Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion College grade inflation

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/12/3/grade-inflation-mode-a/
Substantiating Fears of Grade Inflation, Dean Says Median Grade at Harvard College Is A-, Most Common Grade Is A
By MATTHEW Q. CLARIDA and NICHOLAS P. FANDOS
Harvard Crimson
December 4, 2013

The median grade at Harvard College is an A-, and the most frequently awarded mark is an A, Dean of Undergraduate Education Jay M. Harris said on Tuesday afternoon, supporting suspicions that the College employs a softer grading standard than many of its peer institutions.

Harris delivered the information in response to a question from government professor Harvey C. Mansfield ’53 at the monthly meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

“A little bird has told me that the most frequently given grade at Harvard College right now is an A-,” Mansfield said during the meeting’s question period. “If this is true or nearly true, it represents a failure on the part of this faculty and its leadership to maintain our academic standards.”

Harris then stood and looked towards FAS Dean Michael D. Smith in hesitation.

“I can answer the question, if you want me to.” Harris said. “The median grade in Harvard College is indeed an A-. The most frequently awarded grade in Harvard College is actually a straight A.”

Harris said after the meeting that the data on grading standards is from fall 2012 and several previous semesters.

In an email to The Crimson after the meeting, Mansfield wrote that he was “not surprised but rather further depressed” by Harris’s answer.

“Nor was I surprised at the embarrassed silence in the whole room and especially at the polished table (as I call it),” Mansfield added, referencing the table at the front of the room where top administrators sit. “The present grading practice is indefensible.”

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Students, including Harvard students, need realistic feedback about their abilities and the quality of work they have done, and grade inflation impedes this. According to http://www.gradeinflation.com/ , there has been more grade inflation at private than public colleges.

Thank you for posting this. This dovetails with a bit o' research I found while considering an aspect of the OP's question on a related thread.

Reading from How College Affects Students, Vol 2, A Third Decade of Research, Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005, page 76: and page 77: GRE may be the standard test referred to as it is referenced several times in that chapter, beginning on page 65. Buy the book, it is a fascinating and multi-faceted compendium of studies.

What is revealed by this research seems to give rise to the "Colleges That Change Lives" movement (published 1996, revised 2000) and the plethora of college rankings including U.S. News, Forbes... encouraging students, parents, high school guidance counselors, and prospective employers to seek out and acknowledge quality everywhere, not regard the ivies as the last bastion of higher education.

I think this is an interesting essay explaining the prevalence of grade inflation (and mentioning a way to combat it) -- it is the path of least resistance for professors and teaching assistants.

http://qz.com/157579/confession-of-an-ivy-league-teaching-assistant-heres-why-i-inflated-grades/
Confession of an Ivy League teaching assistant: Here’s why I inflated grades
By Allison Schrager
Quartz
December 13, 2013

I felt my grades on papers were inflated at my private college back in the '90s. It was a little disheartening, to be perfectly honest. I was secretly relieved to get Bs at times.

I think it can be easier to give an A, because a lower grade requires more feedback as to why the lower grade was given (especially in the current culture of "Why didn't I get an A?"--something I would NEVER, EVER have done).

The New York Times had a major scoop yesterday on this subject.


The story goes on to expose more of the abstrusities (is that a word?) of grading at Harvard. Now you know.

choice of paper stock and its font


Wow.

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I give this article a B.

Not sure if it’s all grade inflation, you would think that at a top tier school with so called top tier students a good portion would still be great students in college. Not all though. Using a percentage is just as wrong. How about being very proficient with the materiel regardless of the percent of students participating? Assuming the material is at the level it needs to be.