On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 16:57:36 GMT, "bobb" wrote:

Though many might disagree, I recall another fraud. It's called grading on
a curve. Way back when, when too many kids were failing cuz they couldn't
answer 75% of the test questions correctly. No one stopped to consider that
the teachers weren't teaching. The grade curve made up for teacher
deficiences. I can recall when answering one-half of the test questions
correctly consituted an A. I disputed this with teachers but got
nowhere.Many kids received credit for one-half of the education they
thought they had acheived. The truth came out only when they had to compete
with others and learned, too late, they were so far behind. So much for the
quality of schools and teachers.

Bobb, you misunderstand the purpose of curving grades and you also
misunderstand that the facts about it depend on the course and the
depth of the questions.

While a multiple choice test graded this way might be indicative of
poor teaching, it also might be indicative of political pressure from
above to pass students (this does happen and it isn't always the
teaching that is at fault, though it sometimes is).

When a course, however, is taught on a high level and tests are used
as learning devices, often a curve in terms of the grades in the
course is justifiable. My son's honors physics, honors chemistry and
honors math courses were all graded this way. 60% was a B, 80%
was an A. He, however, learned all of these subjects to a much higher
level that any of the kids who earned 90% on tests in the regular
classes because the questions on his tests required him to come up
with new ways to use the knowledge he had gained in the class, not
just to regurgitate facts.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits