Do grades really matter

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Do grades really matter?

• Making Connections a People of Education
  conference on education
• Jim Côté
• Department of Sociology
• University of Western Ontario

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Have grading practices gone off the rails?

• What do grades mean?
• They have clear meanings in many systems
• More important, what should they mean?
• They should accurately reflect a students
  proficiency in an area

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Off the rails GRADE INFLATION The elephant in
the living room
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Grade inflation in Ontario high schools

• graduates with A averages
• Early 1960s 5-10
• Late 60s 20
• Currently 40
• university applicants with A averages
• 1983 38
• 1992 44
• 1995 53
• 2004 61
• A averages
• 9.4 in 1995
• 14.9 in 2003

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Grade inflation in Canadian universities
Institutional stats - As and Bs

• Pre 80s standards 40-50
• Western - Science Faculty
• First year
• 44 in 1996 to 65 in 2006
• Honours courses
• 64 in 1996 to 73 in 2006
• U of Calgary
• junior courses
• 60 in 1993 to 69 in 2002
• senior courses
• 75 to 80

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NSSE 2006 self-reported grade distributions for
Liberal Arts and Research Intensive (VH)
Senior students
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NSSE (2004) Canada-US comparisons of students
reporting As or Bs
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Changes in university student grade expectations
(Runté, 2006)
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How has grade inflation interfered with learning
and student development?

• Should they be emphasized in our schools as much
  as they are?
• Yes, if accurate
• Does a grade reflect whether or not the student
  has actually learned anything?
• Yes, if accurate
• How does parents and students obsession with
  good marks affect the process of learning?
• Sense of entitlement degree purchasing

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Types of grade inflation

• Higher grades, same standards
• Same grades, lower standards (hidden inflation)
• Higher grades, lower standards

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Impact of grade inflation

• Grade compression
• Under-reward excellence
• Over-reward mediocrity
• Misdirection
• Students not learn their strengths and weaknesses
• Effort disincentive
• Less learning
• Less transformation
• Human capital acquisition
• Less per student
• Less overall for the workforce
• What do we want from our educational system
  Learning or credentials?

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My best marks were in partying 101 (Globe
Mail, 2006)

• Taking only one step up a mountain, when there
  are thousands more to go, and then being told
  that one step is more than enough, seems to cheat
  one out of reaching the summit and seeing the
  valley below.
• It is my own fault for not taking more steps and
  getting closer to the mountaintop, but it is not
  my fault for receiving a higher mark than I
  deserved. I was not given a chance to work hard
  for something, because slight efforts were
  enough.

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Grade compression The case of Harvard University

• Over 90 are now awarded honours grades (A or B)
• Summa cum laude now limited to top 5
• but this requires a cut-off at 3 decimal places
• might as well use a lottery to determine the top
  honours

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What harm is grade inflation inflicting?

• Are there better ways to assess students
  learning?
• Grades are the worst system, except for all the
  others.
• The method of assessment is often at fault
• Test-taking skills vs. written and oral skills

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A Student From York UniversityWho Wanted a More
Engaging Education (Psynopsis, 2007)

• Total challenges from upper courses
• 1 essay, 1 report, 3 literature reviews, 2 group
  projects, 2 research proposals, and 26
  multiple-choice tests
• Feels his BA in Psychology qualifies him for
  Jeopardy or hitting the North American Trivial
  Pursuit circuit
• Resents owing 20,000 for what he could have
  acquired by reading an encyclopaedia

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System crisis

• Loss of vision and mission for the liberal arts
• What do we want from the BA/BSc?
• Not set up for job training, except for future
  academics
• the cachet of a BA?
• Transformation by magic?
• Proving ground?
• Holding pen?

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Why not embrace grade inflation? Grades have
been increasing for a long time.Just recalibrate
your assessment to a B average

• Grades have become status symbols
• The B will come to be defined as average and
  therefore beneath students
• We are hitting the ceiling and we are running
  out of letters

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Are high grades uniformly good for students?

• Self-esteem
• Optimism
• Persistence
• High grades are fraudulent when given to students
  who dont deserve them
• False feedback is bad for them, setting them up
  for failure
• Feeds the worst aspects of narcissism and
  interferes with identity formation

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Are low grades uniformly bad for students?

• Grades should be used for assessment and
  feedback, with the goal of helping students
  discover their strengths and nurture their
  abilities
• Crucial to identity formation goals and purpose

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What needs to be done?

• Uniform grading standards at all levels
• De-stigmatize the average
• only about 1/3-1/2 are above average
• Higher education reassert the implicit contract
  of adult learning
• Professors need to be met half-way by students,
  as part of the implicit bi-lateral contract
• students must take responsibility for their part
  of learning and not mistake high grades for
  learning and proficiency

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Thank you for your attention
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