Gimme The I Insist By Abigail Moore Analysis

In his article “College Students Need to Toughen Up, Quit Their Grade Whining”, Robert Schlesingner addresses the emerging issue of grade inflation, and more specifically, the greater sense of entitlement that seems to prevail in the modern scholastic realm. Mr. Schlesingner begins his address by presenting his background and what standards and expectations were common during his time through both lower-level education and college. During his time [time in what?], a grade of C represented “adequate” or average work, B correlated with “an above average job”, and obtaining an A required “spectacular” performance by the student. [more concise] However, as cited by Mr. Schlesingner, an investigation by the University of California-Irvine seems to indicate that the values of each letter grade has changed, at least in the mind of the modern student with more students now believing that A’s and B’s should be more easily obtained and that the amount of effort put into a task should be considered when grading. Next, Mr. Schlesingner presents his opinions on this topic of grade inflation and the proper influence of student effort on grade. To conclude,

Schools and college professors, who give you a good grade for excellent productivity on assignments, allow students to perform poorly, but still benefit relative to a person with an A. Two articles that observe grade inflation, find the rising problems of grade inflation, and finding solutions for grade inflation. Stuart Rojstaczer, an author from Grade Inflation Gone Wild, is a professor of geophysics at Duke university, and created gradeinflation.com in regards for his concern about grade inflation. On the other hand, Phil Primack is a journalist and teacher at Tufts University, and published in the “Boston Globe” Doesn’t Anybody Get a C Anymore? While college students, who work with little effort and still attain easy A’s by working poorly on assignments and exams, Primack and Rojstaczer, develop a firm connection towards grade inflation and the solution that can regain control over real education.

In “Why Colleges Shower Their Students with A’s”, Staples argues that teacher inflate grades so that their course will not be canceled. Furthermore, teachers will inflate grades so that they can keep their jobs. Additionally, students are trying to find ways to get

Not only has the increased amount of testing placed enormous pressure on teachers to perform, but on students as well; the pressure to do well on these assessments is causes young students to suffer from anxiety and stress. Brookside Elementary School in Norwalk, Conn., was just one of the thousands of American public schools classified as failing during the 2010-2011 school year, according to their standardized test scores (Berger). In "Raising the Curve: A Year Inside One of America’s 45,000 Failing Public Schools”, Ron Berler, a journalist who has written for The New York Times and Chicago Tribune, documents the year he spent observing students and educators at Brookside as they struggled to meet the demands of No Child Left Behind. “The

Parents and professors speculate why children no longer display excitement and ambition for learning. Most share the common goal of educating the youth to take on the “rights and responsibilities of citizens” (Ravitch 109). Unfortunately, educational requirements have strayed from the original purpose and began to aim their attention toward the “importance” of standardized testing. As a current high school senior, my experience has been that students are branded by their grades and test scores as if they determine who we are as a person. Diane Ravitch’s “The Essentials of A Good Education”, successfully critiques the extensive use of standardized testing in order to pursue change in our education systems and prove that focusing on test scores corrupts a child’s inner creativity.

In Brent Staples' story, “Why Colleges Shower Their Students with A's” he explains how grades have gotten higher in colleges over the past years. Students and parents seem to demand for grades because of what they pay for college. Professors sometimes have no choice but to give in, because it might look bad on them or to avoid classes from being removed.

“Grade Inflation Gone Wild” by Stuart Rojstaczer discusses how the grading system has changed over the years. Rojstaczer overall purpose it to call to action by first persuading his readers why it is necessary to stop grade inflation. He argues that “changes in grading have had a profound influence on college life and learning.” He utilizes tools such as rhetorical situations and appeals to persuade his audience. For instance, Rojstaczer implements data to prove how the grading system has changed. Overall, Rojstaczer is effective in utilizing rhetorical situations and appeals to persuade his audience on why grade inflation is wrong and is need of change.

She states, “Eliminating high stakes testing should create a big opening for new ways to improve schools. But it will never happen without a vision of how we get there,” (Kamentz 187) The author explains the benefits of standardized tests if they were removed from schools. Improvements within the school would follow the elimination. She goes on further stating that schools are lead by “interest driven” students who enjoy the work. However, these tests contradict that. They bore students and make them want to return home to their friends and families. Therefore, tests should be eliminated from schools to help students concentrate on their work and allow them to work

The prolonged phenomenon of grade inflation has caused much debate for a number of decades. Following the recent article, from The Guardian, I believe the issue of grade inflation is yet to be resolved. Anything that affects the quality of education should not go unnoticed, and grade inflation is one of them. Pupils have been receiving higher grades than they should, clearly affecting the way the government, teachers and students are portrayed.

Harvey C. Mansfield, professor of government at Harvard University, begins his published piece, “Grade Inflation: It’s Time to Face the Facts,” in The Chronicle of Higher Education, explaining his two grade system he’s implemented at Harvard University. Mansfield’s grading system operates by giving one fourth of his students As and the other fourth A-s; the second part of his system is a private grade granted by either him or the course assistants. The private grades expose the students’ flaws and weaknesses; revealing their true merits. The problem he identifies is that A’s are given freely to students with insufficient intention; students no longer struggle to earn excellent marks. He assumes his readers are concerned about grade inflation and hopes college professors and administrators might implement his ideas. His primary claim is one policy, and his purpose is to convince his readers to revolutionize the grading model today and abate the grade inflation statistics.

    In the past colleges like Princeton and Wellesley have tried to adopt policies to help curb grade inflation. Even though it lowered the percentages of high grades, effectively lowering the amount of grade inflation, it came with the cost of unforeseen consequences that affected the students and staff. In his article Rojstaczer describes the policy that Princeton tried to adopt in which they “...limit[ed]ing A’s on average to 35 percent of students in a class.” (“grade inflation gone wild”, 75). This policy is extremely unfair on the students, telling them that only a small percent of them will actually be able to get and A no matter how hard they work. It is putting a limit on the students’ education and ruining their motivation to keep their grades up if they know that there is a high percent chance that they won’t make an A despite their hard work. These attempts to fix the inflation has only in turn limited a student 's education and potential, causing greater issues.

    It's June, and another graduating class is hoping, among other things, to achieve high grades. Of course, "high" is a subjective target. Originally a "C" meant average; today however, the expectations and pressures to give and receive "A's" and "B's" takes its toll on teachers and students alike. This nullifies the value of the traditional grading scale and creates a host of entirely new problems. The widespread occurrence of grade inflation seriously affects the credibility of secondary and post-secondary education in America.

In “The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation,” Alfie Kohn sets out to determine if grade inflation is indeed fact or fiction. The opening quotes provided by two professors at Harvard University separated by over century has most definitely peaked my interest. It had me questioning whether or not these professors are holding our education system to a “Harvard” standard or is their actually truth to their statements; that feigned students are indeed submitting “sham work” (Bergmann, 260). Kohn goes onto indicate that: “To say that grades are not merely rising but inflated—and that they are consequently ‘less accurate’ now, as the American Academy’s report puts it-is to postulate the existence of an objectively correct evaluation of what a student (or essay) deserves” (Bergmann, 263). To theorize grade-inflation is to question the judgment and teaching of all the previous and future educators of America. It also raises the question of why has not there any concert data to support this claim. Why is our educational system delaying this investigation since this concern has been around for years? Especially, now that grade inflation is starting to gain more momentum.

Children enter school with minimal knowledge of grade point averages and college admissions processes. Around third grade, however, everything changes as letter grades enter the picture. Suddenly, transcripts and accelerated learning programs appear, and a new type of pressure is placed on students. The further they are along their educational journey, the more these letters grow to affect their perceptions of themselves and future career opportunities. But what impact does the grading system have on a student’s quality of education and depth of learning in school and future career paths, and to what extent is it possible to create a quality academic environment without a grade point system?

The problem we are discussing is called “grade inflation”, and it has become widespread on campuses across America. In the 1950’s, the average GPA for college students was 2.52; by 2006, that figure had risen to 3.11 (Newlon). According to former Duke University professor Stuart Rojstaczer, “At some colleges, over 50% of the grades given are A 's.” Rojstaczer’s school of thought is that this trend began during the Vietnam War era, as a result of professors “helping” students to stay in school in order to avoid the draft (Newlon). Long after the end of the Vietnam War and student deferments, this trend continues. This trend does not