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Sunday, February 22, 2004
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THE GRADES WILL RISE AGAIN!
To: My Sisters and Brothers From: Janice [for background, see UD, 14 February 04, 19 January 04, and 30 November 03] Subject: MONTHLY DEFLATION/REINFLATION UPDATE Greetings! First, the good news: Our efforts to bring deflated grades back up to pre-2003 levels in colleges and universities across the country are working! As is often the case, Harvard is leading the way. I’ll let rival Yale tell the tale (hm. I’m a poet and don’t even know it!). (Sorry. I’m giddy.): February 17, 2004 Yale Daily News Headline: HARVARD GRADES ARE ON THE RISE AGAIN By Amy Kaplan Staff Reporter Two years after Harvard University attracted accusations of grade inflation, a letter released by Harvard Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross said grades are once again on the rise among Harvard students. In an October 2001 investigation, the Boston Globe reported that 91 percent of Harvard undergraduates received honors upon graduation. Responding to the alleged grade inflation, Harvard altered its grading and honors policies. As a result grades dropped during the 2001-2002 school year. But a study of the 2002-2003 grades indicated a turnaround. ... With Harvard’s campaign to reduce grade inflation, some Harvard students [had] expressed concern over competing for jobs - or admission to graduate schools - with students from school whose grades are inflated. We saw the same thing at Boston University. Students at deflationary campuses are confused and hurting. Whereas they once operated in a predictable world in which they could anticipate As, grades are now oscillating like crazy, and we’re beginning to see some grade-related mental health disorders. Faculty too are reacting against the new repressive regime in which their academic freedom is being compromised by nosy administrators mandating that professors not only submit grades every semester but also grade their own grading patterns. One courageous history instructor at Harvard [see the Crimson online] has refused to submit personal grading patterns reports and has said that he will “not be intimidated” by these gestapo tactics: “We are not in the business of giving C’s,” he said. Right on. The deflationary regime at Harvard has generated intense student resentment as well. “There were people whose life mission it was to lower my grades,” one Harvard student complained: “Some government and economics professors and teaching fellows went on a grade-deflation spree last year.” Spree is definitely the word. This irresponsible adventure, reminiscent of the Bush dynasty’s ongoing boondoggle in Iraq, was based on faulty intelligence, faulty assumptions, and faulty procedures. We should never be ashamed of being a winner-take-all society. Our ancestors worked hard so that we, and our children, and our children’s children, could have a life of (if I may quote the Emory University assistant director of admissions' description of his campus) “Disneyland and roses.” Bs and Cs are Blah and Cruddy. The first letter in "America" is A. And now the bad news: The trend at many other colleges and universities lags behind Harvard. If Harvard realizes the error of its ways in 2004, the rest of the pack will take a few more years to get back on track. So our work is not yet finished. So long as one student sees one B on one grade sheet, I pledge that I will be there, working to keep each and every one of our campuses inflated. Because you can’t keep a good grade down. |