I am a professor and took a visiting professor position at a large Midwestern University last Fall. While there, I taught an introductory course for majors.
About 5% of the class did well, many did poorly, a good fraction were just plain dismal. If I would have graded fairly-—awarded the actual grades the students earned-—I would have flunked about 25% of the class. Most of the rest would have received low grades. This would have punished my students because they could have taken my class with another professor and passed. After all, they are staying at this university and I was only visiting. As it was, I had the highest dropout rate among the other professors teaching the same class.
Students had a clear sense of entitlement. Their lack of basic knowledge was shocking. They were not motivated. They did not study. They would not read. The absentee rate on Fridays was marked. I had one student show up to an exam on a Friday morning straight from a Thursday night party (the school has a reputation for “partying”). I speak here of the majority; there were, of course, rare exceptions.
This is a bare summary; it was actually worse than I am painting it.
A friend was a Grad Instructor and the ironic corollary to your story is that she couldn’t issue A’s to all those who had earned them! Dept and university policy forced her to evenly distribute letter grades regardless of the actual performance of the class members.
Elementary/secondary teacher moan about standardized tests but they have outpaced students in the race to the bottom by teaching ONLY standardized test material, hence the constant and annoying question ‘Will this be on the test?’ heard at colleges everywhere. Solid, comprehensive knowledge that a) is the correct prep for the rest of life and b) would make any standardized test a breeze is the exception rather than the rule.
Those kids would do better if they lived at home and went to the community college.
I too am a professor (computer science). The majors classes are actually pretty good compared to the General Education classes. The GE classes in our major are a lot easier compared to the majors classes. Even so, I had one student tell me that the computer science GE classes were more work than the senior level classes in a liberal arts major—I believed him.
My own observations is that 1/3 of students definitely belong in college, 1/3 might belong there if they had the drive (which they typically don’t), and the bottom 1/3 are wasting everyone’s time (and their parent’s money).