An Inside Higher Ed column acknowledges the trend in grade inflation across colleges and universities but argues that grade inflation is not necessarily a bad thing. The column's author is a professor at a prestigious university mostly serving suburban students with strong academic profiles. Yet she reports taking pains to ensure that every student, even the less-prepared students who manage to gain admission to her prestigious institution, meet and surpass minimum academic standards. Grading should be criterion-referenced, not curved. If all students earn A grades against the course's standards, then they should all receive A grades. Curving or norm-referencing grades simply penalizes some students unduly. The column's author acknowledges that employers use grades and class ranks to distinguish employment candidates, for which grade inflation presents a problem. But again, if the employer is getting a qualified candidate who met and surpassed the school's academic standards, why should curved grades and competitive class ranks keep that qualified student from gaining employment? The column makes good points, which is surely why it has appeared in the widely read Inside Higher Ed publication.
Grading Standards and Academic Issues
Grades matter to students facing satisfactory academic progress (SAP) issues. Federal regulations require colleges and universities receiving federal student loans to adopt and apply rigorous satisfactory academic progress (SAP) policies. Those policies impose minimum grade point averages, percentage of credits completed requirements, and maximum program duration requirements. Students with low or failing grades, course incompletes or withdrawals, or terms off due to outside circumstances can suffer SAP probation, suspension, and dismissal. But professor attitudes and practices regarding grades can also contribute to SAP problems leading to academic deficiency dismissal. Professors who insist on curving course grades so that at least a few students in every course get low or failing grades, no matter how those students performed against objective grading criteria, will place those students in SAP peril. The students may even have done just as well as other students when applying objective criteria. But professors fighting so-called grade inflation may nonetheless use subjective judgments to fail or award low grades to at least some students. To some professors, their reputation with administrators and colleagues as a hard grader is more important than fairness in grading and student persistence. Some professors may even be using unlawfully discriminatory factors like race, age, and sex to curve grades and fail at least some students.
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If you face academic probation, suspension, or dismissal due to subjectively harsh grading, discriminatory grading, or related mistreatment, you need premier attorney representation to preserve your educational rights and interests. Retain national student defense attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's student defense team for your aggressive and effective defense against academic progress dismissal or other adverse action taken by your school. Call 888-535-3686 for a consultation now or use the online service.
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