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Grade Inflation in American Higher Education An Inevitable Outcome of the Push for Access, More Graduates, and Student Satisfaction! Stuart Rojstaczer! Professor (retired), Duke University! Pt. Reyes Station, CA!
The Take Home Message Sing with me (Guys and Dolls, Frank Loesser)…! When you see a prof, whoʼs afraid to get tough! Throws his Cʼs, Dʼs, and Fʼs into the refuse! Call it sad, call it funny, but itʼs better than even money! That the profʼs worried about his course reviews!!
Importance of Higher Ed Home to over 10,000,000 18-24 year olds! $300 billion industry! How we educate influences our democracy! How we educate influences our economic competitiveness!
How Are We Doing? We have real data (something we didnʼt have 10 years ago)! Those data show unequivocally that academic expectations have degraded ! (i.e., weʼve diluted the academic component of college)!
The Great Dilution: Grade Inflation, A Post 1960s Phenomenon
The Great Dilution: A is Now the Most Common Grade Grade Distribution Over Time, Nationwide
Rising Grades: The Dumb Rationalizations Students are smarter! ! We teach better! ! Students work harder!!
The Great Dilution: Rising Grades Without Rising Achievement SAT / ACT test scores have not shown a corresponding nationwide rise; theyʼve been flat ! Increase in percentage of students requiring remedial classes (28% of all freshmen)! NSSE data indicate that student engagement (study time, etc.) is at an all-time low! Literacy of graduates is at an all-time low!
The Great Dilution: Students are not working harder Study Time Changes 1961-2003, Nationwide Hours/Week, Babcock & Marks 2008
1961 2003
Busin. Educ. Engin. Biol. Phy. Sci. Hum. Soc. Sci. Health
30 25 20 15 10 5 0
The Great Dilution: Role of the Press Find someone, anyone, to tell “the other side”! Report the minority view as if itʼs valid and donʼt question the data or lack of data! Leave the impression that there is “controversy”! Not just on the topic of grade inflation, but…!
A Typical Student Week The Summer Camp Model 0 Class Social Studying Work Non-C Work On C Videoga/I-net Party Exercise Clubs Fun Read Pray Fac Office Hrs Fac Out-Office
5
10
15
Hours/Week Fresh Soph Senior
The Great Dilution of American Higher Education Began in the 1960s! Driven by access, distracted faculty, and national culture! Occurring at all schools, even those with the best and brightest!
The Great Dilution: Why? Percent 18-24 Year Olds Attending College
Rise of the Adjunct Poorly paid ! Sometimes ! juggling high ! teaching load! No job security ! Slave to CEF!
Acme University Course Evaluation Form
The Great Dilution Death By A Thousand Drops “Everyone should go to college” (and everyone has); no one should fail! Every faculty member should be a great scholar! Stagnating wages in the presence of rising college costs! Coarsening of American culture!
Pressure From All Sides Leads to “High School Plus” Model “Non-aggression pact” between professor and student! Iʼll give you high grades and low workloads if you…! Give me high evaluations ! Donʼt bother me after class!
The Great Dilution Components Fictional grading (43 percent Aʼs), failure almost impossible! Lower work loads (12 hours a week)! Less writing required (50% < 20 pgs/sem)! Less reading (32% < 40 pgs/wk), dumbed down texts!
The Great Dilution Implications Higher graduation rates (probably rates would have dropped)! More educated populace overall (easier access)! Less education per college degree, a “high school plus” model! Unnecessary degradation in educational quality at top schools!
Why Have We Done This? Maintain retention rates while increasing access (a more widely educated populace, albeit with a lower peak)! Itʼs what the students and parents want (and they influence decision making more than ever)! Itʼs what a distracted faculty want!
The Take Home Message
