THURSDAY, APRIL 21. 2005
GRADE INFLATION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
7A
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6A
GE 7A
he plays means what kind of grade he's going to get.
What's the significance?
While the average GPA for public universities is closing in on a "B" average, students have to find different ways of selling themselves for the future.
Thompson, who is double majoring in linguistics and East Asian studies, is planning to go to graduate school. He said it's going to take more than his grades to get him to the next level of education.
Average Fall 2004 Freshman- Sophomore English grades (OUT OF 5,154 STUDENTS)
In addition to good grades he said he would need a portfolio of work, references from professors and a strong performance during the interview.
Grades have different meanings at different points of a student's career, Bernstein said.
Basic courses might be used to certify that the student has learned while grades in advanced courses could be used to help differentiate students who are ready to go onto graduate work, he said.
Source: Freshman-Sophomore English Program
"I can figure out pretty easily working with a student on a project if they're ready for grad school," Bernstein said. "I don't need their grades from Pysch 104 to tell me that."
Rojstaczer believes GPA is like
currency that is being devalued.
"Eventually, they're going to have to replace it to make it worth something again," he said.
Right now, a devalued "A isn't something Thompson is celebrating.
"Grades for me are a personal satisfaction," he said. "It's really nice to work hard for a test and get an 'A.'"
Edited by Laura Francoviglia
HIGHER EDUCATION
Princeton tries to end grade inflation with cap
BY NELF MULKA
nmulka@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Princeton University administrators were so worried about grade inflation that they changed the school's policy.
The Ivy League school initiated a policy last fall that maxed distribution of "As" to 35 percent for all undergraduate classes and to 55 percent for junior and senior independent study work.
Sixty-five percent of seniors graduated in 2004 with a grade point average that was a "B+" or better, according to an article written by Nancy Weiss Malkiel in the Princeton Parents News. In contrast, only five percent graduated with a GPA that was lower than a "B-."
This move made Princeton students worry that it would resurrect the competitive nature of high school, said Jesse Creed, Princeton sophomore and vice president of the Undergraduate Student Government.
"Most students here are exceptionally ambitious," Creed said. "Students here will do whatever it takes to succeed."
Princeton won't have any hard information on how grading patterns have changed until after the
ou're telling me, if I'm an art professor and I've got Monet, Picasso, Dali and Leonardo, that only a couple of them get 'As'? That's ridiculous."
professor
Bill Skepnek Honors Western civilization professor
end of the academic year, said Malkiel, dean of the College and a key figure behind the policy.
Some think this policy changes little.
"It's not a fix, it's a public relations stunt," Dan Bernstein, director for the Center of Teaching Excellence, said. "It has nothing to do with the real question at hand."
The real question for Bernstein is this: How much are students actually learning?
"They are not looking deeply into what students are learning class by class to see if this
teacher has high standards or this teacher has low standards." Bernstein said. "They're just playing numbers games. There may be a problem, but the problem is not addressed at looking at grades in the absence of looking at student work."
“你're telling me, if I'm an art professor and I've got Monet, Picasso, Dali and Leonardo, that only a couple of them get 'As?' That's ridiculous." he said.
Another problem to the Princeton solution is the limiting factor of grading, said Bill Skepnek, honors Western civilization instructor at the University of Kansas.
"I think it was a good move and applauded her privately," he said. "It's a good move because you need to re-establish the value of a grade. By limiting a number of 'As' you are establishing that an 'A' grade means something. It's something approaching excellence."
Princeton's new system, engineered by Malkiel, helps grades retain value, Stuart Rojstazcer, creator of gradeinflation.com, said.
— Edited by Laura Francoviglia
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