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Jewish World Review May 4, 2001/ 11 Iyar, 5761

Marianne M. Jennings

Marianne M. Jennings
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Consumer Reports


Grades: Equality of students, by students, for the students


http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- MY colleague's curiosity was piqued, "Did I just see a young woman leave your office in tears?" Familiar with the indignities I heap upon students, he feared federal wrath via Title VII, Title IX, or an injunction requiring a female quarterback.

If a young woman complains to me about man's greatest brutality and crime against nature, i.e., sexual harassment, as when a young man hoists his eyebrows at her over a latte, I console, "Honey, take it while you can. The day will come when you're painting on your eyebrows and getting only Richard Simmons, sweat and oldies."

Actually all I had done was discuss grades. The young woman fled in tears because she is getting a "B" in my course, not the "A" she envisioned.

It's not difficult for students to envision "A's." There's at least a 50/50 shot they're going to get them. At Harvard 50% of all students earn A's or A-'s. There's only a 6% chance that a student there will get a C+ grade or lower. Literature shows that 22-33% of faculty members admit that they inflate grades for better teaching evaluations, a weighted component of their annual reviews and tenure processes. Seventy percent of students say that their grades influence their evaluations of professors. One faculty member notes, "The surest way to get poor evaluations is to be a tough grader . . . You have to inflate grades by about a letter grade."

A 1999 study of student evaluations correlated with professors' techniques revealed this list of "don'ts": (1) don't assign readings; (2) don't lecture for longer than a few minutes at a time; (3) don't say anything controversial or critical of any groups; (4) don't ask exam questions on textbook material not covered in class; and (5) don't put too many corrections on student papers.

The "do" list sounds like the Teletubbies' guide to good teaching evaluations: (1) engage in impression management throughout the course (does this mean tossing Monets about?); (2) be a pal to students, not a role model; (3) be empathetic and patient; (4) be funny and entertaining in class; (5) pander to students' sociopolitical biases; (6) include interactive exercises in class; (7) give effusive praise to students; (8) extend deadlines for projects and papers; and (9) bring pizza or donuts on the last day of class.

"Everybody else does it," is rationalization, but not justification for rampant grade inflation. Over the last 25 years as the number of college students who require remedial course work has increased to 50%, the number of students earning "A's" has increased to that same amount. While SAT scores show no appreciable gains, college students' performance now exceeds that of all previous generations.

Why don't faculty take charge and give students the grades they deserve? In many cases they serve under litigation-shy administrators. Professor Bob Brown of California University in Pennsylvania was fired after 28 years of teaching because he refused to change the failing grade of one of his graduate students who had missed 12 of the 15 classes in the course and had not completed most of the assignments. President Angelo Armenti Jr. changed the same student's grade in an American Literature class from a failing grade to a "P."

Another reason, articulated by Harvey Mansfield, a professor of political philosophy at Harvard University who has resisted grade inflation since his first class there in 1962, is that those professors who grade legitimately punish their students. Professor Mansfield recently succumbed to grade inflation. He gives two grades to students - the one that goes on their transcripts and the one they really deserve.

This is the self-esteem generation buoyed by feigned achievement. One child development expert frets, "As soon as you get into some of the more complicated things, kids may experience failure. They may feel like they're stupid." Fact is, there are stupid people whose talents lie in areas other than political philosophy and calculus. Liberal elites snobbishly perpetuate the myth that a life without college is not worth living.

Through affirmative action, the community college system and inflated high school grades, many students who don't belong land in four-year institutions unprepared for the challenge. Without grade inflation they would flunk out - something that hasn't happened since Al Gore tried divinity school.

The student who ran crying from my office must live with the social disgrace of a B. I will weather a time-consuming and aggravating grade appeal. Ironically, this student deserves a C at best, but grade inflation has gotten to me. Like Professor Mansfield I grew weary of punishing my students and being tanked on that evaluation question: fairness of grading. I was called, in the lingo of today, way harsh. Now, instead of C's I give B's and instead of B's I give A's. But in the world of self-esteem, I am a most effective teacher. With some PC and donuts, I'll be perfect.


JWR contributor Marianne M. Jennings is a professor of legal and ethical studies at Arizona State University. Send your comments by clicking here.

Up

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© 2000, Marianne M. Jennings