WSJ: Insight into High School

Here are some quotes.

“He passed students so long as they tried, even if they hadn’t mastered the material. Now he teaches history…” [Oh good, just “try” at history, then go vote.]

“One increasingly common approach is a minimum grade—often 50%—for each assignment, even if a student doesn’t turn it in.”

“High-school grades have been rising for at least two decades…from 2.7 (a C+) in 1990 to 3.1 (over a B) in 2019. Teachers cite pressure from parents and administrators, as well as the heightened competitiveness of college admissions.”

“…they graduate high school not really having learned certain things.”

“…Research has found that students tend to learn more in classes with teachers who are tougher graders…”

The last comment is important. What is really true is that you can be a tough grader and still at the end cut students some slack in order to be as fair as possible. That’s because if you are a tough grader, it’s unfair to give a final grade that makes your students look worse than they are, compared to classes with easy graders. Yet, if you are not a tough grader, students won’t learn nearly as much.

Here is a link to the article.

Test Scores Down, GPAs Up: The New Angst Over Grade Inflation – WSJ