Here's one way to curb grade inflation - Princeton is considering rationing the number of A's to be awarded in each department:
In what would be the strongest measure to combat grade inflation by an elite university, Princeton faculty will vote later this month on a plan to require each academic department to award an A-plus, A or A-minus for no more than 35percent of its grades.
A's have been awarded 46percent of the time in recent years at Princeton, up from 31 percent in the mid- 1970s. Since 1998, the New Jersey school has been encouraging its faculty to crack down, but marks have kept rising. Finally, Princeton administrators decided rationing was the only solution.
"I think it's tremendously significant that Princeton is doing this, and I do think it will have a ripple effect," said Bradford P. Wilson, a part- time teacher at Princeton and executive director of the National Association of Scholars, a group that has spoken out against grade inflation. "What goes on at the premier institutions sets the standard of quality for every institution."
Even if a quota produced the "right" results, I don't know that this really fixes the problem. The problem is not the number of A's per se, but the fact that college professors have lowered their standards and students have come to feel more entitled to good grades. In some departments (say, math or engineering), I'm sure this quota would have no effect because A's aren't just handed out anyway. But in other departments, the culture of the A is so ingrained that it would take more than this plan to set things right. My guess is that some professors - those who believe in rewarding effort over acheivement - would do away with grades altogether rather than limit the number of A's.
Posted by kswygert at April 9, 2004 10:26 AM