>"Wouldn't a very good teacher design the course so that the best students would be 'raised' above the average students?"
That course?....
It's CALLED: "GRADUATE SCHOOL."
The topic here is grade inflation, and the point I'm trying to make is that there are a few students in most classes who are far above average in their abilities, and or study habits. They deserve recognition for the results they provide.
Just to go on record here, with very few and small exceptions, that would have excluded me, and justly so.
The "we're ALL winners here" mentality should be reserved for the DUmmies.