Grades And Money Summary

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,

In the United States, the average grade has been slowly creeping up during the past years. This grade inflation has generally been seen as a positive for students and parents, but it has much more detrimental effects for the state of higher education. One person to address these consequences is Brent Staples, author of “Why Colleges Shower Their Students With A's.” In his essay, he not only explains how grade inflation came to be, but he also describes how it is something negative since it is the lowering of standards so that excellence is no longer excellent because of how easily higher grades is given out.

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

In the article A’s for Everyone, Alicia Shepard recognized a pattern in which her students placed too much emphasis on the letter grades received as opposed to the actual understanding and retention of the curriculum being taught. To understand this phenomenon, Shepard drew upon both the historical catalyst which led to it and her personal experience as a college professor. The systematic indoctrination of the importance of letter grades originated during the Vietnam War when "Men who got low grades could be drafted," (p. 3, par. 4). This having occurred, the pressure to obtain a higher grade became less about gaining knowledge and more about regurgitating information to receive an A. Subsequently, future generations stressed to their offspring

One example demonstrating that grades lead to limited learning of material, can be illustrated by a study that was conducted of students, some of whom were graded. One group of students was told about being graded and the other group was not. The group who was “told they’d be graded on how well they learned a social studies lesson had more trouble understanding the main point of the text than did students who were told that no grades would be involved” (Kohn). This experiment shows how students concerned getting a good grade detracts from the students overall understanding. In my experience, students have so much homework, activities, and pressure to excel that it becomes challenging to learn topics outside of those being assigned. For example, in order to complete history worksheets, students do not always read the passages to find the answers, but rather skim the passage for keywords

Throughout this essay, Brent utilizes ethos to prove that his view is valid. He includes professors from Ivy League colleges, the University of Pennsylvania, and Duke University to support his claim. By using people from a prestigious background in academia, Brent appears to be more educated on this topic. The majority of Brent’s article displays the use of logos. This is persuasion using facts and statistics to prove a point. An example is, “In some cases, campuswide averages have crept up from a C just 10 years ago to a B- plus today,” (Staples). This is a clean-cut statistic that verifies grade inflation is happening. However, it needed to be combined with other facts to illustrate an issue with grade inflation. Brent also states, “Twenty years ago students grumbled, then lived with the grades they were given. Today, colleges of every stature permit them to appeal low grades through deans or permanent boards of inquiry, (Staples). This, once again, shows that there is an increase in grades, but needs more information to demonstrate the concern. Brent’s conclusion explains this in saying, “Addicted to counterfeit excellence, colleges, parents, and students are unlikely to give it up. As a consequence, diplomas will become weaker and more ornamental as the years go by,” (Staples). Brent shows both evidence that grade inflation is happening and why it is harmful. To elucidate his view on why grade inflation happens, Brent primarily uses pathos, or appeal through emotions. Brent’s focus on pathos is the impact of low grades on professors and effect of low grades on students financially. Academic departments use high grades to maintain attendance in courses that would be canceled otherwise (Staples). By inflating grades, professors have a better chance of maintaining jobs. While referring the job security situation, Brent refers to part-time professors as “most vulnerable.” This

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.

This sort of situation can be defined as ‘Grade Deflation’ which means that higher grades are harder or more difficult to receive because a very small amount can be given out or to protect an institution. Grade deflation should be reduced or even eliminated because it can improve education and positively affect a student’s future. Elizabeth Wissner-Gross tells us about grade deflation and why and how it should be terminated in her article “Invitation to a Dialogue: Stop deflating Grades” published on the New York Times. The Author argues against high schools and colleges that are manipulating numbers in order to protect their institutions from being accused of grade inflation. Some administrators believe that too many A’s can, in some ways, affect their institution’s image negatively. The author, while

In his article "Making the Grade," Kurt Wiesenfeld presents a problem regarding the ethical value of grades in modern society. A physics professor, Wiesenfeld opens the article by making the "rookie error" of being in his "office the day after final grades were posted." (paragraph 1) Several students then attempt to influence him to change their grades for the class. What concerns Wiesenfeld is that many of his more recent students consider a grade to be a negotiable commodity rather than accept the grade as an accurate representation of efforts and performance and how much they learned. The author indicates that part of this

In “The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation”, Alfie Kohn explores the phenomenon behind grade inflation. Whether it is complaints or just the general idea that such an undesired occurrence has routinely taken place, Kohn certainly explores them all. He begins with addressing that the issue has not just transpired, but has been in existence over time as many have complained periodically. As Kohn notes on page 261, grade inflation is recognized as a poor occurrence, yet Kohn reveals the struggle as “truly substantive issues surrounding grades and motivation have been obscured or ignored.” Why is this so? Kohn goes on to explore the issue through some evidence and research, but finds that while grades have become higher more recently than before, that still does not prove inflation exists behind the rise in grades (261). By this Kohn reveals a trend to the reader with the facts, or lackthereof, behind grade inflation.

    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.

Earning money would help students save for college and even after college. For the future. Some schools “talked to the students about how saving money will benefit them in the future, and we asked if they are saving anything currently and if there's anything they'd like to save up for. We explained that by saving they could achieve more later on” (Haugen). Saving money from past education can always be a good route to take, it can help achieve more in the future. A problem that occurs often when talking about earning money for education is how the money is spread smoothly across all grades, and what classes would pay higher amount of money than others. “It is argued that the stakeholders of higher education interpret grades as currency that neatly quantifies learning, permitting market comparisons and exchange. This money metaphor objectifies education. The economic metaphor and its effects on the educational process are discussed with the intent of increasing awareness of the implications of the metaphor” (Beatty). As shown, the currency is in the way of education and is causing distractions. Another reason earning money for education could be negative is when students will feel prompted to cheat just to earn money, and not worry about their education whatsoever. These days, “academic dishonesty is a perennial problem in higher education. A concerted research effort was mounted only during

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.