GRADE INFLATION: Is this a real problem? I don't know about other Divisions, but I occasionally get memos indicating that grade averages are going up. Is the administration simply trying to "jawbone" us, so that we will always keep in the back of our mind that grades are "too high" and therefore always go "against generosity" in borderline cases? Are grades going up much faster than the other indicators, for example, our students' entrance scores and rankings? The administration possess all this data, and if they wanted to make a real case to the faculty, then they could make it a priority to do that. Otherwise, we will continue to get the mixed messages, which we might do best simply to ignore. If there is consensus of faculty and administration that grade inflation is a problem here, then we must demand that the administrators eschew double-talk. For example, if the faculty suggest that we should look at plus-minus grades as one possible remedy, then we cannot accept the answer, "The students don't want that." We can all stipulate that very few students want us to do ANYTHING to battle grade inflation! If students are given the choice of a B- or C (and if we are pressured to lower grade averages, we can expect that situation to occur), I have no doubt about which looks better to them. The reason for the mixed signals, and for such responses, is a simple one. Administrators want to claim to be the advocates for the student against the "mean" faculty. We have the same problem, when it comes to cases of academic dishonesty. The faculty member is left out on a limb, feeling like the guilty one, instead of the cheating student. Myself, I would like to forget about grade inflation, and go to the plu-minus system anyway. It is the way I grade anyway; it was the standard of my education, and of every place I worked, until I came here. Is the clean ABCDF system so important to our "culture" that we cannot consider grading like nearly all other peer institutions? I would like to see people get tougher with those silly "culture" arguments, too. Reminds me too much of the Germans in the early 20th century, always pointing out how their "culture" was "special." When educated people cannot be cosmopolitans, there is big trouble ahead.

-- Anonymous, October 22, 1998

Answers

I agree with the need for a more discriminating method of grading; if plus and minus grades are the best we can hope for right now, they at least help us differentiate between the "barely up to a B" student and the "almost an A" student. But I could really wax enthusiastic about the "competency" system (without grades) that colleges like Alverno use. Their students have no difficulty entering graduate school or getting hired by prestigious companies (two of the big arguments for the standard grading system), their students progress through their disciplines according to their effort and ability, and while the faculty do have the obligation to enter comments on each student for each course each semester, that does not seem to me much more onerous than figuring out a method of weighting assignments and exams, etc. And IT TELLS MORE ABOUT THE STUDENT. Isn't that the idea?

-- Anonymous, October 28, 1998

I think that our job would be both easier and truer if faculty at Truman had some sort of plus-minus grading system. Any professor can stratify his or her students at the end of the semester. Every semester, though, I have a group of B+ or A- students. I do not want to give these students an A, and I do not want to give them a B. If I could give them a B+, I would be acknowledging the quality of their work without either inflating or reducing its merit. The gap between a B- and B+ is significant, just as the gap between a B+ and an A is significant. I wish that our grading system was more sophisticated; I wish that it matched the sophistication of our students. It is difficult not to see how the line I draw between the B and A students is sometimes arbitrary. The current system makes grading at Truman much more onerous than it needs to be.

Thus, I think that it is bogus, if not insulting, for the University to let students themsevles decide what sort of grading system faculty should use. Afterall, who does the grading at our University? If the University wants to show that it values and respects its faculty, then the University needs to let the faculty make the decisions which fall within their domain.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 1998

This may not be the most appropriate place to register this complaint, but I see a tremendous problem of student overload. This makes the grade inflation worse, I think, because students who are taking 15-17 hours a semester (and that usually means 5 or 6 courses)are trying to do too much. Many of them also hold down demanding outside jobs. Then we get students who skip classes to prepare for another class -- or to keep their job -- who come to us asking for extensions, chances to redo assignments, get incompletes, etc. And we get students who have simply burned out.

If students can't graduate in four years by taking four courses a semester (not including health or Missouri statute), then we're handling our credits per class or requirements wrong. How can young people do a proper job of learning when they divide their attention among so many classes? Or when they're bushed? (parties, etc. aside...) Grade inflation does stem largely from student expectation and fear. That we can't do much about. But some of it also stems from desperation and burnout. And we could help in that regard, if we could restructure our credit-hour and/or graduation requirements somewhat.

-- Anonymous, December 08, 1998

If indeed the administration considers 'grade inflation' to be a problem, then what about the requirements to be accepted into the MAE program here. It seems that a 3.0 average is preferred. If most students received 'average' grades ('C' as defined in the catalog), we would have a difficult time continuing the MAE program.

-- Anonymous, December 18, 1998

I would also like the +/- grading system better.

-- Anonymous, December 18, 1998