Grade inflation

prospector · Post by **prospector** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 1:05 pm

When I was growing up (long ago) perhaps 10 to 20% of students would get an A grade in any given class. This required a good deal of work and study.

Teachers are under pressure to give higher grades today. Here's a formula sometimes used:

Show up for class = C
Do some work = B
Fair or better on tests = A

James

Sbunce · Post by **Sbunce** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:26 pm

Quite frankly, I don't think that is the case.

I think what has changed over the years is the methods the teachers use to teach. Obviously, with advances in technology, more visual and practical ways of learning are available for use, and teachers are just getting better at their job.

I spent 8 hours doing maths and further maths homework out of my 7 subjects for A2 this week. I'd be surprised if many people on this forum got up at 6:30 in the morning, got home at 17:00, to then do on average 3 more hours work a night, leaving you 2 or 3 hours spare time. I put in hours and hours of work for each subject for my Janurary exams just gone, I'd be lucky to get As.

I'm half annoyed, half amazed you could make a suggestion like that based on an uncited useless formula you probably just made up. Try going back to school, you'd probably enjoy it, but I'd bet you'd struggle to get A or even B grades in most classes in the 16-18 academic range (called AS and A2 in the UK) with the impression you have of school.

So please, do some research before you undermine what I (and possibly others on this forum) spend the majority of our waking lives doing. The media will paint a picture of schools they want people to see, but isn't it funny that the people writing these "Children do f--- all" articles haven't been to school themselves for 30-40-50 years.

prospector · Post by **prospector** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:55 pm

Grade formula from "Why easy grading is good for your career" from January 31, 2008, "washingtonpost.com". James

crb247 · Post by **crb247** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:59 pm

I wouldn't be shocked if you are waaaayyy of on your assumptions that a lot of us work 9-5. Most mornings I get up at 5:30 am, at work for 6am, and finished work between 6 and 7 that night, home by 7:30ish and in bed by 10. If i'm doing my North run i get up at 11:30pm leave the transport terminal by 12-12:30am and get home around 10pm that night. This is usually encompassed in a 6 day work week. My wife jokes that i should have stayed as a long haul OTR driver as she'd see more of me at home.

Visual aids are great for kids that can understand them but for some kids it become overstimulating and or boring. Teachers might have more resources available to them now but i would not say that they are that much better at teaching than they were years ago.

Prospector is from North-Eastern Ontario which is worlds of difference from a school setting such as what you'd be accustomed to. He was just making a statement on what he's observed. So until you come over and visit the North-Eastern Ontario School system it would be unwise to make remarks (because a simple statement gets under your skin.)

Maybe you would be kind and get a teaching degree so you can come over and fill some of the empty slots we have up North here in the teaching pool.

Sbunce · Post by **Sbunce** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 3:16 pm

Well, I do want to teach when I'm older, but not in Canada really. My point was, if I made a post on why lorry drivers didn't deserve the money they got (just as to the same extent prospector is questioning how much students deserve the grades they get) I'm sure you'd be slightly annoyed at that. I challenge you to come back to school and get these oh so easily attainable A grades.

prospector · Post by **prospector** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 3:23 pm

Not having firsthand experience, I would guess the the U.K. public school system is still pretty much the "gold standard". Unfortunately, this is not the case in northeastern Ontario. There's a serious lack of economic resources here. We invariably get the short end of the stick compared to southern Ontario and it translates to an indifferent public, and to a lesser extent, Catholic school education.

Anyway, I was just pointing out that grade inflation exists, at least here in Ontario and the United States. Nowadays, a third or more of students graduate high school with an overall A, yet many of these same students require remedial English and math courses at university.

Good luck with your studies; it will pay off in the future. James

Sbunce · Post by **Sbunce** » Sat Jan 31, 2009 4:48 pm

I don't go to public school in the UK, I go to state school. Public = private in the UK.

And, even though the US education system is bad compared to Europe, I don't really think that your guide can be applicable for North Eastern Ontario, considering it was the Washington Post that wrote it.

Of course, partly my fault for not understanding what you were saying, but if you're going to talk about generic school systems on a website without specifying where, I take it to mean you are talking about schools in general, all over the world. Plus, this is a .co.uk website, maybe it's foolish of me not to assume that North Eastern Ontario is the focus of conversation, instead of the UK.

Lada & Korean Parts · Post by **Lada & Korean Parts** » Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:51 am

here's a bad example,one of my nephews (13 year old) got an A in english,and i have seen some of his work,it is shocking (the spelling mistakes etc)

nitro_warrior · Post by **nitro_warrior** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 7:51 pm

Lada & Korean Parts wrote:here's a bad example,one of my nephews (13 year old) got an A in english,and i have seen some of his work,it is shocking (the spelling mistakes etc)

Here's a bad example,_one of my nephews (13 years old) got an A in english,_and I have seen some of his work,_it is shocking (the spelling mistakes etc).

Sbunce · Post by **Sbunce** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 8:44 pm

Nitro, I am so glad you did that. Brilliant.

Alejoint · Post by **Alejoint** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 8:53 pm

I somehow sense the smell of trouble.

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:22 pm

nitro_warrior wrote:
Lada & Korean Parts wrote:here's a bad example,one of my nephews (13 year old) got an A in english,and i have seen some of his work,it is shocking (the spelling mistakes etc)
Here's a bad example,_one of my nephews (13 years old) got an A in english,_and I have seen some of his work,_it is shocking (the spelling mistakes etc).

Et. c. Two distinct words, (Et cetera).

P.S. before you take offense, my tongue is firmly embedded in my cheek!

Neil Chowney · Post by **Neil Chowney** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:32 pm

No one noticed the dropped capital 'E' in english then?......

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Tue Feb 03, 2009 9:42 pm

English as a language, English by nationality, English as country of origin for produce, but english as a school subject, surely?

Lada & Korean Parts · Post by **Lada & Korean Parts** » Wed Feb 04, 2009 12:42 am

ahhhhhh,but no spelling mistakes

& we weren't taught about a space after comma