Monday, June 4, 2007

Grade inflation

Katherine Kersten put out an interesting article you can view here at the Star Tribune. It is a very interesting view on the idea of grade inflation and the corresponding effect on schools and society. While I hesitate to blindly support Kersten I find her point to be true and a major issue in public schools. I'll supplement with a story from my first year of teaching.

I had a student (sixth grade) who hadn't turned in any work during the second semester and had below average test scores. This student earned a C- on their report card for a second semester grade. The day after report cards came out, I received a call from both the parent and my principal to come down and "consider" changing that grade. I ended up giving the student a C+ instead of the C- he earned. And I regret doing it every time I think about it. How does America fix grade inflation?