Michigan Thinks Grades Are the Problem
The University of Michigan plans to exclude first-semester letter grades from students’ transcripts to “curb the mental health crisis.” What would seem like a mundane university-level grading change has become…
Posts tagged with
“grades”
Harvard Tries Grade Deflation
This academic year, Harvard has endured a dark night of the soul, including (among other troubles) facing down the consequences of grade inflation and searching for curricular absolution. In a…
A Rough Guide To Merit
Placed prominently within President Trump’s controversial “compact” for higher education was a call to center merit in admissions. The president’s offer to universities, which followed more than a decade of…
Student Learning in the Higher Education Compact
Introduction The authors of the Trump administration’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education were right to label the section on grade inflation “Student Learning.” The section demands that grades…
The Pernicious Effects of Grade Inflation
Higher education is suffering from many woes, and the federal government (and sometimes Donald Trump in particular) often gets much of the blame for them. But one factor that, in…
Harvard Admits That Grades Have Lost Their Meaning
At many of the country’s most prestigious universities, an “A” has become a default instead of a distinction. It used to be a mark that indicated academic excellence and proficiency,…
Solving the Grade-Inflation Problem
Educators on the right and left condemn grade inflation in K-12 and universities. Inflated grades mark the transformation of education from actual learning to credentialing. Grade inflation at America’s universities…
Failing Introductory Economics
In June 2014, I wrote a piece entitled “Reform Intro Economics” for Inside Higher Ed. There, I argued that then-current introductory economics courses were little changed from those of decades…
Did You Know? Differences Between US and UK Higher Ed Systems
There are several notable differences between the higher education systems in the United States and the United Kingdom. One difference is the breadth of subjects students study. In the US,…
Did You Know? Some Professors Are Slow to Grade
Students across the country report that they are being left in the dark about their grades. Even when students turn in their assignments on time, as required, some professors take…