[lacrew]

My dad is a teacher. He still grades on a curve...as in a standard distribution. The majority of his students get a 'C', which is meant to be 'average'...around 15% get 'B's, 15% get 'D's, and a very few get an 'A' or an 'F'. And sometimes the Indian and Chinese students will ruin the curve so bad, a 91% will get you a 'B-'.

I have never known another teacher in my lifetime to grade in such a way, but I've always suspected that his method was considered typical before the 1960s.

[Behind the Blue Wall]

I think it was typical 50 years ago. Now it’s gone from everyone gets a trophy to everyone gets an A. Pathetic.

[Bobalu]

Honest grading on a curve is now considered RACIST my FRiend!

And drawing a curve of IQ and detailing where various groups tend to fall on that curve is nearly a hanging offense!

There is a dangerous denial of and fear of the truth in almost any form and about almost anything. We live in a fantasy world and pretend that even the most insane things are actually true.

God help us.

[Quality_Not_Quantity]

[econjack]

I taught university-level courses and the first day of class always gave students the option of a curve or strict 90-80-70-60 set of marks. They always opted for the curve. I then pointed out that this guarantees that 10% of you will flunk the course (I used a 10-20-40-20-10 distribution) and that only 10% of you will get A's. I pointed out that, with the fixed scale, it was possible for everyone to get an A. Without exception, they still always opted for the curve.

Also, students have no idea of how to properly study for an exam.

[samtheman]

My problem with grading on a curve is this:

What if the material studied is something very easy to test, for example the whole class is learning simultaneous equations in algebra.

At the end of the learning period (x number of weeks) there is an exam on the subject.

What if all the kids get most of the questions right, and the results are in the range 92-100.

Should the kid who gets a 92 get a D or F?

Alternatively, what if the whole class stinks at it and the range is 50-59.

Should the kid with a 59 get an A?

I remember one time in a chemistry class I took in college, one of the students asked the prof if he grades on a curve.

He said: “Well, a C has a curve. So does a D. B has two curves. No curve in an A. F likewise has no curves.”

[CharlesWayneCT]

Somewhat typical, but frankly stupid. NATIONALLY, we could grade on a curve, if what we wanted was a relative ranking system that put people in their place relative to others.

But in a single class, or even 3-4 classes in one semester? How would you know whether the 20th-best kid in that particular set of students was better, or worse, than the 40th-best kid in the last semester’s group?

If I were a teacher, my goal would be to teach every kid so well that they all got 100s. I know that won’t happen, but it seems self-immolating to say “I don’t care how much all of you learn, because I’m going to grade you as if you represent the “average” class where most people don’t learn”

BTW, I was first in my college graduation class, in part because most of the top students did a summmer program at Oxford, where they graded on a strict curve, so 85% of the top students came back with a “B” or lower grade.

[edh]

“I have never known another teacher in my lifetime to grade in such a way, but I’ve always suspected that his method was considered typical before the 1960s.”

I don’t like that methodology ... to be clear, it’s not because it is “difficult” ... I don’t like how grades are pegged to a ‘class’. If the class is generally terrible in a particular course, then someone is going to get an A when they should have gotten a much lower grade. Conversely, a situation you mentioned (91% = B-) could occur.

I think the best grading scale is :
92% - 100% = A;
85% - 91% = B;
75% - 84% = C;
67% - 74% = D;
<= 73% = F is the best scale overall.

This “A’s in everything” nonsense is one of many things that is ridiculous these days.