Grade inflation

[jackfaire]

Curious which is worse?

Some teachers inflate grades other teachers teach remedial classes that the admin doesn't label as remedial so that they can point to the high level of B's and A's and say look we have the brightest students around look at how many honor students we have!

Then that A student who was taking remedial classes gets a scholarship to a big name school based on lots of extracurricular activities and awesome test scores and grades in class while really only having the equivalent of an eighth grade education.

[guywithashovel]

I was in undergrad during the early 2000s, and I heard some of my profs commenting on these issues then (not that that was a super long time ago). I can remember taking a social science class with a "notoriously hard teacher" and having some of the students freak out when they found out that she gave essay tests. Actually, her tests consisted of two sections. The first section had a list of terms that had been covered in the lectures and reading materials, and you had to pick x number of them and define them, answering the questions of who, what, where, when, why, and how as they were relevant. The second section had three essay questions, and students were to pick one and answer it. They really weren't that bad if you did your work, read the materials, and studied, but still, these students flipped out, and many of them dropped out of the course.

This reminds me of something. When I got into college, I quickly realized that there were certain professors that many of my classmates admonished me not to take classes with.

"Oh, no! Not him! He's REEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAALLLY HARD!"

"Don't ever take a class with HER! She's a nightmare."

After having a few of these scary professors, I realized that they were the ones I ended up learning the most from. I always did well in their classes. In fact, with two of them (one of them being the one I talked about above who gave the scary essay tests), I find that I still sometimes think about their classes today and apply to my life some of the things they said in class.

[AdminAssistant]

When I was an undergrad theatre major, I would have all kinds of people ask me who they should take for Theatre Appreciation. I would always ask, "Do you want something easy or do you want to actually learn something?"

[jackfaire]

"Do you want something easy or do you want to actually learn something?"

That right there. I am heading back to school this year to further my career in my field and the thing I run into every time is people to whom "too hard" means they actually have to learn something instead of memorizing and regurgitating facts and figures.

They want everything multiple choice and then just do on the job training when they get one.

If I ever work in HR and I get a student from Harvard and a student from a state school and both seem equally qualified I will administer a test the one who can actually pass it gets the job.

[tropicsgoddess]

It's sad that the No Child Left Behind act and standardized testing drives teachers to cook the books with students grades. We need to get back to teachers actually teaching students not drilling them on filling in scan-trons and passing (or in the case of the Atlanta scandal: cheating) standardized tests.

[Andara Bledin]

Not only do we need to get away from teachers teaching to the lowest common denominator and ensuring mediocrity for all, but we need to stop making teachers the watchdogs and liable for children who might be in trouble. While I understand that some kids do need help to be gotten out of an abusive situation, the stories that a friend who teaches middle school (10-13 year olds) in southern California are appalling. He spends nearly half of his class time on complete and utter bullshit that shouldn't be his to worry about but should be handled through administration. But if he doesn't handle it, he could go to jail while everybody above him is immune.

^-.-^

[jackfaire]

It's sad that the No Child Left Behind act and standardized testing drives teachers to cook the books with students grades.

Comparing it to my childhood I don't see a whole lot of change, with the exception of the cooking the books.

The most common thing I heard from my classmates and teachers was either "Is this going to be on the test" or "This will be on the test"

My favorite teachers were the ones that just said "Everything will be on the test" forcing my classmates to actually try and learn things instead of just making note of the specific things to memorize.

One math teacher taught Pythagorean Theorem by taking us out to the woods by the football field and making us calculate the height of trees. He was trying to show how the math we learn had real world implications.

[Greenday]

One math teacher taught Pythagorean Theorem by taking us out to the woods by the football field and making us calculate the height of trees. He was trying to show how the math we learn had real world implications.

I had a math teacher do basically the same thing, though with the flag pole in front of the school. It was a good excuse to get the hell out of the classroom.

[guywithashovel]

I often want to shake my head when students complain about college courses and professors being "too hard." Granted, some profs really are unreasonable, and those students have reason to complain, but for all the money you're paying for your education, I would think you would want to be challenged so that you'll have some respectable knowledge and skill when you graduate.

Not only that, you're going to be expected to know your stuff when you get out in the work force. I especially think about this when the students at the college I work for complain about the instructors in the pharmacy tech and medical assisting classes being too hard. Frankly, I hope those instructors are tough on them (but not unreasonably so). When these students graduate, they are going to be working with my prescription drugs, taking my blood at the doctor's office, and other various medical things that I'll probably have to do. Honestly, I don't want them doing all that unless they've learned their fields inside and out.