade inflation
By Marcella Bombardieri
[594d21e6-5d5f-11e3-9002-efefa60e0d10]Save

Harvard College is facing a new round of disapproval, and even ridicule, from 
some educators following news that the most common grade awarded is an A, more 
than a decade after professors pledged to combat grade inflation.

Critics say that making top grades the norm cheapens the hard work of the best 
students and reinforces the deluded self-regard of many members of the 
millennial generation.

Yet Harvard has illustrious company among universities struggling with how to 
turn the tide on several decades of rising marks.

Princeton University is reconsidering the grading crackdown it instituted nine 
years ago, amid concerns that tougher grades are hurting Princeton graduates' 
prospects for jobs and graduate school. At Yale College, where 62 percent of 
grades are in the A range, proposals to curb grade inflation are in doubt 
following student protests and faculty concern.

Continue reading 
below

Related

  *   12/4: Harvard professor raises grade inflation 
concerns

Grade inflation is a problem far beyond the Ivy League, although perhaps not 
quite as much of a problem, according to Arthur Levine, an education scholar. 
For his book "Generation on a Tightrope," Levine, president of the Woodrow 
Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, found in a national survey that 41 
percent of students had grade point averages of A-minus or higher in 2009, 
compared to just 7 percent in 1969.

"Harvard is leading the nation once again," Levine said Wednesday, with 
considerable irony. "This is a generation which has grown up without skinning 
their knees. They've all won awards: best trombone player born on April 25. 
They're used to having approbation.

"Given inflated self-esteem, it's not a good thing to give them high grades, 
because it only encourages a false sense of what they can and cannot do," he 
said.

After a Boston Globe analysis in 2001 found that an astonishing 91 percent of 
Harvard College students were graduating with honors, officials released data 
showing that 48.5 percent of grades were A's and A-minuses, compared to 33.2 
percent who received those marks in 1985.

In response to the uproar that followed, the faculty capped honors - summa, 
magna, and cum laude - at 60 percent. They also pledged to award more B's, a 
largely self-policing policy, but deans said they would notify department 
chairman when professors were unusually lenient or stringent. For several 
years, Harvard officials published annual grade statistics showing that grades 
were creeping upward.

In response to a professor's question at Tuesday's meeting of the Faculty of 
Arts and Sciences, Jay M. Harris, dean of undergraduate education, said that 
the median grade awarded to undergraduates is an A-
minus, while the most frequently awarded grade is an A. The news was first 
reported by The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper.

Harvey C. Mansfield, a government professor who raised the issue, described an 
"embarrassed silence" at the meeting, where neither President Drew Faust nor 
the deans present commented on the issue. "Essentially, they've given up on 
it," said Mansfield, who has long railed against grade inflation.

Still, Mansfield said, he was cheered that he received e-mails from members of 
the faculty council who suggested they may review the issue, asking him to 
write a memo to put it on their agenda.

Harris did not respond to messages Wednesday, and Harvard spokesman Jeff Neal 
would not comment beyond a statement saying that faculty members have elevated 
the importance of teaching. "We watch and review trends in grading across 
Harvard College, but we are most interested in helping our students learn and 
learn well," he said.

The Crimson editorialized Wednesday against any rigid grading policy, 
suggesting that rising grades are "due in part to the rising quality of the 
undergradua

Re: [tips] Has anyone ever received this inquiry from a student about APA style?

[Carol DeVolder]

Perhaps this was mentioned and I missed it, but with respect to James, Susy
Smith doesn't seem to include him in the bibliography, and she certainly
takes authorship (and most likely remuneration), though she "admits" that
she didn't write the book (it was really James). She states that, although
the writing style is clumsier than James would typically use, it's her
fault, not his. For more, see:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-James-William-That/dp/1583485732

Carol


On Thu, Dec 5, 2013 at 8:42 AM, Mike Palij  wrote:

> I understand that it is bad form to reply to one's own post but
> an example came to mind which I thought I'd throw out there:
>
> On Wed, 4 Dec 2013 19:37:35 -0500, Mike Palij wrote:
>
>> Hmm, a more vexing question, I think, is how do you cite
>> the voices in one's head?  Should one just identify this as a
>> "personal communication" or is there a more appropriate
>> citation and reference?
>>
>
> Remember the movie "The Shining"?  At the end, the little boy
> Danny and his mother escape, implying they have lives beyond
> the movie.  Imagine that Danny grows up, gets a Ph.D. in
> psychology, and happily writes papers for publication.  Remember
> that as a child Danny acknowledged that there was a little boy
> named "Tony" that lived in his mouth (see:
> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/quotes )
> Imagine that Tony leaves Danny's mouth and another "person"
> moves in, oh, named "William James".  In the movie, Tony
> provided suggestions and opinions (e.g., REDRUM) and it
> is quite possible that as an adult, William James would provide
> advice to Danny on a number of issues ranging from research
> design to interpretation of results/issues to advice on writing.
> How should Danny cite the advice he receives from William
> James?  Consider the following example:
>
> "Many have interpreted William James' statement on the infant's
> perception of the world as being 'one great blooming, buzzing
> confusion' as a statement about the tabula rosa state of the infant's
> mind, that is, the infant lacks knowledge about the world and to
> categorize its experience of the different stimuli that it experience
> (see, for example:Goldman 2013
> http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/2012/07/26/
> blooming-buzzing-confusion-but-who-is-confused/ ) .
> But in discussions with William James who lives in my mouth,
> he tells me that he was actually engaged in a little wordplay
> and wondered how many people would mistakenly think that
> he said "booming, buzzing confusion" instead of "blooming,
> buzzing confusion" because of the apparent unusual use of the
> term "blooming" for the more consistent word "booming"
> (William James, personal communications, November 1, 2013).
> Indeed, James has expressed some degree of satisfaction over
> this point because a Google search shows that many people in
> fact do use "booming" instead of "blooming"; see:
> https://www.google.com/search?num=100&safe=off&client=
> firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=rcs&q=
> great+booming,+buzzing+confusion&nfpr=1&sa=X&ei=
> N46gUtuoNOrlsATjooHgAQ&ved=0CCoQvgUoAQ .
> This highlights the importance of not only checking original sources
> but checking with authors even if they are currently deceased."
>
> -Mike Palij
> New York University
> m...@nyu.edu
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to tips as: devoldercar...@gmail.com.
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> a45340211ac7929163a021623341&n=T&l=tips&o=31012
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> 4...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
>



-- 
Carol DeVolder, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology
St. Ambrose University
518 West Locust Street
Davenport, Iowa  52803
563-333-6482

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Re:[tips] Has anyone ever received this inquiry from a student about APA style?

[Mike Palij]

I understand that it is bad form to reply to one's own post but
an example came to mind which I thought I'd throw out there:

On Wed, 4 Dec 2013 19:37:35 -0500, Mike Palij wrote:

Hmm, a more vexing question, I think, is how do you cite
the voices in one's head?  Should one just identify this as a
"personal communication" or is there a more appropriate
citation and reference?


Remember the movie "The Shining"?  At the end, the little boy
Danny and his mother escape, implying they have lives beyond
the movie.  Imagine that Danny grows up, gets a Ph.D. in
psychology, and happily writes papers for publication.  Remember
that as a child Danny acknowledged that there was a little boy
named "Tony" that lived in his mouth (see:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081505/quotes )
Imagine that Tony leaves Danny's mouth and another "person"
moves in, oh, named "William James".  In the movie, Tony
provided suggestions and opinions (e.g., REDRUM) and it
is quite possible that as an adult, William James would provide
advice to Danny on a number of issues ranging from research
design to interpretation of results/issues to advice on writing.
How should Danny cite the advice he receives from William
James?  Consider the following example:

"Many have interpreted William James' statement on the infant's
perception of the world as being 'one great blooming, buzzing
confusion' as a statement about the tabula rosa state of the infant's
mind, that is, the infant lacks knowledge about the world and to
categorize its experience of the different stimuli that it experience
(see, for example:Goldman 2013
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/thoughtful-animal/2012/07/26/blooming-buzzing-confusion-but-who-is-confused/ ) 
.

But in discussions with William James who lives in my mouth,
he tells me that he was actually engaged in a little wordplay
and wondered how many people would mistakenly think that
he said "booming, buzzing confusion" instead of "blooming,
buzzing confusion" because of the apparent unusual use of the
term "blooming" for the more consistent word "booming"
(William James, personal communications, November 1, 2013).
Indeed, James has expressed some degree of satisfaction over
this point because a Google search shows that many people in
fact do use "booming" instead of "blooming"; see:
https://www.google.com/search?num=100&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=rcs&q=great+booming,+buzzing+confusion&nfpr=1&sa=X&ei=N46gUtuoNOrlsATjooHgAQ&ved=0CCoQvgUoAQ
 .
This highlights the importance of not only checking original sources
but checking with authors even if they are currently deceased."

-Mike Palij
New York University
m...@nyu.edu






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[tips] grade inflation at Harvard and other places

[Beth Benoit]

I recall that we discussed grade inflation on TIPS a while ago.  This
article appeared in today's Boston Globe.
Beth Benoit
Plymouth State University
New Hampshire

Harvard, other schools still fighting grade inflation
By Marcella Bombardieri  Save

Harvard College is facing a new round of disapproval, and even ridicule,
from some educators following news that the most common grade awarded is an
A, more than a decade after professors pledged to combat grade inflation.

Critics say that making top grades the norm cheapens the hard work of the
best students and reinforces the deluded self-regard of many members of the
millennial generation.

Yet Harvard has illustrious company among universities struggling with how
to turn the tide on several decades of rising marks.

Princeton University is reconsidering the grading crackdown it instituted
nine years ago, amid concerns that tougher grades are hurting Princeton
graduates’ prospects for jobs and graduate school. At Yale College, where
62 percent of grades are in the A range, proposals to curb grade inflation
are in doubt following student protests and faculty concern.

Continue reading
below
Related

   - 12/4: Harvard professor raises grade inflation
concerns

Grade inflation is a problem far beyond the Ivy League, although perhaps
not quite as much of a problem, according to Arthur Levine, an education
scholar. For his book “Generation on a Tightrope,” Levine, president of the
Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, found in a national survey
that 41 percent of students had grade point averages of A-minus or higher
in 2009, compared to just 7 percent in 1969.

“Harvard is leading the nation once again,” Levine said Wednesday, with
considerable irony. “This is a generation which has grown up without
skinning their knees. They’ve all won awards: best trombone player born on
April 25. They’re used to having approbation.

“Given inflated self-esteem, it’s not a good thing to give them high
grades, because it only encourages a false sense of what they can and
cannot do,” he said.

After a Boston Globe analysis in 2001 found that an astonishing 91 percent
of Harvard College students were graduating with honors, officials released
data showing that 48.5 percent of grades were A’s and A-minuses, compared
to 33.2 percent who received those marks in 1985.

In response to the uproar that followed, the faculty capped honors — summa,
magna, and cum laude — at 60 percent. They also pledged to award more B’s,
a largely self-policing policy, but deans said they would notify department
chairman when professors were unusually lenient or stringent. For several
years, Harvard officials published annual grade statistics showing that
grades were creeping upward.

In response to a professor’s question at Tuesday’s meeting of the Faculty
of Arts and Sciences, Jay M. Harris, dean of undergraduate education, said
that the median grade awarded to undergraduates is an A-
minus, while the most frequently awarded grade is an A. The news was first
reported by The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper.

Harvey C. Mansfield, a government professor who raised the issue, described
an “embarrassed silence” at the meeting, where neither President Drew Faust
nor the deans present commented on the issue. “Essentially, they’ve given
up on it,” said Mansfield, who has long railed against grade inflation.

Still, Mansfield said, he was cheered that he received e-mails from members
of the faculty council who suggested they may review the issue, asking him
to write a memo to put it on their agenda.

Harris did not respond to messages Wednesday, and Harvard spokesman Jeff
Neal would not comment beyond a statement saying that faculty members have
elevated the importance of teaching. “We watch and review trends in grading
across Harvard College, but we are most interested in helping our students
learn and learn well,” he said.

The Crimson editorialized Wednesday against any rigid grading policy,
suggesting that rising grades are “due in part to the rising quality of the
undergraduates themselves.”

Many professors are relatively sanguine about grade inflation. Harry Lewis,
former dean of Harvard College, wrote in his 2006 book, “Excellence without
a Soul,” that grades are meant to be a motivational device to help students
learn and should not be seen mainly as credentials for external consumption.

“The pressure for ‘meaningful’ and stiff grading is anti-educational,” he
wrote, noting that handwringing at Harvard about too many A’s dates to at
least 1894.

A few universities emphasize strict grading, or what students unhappil