COLLEGE COMMUNICATIONS

January 14, 1938
GRADES FOR 1936-'37

 

TABLE I

Table I shows the grade point index, or the number of grade points per
hour of credit, for each department,

Students from other schools of the University, though enrolled in College
classes, are not included in this study, In other words, both tables deal
only with College students,

The first column of figures shows the relative ranking of all departments
giving College work in 1936~—'37; the seoond column gives the ranking in
1935-'36, The figures in parentheses to the right of the departmental
names show the relative ranking for 1936-'37 of the College departments
alone,

It seems that about 1,3 for Freshman-Sophomore work and about 1.7 for
Junior-Senior work were the median departmental indices for 1936-'37,

We are enclosing your own grade point index. It might be interesting to
compare it with your departmental index and also with the College index,
How much should individual and departmental grades differ from the median
grades in either direction?

TABLE ITI

Table II is, we believe, self-explanatory, Note that the firs+* column of
figures shows the enrollments of College students in the several departments.

Below is a comparison of the percentages of grades shown in the last four
studies for the College as a whole:

A B c D I E
1929—' 30 15-0 29.0 34,0 iD, 2 a 8,2
1934-' 35 46,6 23.5 he oe Zed 4.7
1935-—'36 16,8 33,2 34.7 8,8 a0 4.7
1936-'37 14.6 33,0 36.0 9.4 2409 569

Note the rather general agreement in all the percentages of the last three
years,

In 1929-~'30, 44.3 per cent of the grades were A's and B's.
In 1934-'35, 50.1 per cent of the grades were A's and B's,
In 1935~*36, 50,0 per cent of the grades were A's and B's,
In 1936-'37, 47.6 per cent of the grades were A's and B*s,
To those who feel that we are giving too many A's and B's and not enough
Cts, last year's grades are a slight improvement over those of 1935-'36,

As our grades are defined, a greater increase in C grades at the expense
of A's and Bts would still seem desirable to many instructors,

We still wish there were fewer “I's,” for a goodly number are still given,
in violation of. the Senate regulation, in cases where through neglect

the student did not complete his work, or where because of a poor record
the student did not earn a satisfactory grade.