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The Chronicle of Higher Education's recent feature on grade inflation notes the disappointing reluctance of the AAUP and ACE--two major higher education organizations--to address grade inflation head on. Written by Rutgers professor Michael Gordon, the article also praises the efforts of schools such as Princeton, NYU, and the University of Chicago for taking steps to curb grade inflation on their campuses, and noting that ACTA is one of the few higher ed organizations to openly and consistently take the problem of grade inflation seriously:
National organizations of faculty members and associations of colleges and universities are positioned to begin collective action but, disappointingly, have largely ignored the matter of grade inflation. Neither the American Council on Education nor the American Association of University Professors has taken a public stance on the problem, proposed solutions, or even set up a study of the issue. The National Education Association has likewise done little. That silence stands in sharp contrast to the policy discussions by elected officials on the quality of higher education, and the frequent criticism of existing grading practices by conservative groups such as the American Council of Trustees and Alumni and by commentators--many of whom are academics--in the op-ed pages of leading newspapers around the country.Faculty members have responded to those critics by declaring that faculty autonomy provides the greatest assurance of academic quality. The AAUP vigorously defends the right of professors to evaluate students, and its various standing committees trumpet faculty teaching responsibilities. For example, its statement on professional ethics proclaims that professors "ensure that their evaluations of students reflect each student's true merit."
But faculty members have not fulfilled the responsibilities associated with their proclaimed right to be the final judges of student performance. In shirking that duty, they have also neglected their broader obligations to society: Teachers weaken rather than bolster the commonweal when they fail to award meaningful grades. Grading laxness at all levels of American education has contributed directly or indirectly to a variety of problems, including declining scores on the SAT, decreases in the ability of American undergraduate and graduate students to understand prose, and poor training in mathematics and science, which puts American students behind their peers in many European and Asian countries.
Gordon concludes that the misguided stances of organizations such as the AAUP, which regards grading as a matter of academic freedom and defends demonstrably irresponsible behavior when it comes to student assessment, make them part of a problem they ought to be working to end:
America risks severe economic and intellectual losses if academic standards continue to decline. American workers will find themselves ill prepared to compete in the global knowledge economy, further undermining confidence in our educational system. When the public becomes skeptical of the claims of colleges and universities about the competency of their graduates, governments intercede. The No Child Left Behind Act is an example of federal intervention in K-12 education; the new Commission on the Future of Higher Education is considering the introduction of standardized testing for students in college.Predictably, the AAUP's general secretary, Roger W. Bowen, publicly supported the commission's proposals to make higher education better and more affordable, but he balked at suggestions to make it more accountable--suggestions that, according to those close to the commission's deliberations, were driven in large part by concerns about grade inflation. Nor did Mr. Bowen mention any intention on the part of the AAUP to try to solve the problem of rising grades.
We professors have long been identified as the source of grade inflation and its adverse impact on society, and it is time for our organizations to take actions that will rebuild public confidence in our profession. We need to show that we are part of the solution, not the problem.
Strong words, and necessary ones. Academic freedom is not freedom from accountability, and the professor's "right" to assign grades surely ends at the point where grades are assigned inappropriately, and grading itself is thereby rendered meaningless. Colleges and universities ought to be conducting self-studies to see whether they have a problem with grade inflation, and, if they do, they should determine a proper course of action for addressing it. Bad faith evocations of academic freedom in the face of a glaring and pressing problem dimininish the work of responsible professors, ignore students' academic freedom to learn (which includes the right to be assessed fairly and accurately), and demean the concept of academic freedom itself.
To find out more about ACTA's work on grade inflation, see its 2003 report, Degraded Currency: The Problem of Grade Inflation.
Posted by acta online at August 17, 2006 07:20 AM
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Comments
Grade inflation a real problem.
But the problem isn't just the professors. Pressure from groups such as legislatures and the Higher Education commission to "improve productivity" i.e. juice graduation rates is not conducive to tougher grading. Nor are student evaluations, especially when something really rides on them e.g. tenure, promotion, and merit pay.
Posted by: Michael Kellman at August 17, 2006 12:06 PM