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Posted on 11/13/2004 4:37:44 AM PST by Republicanprofessor
Two Benedict College science professors have been fired after they refused to assign grades that rewarded students’ effort as much as acquired knowledge.
President David Swinton dismissed Milwood Motley and Larry Williams when they defied his Success Equals Effort policy, which Swinton said provides struggling freshmen a leg up in adapting to college academics.
Swinton implemented SEE at the historically black private college in the 2003-04 school year. The formula calls for calculating freshman grades based on a 60-40 formula, with effort counting for 60 percent and academics counting for 40 percent.
In the sophomore year, the formula would be 50-50; by junior year, students would be judged strictly on academic performance.
“In my view, our kids should be expected to get better and better,” Swinton said Tuesday. “I’m interested in where they are at when they graduate, not where they are when they get here.”
But Motley said the policy compromises the integrity of Benedict, a liberal arts college in downtown Columbia with an enrollment of almost 3,000. He and other critics say students are being promoted to increase student retention and to falsely boost academic performance.
The American Association of University Professors is investigating whether the firings constitute an infringement of the professors’ academic freedom.
Motley, who came to Benedict five years ago from the Morehouse School of Medicine, said he was uncomfortable with the concept from the beginning. But he went along with it grudgingly until he was confronted with an academic dilemma: giving a passing grade to a student he believed had not learned the course material.
Awarding a C to a student whose highest exam score was less than 40 percent was more than he could tolerate.
“There comes a time when you have to say this is wrong,” he said.
This spring, he defied the SEE policy, as did department colleague Williams. Neither has tenure. Williams would not comment for this story.
“I did it (awarded grades) strictly on academic performance,” Motley said. “They told us to go back and recalculate the grades, and I just refused to do it.”
In early June, Motley and Williams were informed by letter they were fired.
Motley appealed the decision.
A faculty grievance committee, by a 4-3 vote, recommended his reinstatement. Swinton overruled the committee, dismissing Motley’s claim that his academic freedom had been violated.
“The record makes it abundantly clear that Dr. Motley has committed this infraction,” Swinton wrote in a July 13 letter to the chairwoman of the committee. “Moreover, the transcript of the hearing reveals that he admits to refusing to comply with college policy and states that he would not comply if reinstated.”
Swinton said professors have some leeway in calculating what goes into effort, factoring in attendance, completion of assignments and class participation.
The students “have to get an A in effort to guarantee that if they fail the subject matter, they can get the minimum passing grade,” Swinton said. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”
He said the college plans to monitor the incoming class of sophomores, the first to be graded under the SEE policy, to determine learning outcomes.
“If anybody manages to do effort for two years, they are going to learn something and develop the study habits that they need as a junior,” he said.
The Harvard-educated Swinton acknowledged he would not implement such a policy at a more selective institution and does not know of a similar policy at any other college.
But he said Benedict is unique. Founded in 1870 to educate freed slaves, the college has been a haven for students who must overcome barriers to obtain higher education. Many are the first in their families to attend college.
With its open-admissions policy, Swinton said, many students arrive at Benedict with poor study habits and weak high school records. His job, he said, is to help them succeed.
The American Association of University Professors said Swinton might be trampling on academic freedom in the process.
In an Aug. 10 letter to Swinton, Jordan Kurland, the group’s associate general secretary, asked Swinton for more information about the matter, saying his actions might be grounds for censure.
“He (Swinton) may be doing it for the noblest reasons,” Kurland said from his Washington, D.C., office. “For him to himself come in with a new grading policy and for one or more professors to say, ‘Look, we just can’t do it, it’s against every standard we have,’ and then be fired for insubordination — that’s about as extreme as you can get.”
Swinton disputes any violation of academic freedom.
The professors “were not dismissed because they did not follow the policy,” he said. “They were dismissed for insubordination. They were openly defiant and in some cases hostile.”
Swinton said he would not tangle with the association, which promotes academic freedom and standards nationally.
“It’s a faculty union, and we don’t recognize them,” he said.
Nevertheless, some members of the Benedict faculty recently re-established a chapter on campus, installing William R. Gunn Jr. as president.
Gunn, chairman of the health, physical education and recreation department, said the chapter is preparing to survey the faculty to gauge their support for Swinton.
“When you see two people get fired like that, I think there is a fear factor out there,” said Gunn, who has taught at Benedict for 40 years.
Swinton serves at the pleasure of the board of trustees, which has backed him solidly during his 10 years at Benedict.
“His best asset is his vision,” said Milton Kimpson, a retired school administrator and former adviser to Gov. Dick Riley who has served on the Benedict board for 40 years.
“I think he makes decisions that cause you to really stretch, and I think that’s a good thing. Sometimes we sit and are afraid to take a good calculated risk.”
But Gunn wonders if SEE will be a disservice to students.
“We have always been an open-admissions institution, always taken students where they are and worked with them,” he said.
“We used to hold their feet to the fire. Now with something like this, we’re saying we’re going to give you some extra time.”
The subtle racism of low expectations.
Call me a cynic, but nobody does anything for nothing. "Follow the money."
Talk about getting a "BS" degree.
Well, I guess this explains why South Carolina remains on the bottom of the academic heap.
"speaking as somebody who lives in the Columbia area,"
How dare you spoil everybody's fun by injecting some actual information into the thread!
Too bad this guy Swinton is a sociopath. His idea is worth a try, with suitable evaluation after a period of time- say after ten years-- and with the support of faculty. It's worth finding out if it does motivate marginal students to "try harder."
When I went to college, the burden of learning was understood to lie with the student--not the teacher--but then that was when dinosaurs walked. Old assumptions have long since broken down, and we may as well face it.
By switching to full-performance grading in the latter two years, they make sure they flunk out the complete losers before they degrade any value of the college's diploma
Hey those mail sorters make more money than I do with my Bachelor's degree and Master's degree!!! Not everyone needs to go to college. The world will always need skilled trades, garbage collectors etc....
Actually, there is something wrong with that sentence. "That" would refer to the high school. "Who" would refer to the students. That is why one might infer that he is saying that the high school cannot read or write. The structure of the sentence also makes it unclear and makes it possible for one to infer that he is saying that the high school cannot read or write.
Double-barrelled Mega-PING! to both lists! If you want on, FReepmail me!
President Bush has often used a similar phrase in pushing for education reforms: "the soft bigotry of low expectations." Either phrase is right on the mark in this case.
The "success equals effort" mindset didn't start at Benedict College, of course (although this is among the most outrageous and overt manifestations of it). In North Carolina, and elsewhere, I'm sure, when high school test scores are published, the emphasis is on "meeting or exceeding expectations" rather than on the raw scores at a given school. Therefore, a school which has seen its pass rate rise from 30% to 40% will receive an award or special recognition of some kind, whereas a school where the pass rate holds steady at 95% has the accomplishments of its students all but ignored.
The primary focus, repeated time and again, is to "close the gap" between white and black, between rich and poor, etc. One sometimes gets the impression that the education establishment would be happy if scores in high-achieving schools declined, so as to assist in narrowing the gap.
A Rush Limbaugh truism: Liberals insist they not be judged by results but by their intentions.
Gee thanks President Swinton. You and your allies have ruined the reputation of what was once a fine old college. Don't be shocked if Bennedict grads start having a tough time finding jobs in Carolina.
"they'll never make it in today's world with a so-called education like this."
Sure they will. They'll work for the government and they'll fit right in.
A 40% is evidence of no effort.
It's not possible to be burning up the effort track and do so poorly on performance.
"The students 'have to get an A in effort to guarantee that if they fail the subject matter, they can get the minimum passing grade,' Swinton said. 'I don’t think that’s a bad thing.' "
Is this like "Fake but accurate"?
"Incompetent but passing"?
I look forward to the day when employers make extensive use of entrance exams to ensure that students possess the knowledge that their degree says that they should.
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