[Turkmath:9405] inflation

[Muhammed Uludag]

Top Universities grade inflation? Most common grade at Harvard is A, median
is A-<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zmescience/~3/96DtK7lhmAE/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email>

Posted: 05 Dec 2013 05:01 AM PST

The most common grade at Harvard is A, and the median grade is A-, Dean of
Undergraduate Education Jay M. Harris explained, raising fears about top
American Universities artificially inflating their grades or employing
softer grading standards. The information was delivered at the monthly
meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, as a response to government
professor Harvey C. Mansfield:

“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.”

<http://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/grade_inflation_use.jpeg>

Image source<http://educationalstandards.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/grade_inflation_use.jpeg>
.

After what appeared to be a shamed hesitation, Harris gave the response:

“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.”

In a later email response, 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.”

So is this a Harvard thing, or is it a national grade inflation issue? Well
most top Universities don’t make their average grades public, and I could
only find information on Yale and Princeton. Last spring, Yale’s ad hoc
committee on grading found that 62 percent of Yale College grades between
2010 and 2012 were in the A-range. Their committee is yet to take any
concrete measures, but it’s good to hear that at least they are aware of
the problem. Meanwhile, Princeton has totally restructured their grading
system. Princeton’s grading policy has set a common grading standard for
the University, under which As (A+, A, A-) shall account for less than 35%
of the grades given in undergraduate courses and less than 55% of the
grades given in junior and senior independent work. The Faculty has agreed
that grades in the A range signify work that is exceptional (A+),
outstanding (A) or excellent (A-).
 <http://cdn.zmescience.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/figure2.gif>

Image Source. <http://www.gradeinflation.com/figure2.gif>

However, even with limited information, it seems fairly intuitive that
Harvard isn’t an isolated case – since the mid 1960s, US college grades
have risen significantly, from an average of 2.5 to an average of 3.2 –
something which doesn’t seen possible to explain just by improving student
performances. However, Harvard seems more prone to this issue than other
top universities. In 2001, FAS’s Educational Policy Committee labeled grade
inflation “a serious problem” at the College after a report in the Boston
Globe labeled the College’s grading practices “the laughing stock of the
Ivy League.”

Still, Princeton aside, I have seen no discussions of grade deflation in
Ivy League Universities.

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--
A. M. Uludag
http://math.gsu.edu.tr/uludag/
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