This week’s Midweek Post features Campus Editor Brendan Devine ’11, Lucia Rafanelli ’13, and News Editor Joe Bonica ’12.
Grade Inflation at Cornell: How Big Of A Problem Is It, And What Can Be Done?
Partially inspired by this discussion.
Brendan: Schools first began generous grading practices during the Vietnam War. Students needed passing grades to be exempt from the draft. The problem was that professors could not just lift up the bottom portion—since that would have been transparently disingenuous, so, over time, they began to lift up the mean grades and the practice has never ceased since. I would venture to say that part of the problem is Cornell’s (or Harvard’s or any other elite school’s) status; grade deflation might make our graduates look comparatively weaker to employers and graduate programs, which are of course the things outsiders judge institutions by. If Cornell does not put a cap on grade inflation it may end up in a Brobdingnagian state like Harvard, where 55% of the students graduate with honors. How is a Human Resources person or a graduate school admission counselor supposed to judge how well you performed when half the school is, paradoxically, exceptional? I think the innovation Dennis mentioned, where the student’s grades and the class mean are both on the report card, provides Cornell with a remunerative contingency to re-adjust grades without cost to the school’s general standing, but will the school take that opportunity?
Lucia: Certainly, extreme grade inflation is a problem, as it disincentivizes hard work and commitments to education. However, one thing I find troubling about the discussion cited above is its treatment of hours spent studying as a good indicator of whether or not students truly earn their high grades. One would hope that college classes focus on developing critical thinking skills and that the tests in these classes ask students to analyze/evaluate situations relevant to their fields of study rather than simply recall information. High school classes, on the other hand, likely focus more on developing recall/comprehension skills, at least to a certain degree. These types of skills may require more study time to master, but surely are not more important than critical thinking skills, and the ability to think on one’s feet, especially at a college level. Thus, study time may not be an accurate gauge of whether or not students have earned good grades.
Joe: In general , grade inflation is a serious problem, for all the reasons discussed above (inability to accurately judge performance, lack of critical thinking instruction, etc.) While there is certainly some grade inflation at Cornell, it is not nearly as bad as in the other Ivies, especially Harvard. I forget the exact numbers, but far less than 55% graduate Cornell with honors. I’ve had my fair share of difficult classes where I’ve earned (truly earned) a not-so spectacular grade, so I wouldn’t say we are past the point of no return; in fact we are well behind it. Still, this can be changed.
Elena Kagan: Will She Be Confirmed?
Brendan: I cannot envision how she will not be. Presidents almost always get their way with Supreme Court nominees unless the press manage to make the nominee (Bork and Harriet Miers) look like a missionary for a derranged cause. Since so few of her papers have been released there seems to be little any Republican might be able to bowdlerize or use to delay her confirmation. She has only published nine articles since 1992, one of which, called “Private Speech, Public Purpose,” advocates for government distribution of free speech. Kagan seems to mirror Obama’s attitude towards reparations for any sort of disparity and, whether we like it or not, we are going to have to live with it.
Lucia: At this point, it appears she will probably be confirmed. She’s the appointee of a liberal president with a liberal congress, and she hasn’t been the object of any major controversy.
Joe: As Brendan said, unless she commits murder at some point during these hearings, Elena Kagan will be confirmed. Even if she turns off a lot of people who are on the fence, the sheer majority of the Democratic Party in the Senate will ensure her place on the court.
Obama Administration’s Response To BP Oil Spill (just give a short, concise argument about how the administration has been doing and how its image will be damaged (or improved?) by its response).
Brendan: Had the President done something to ameliorate the problems caused by the spill, such as visit the Gulf before 8 weeks had ellapsed or not obstructed Governor Jindal’s cleanup barges with petty charges of life-jacket shortages, I would not mind his attendance of White Sox games or visits from Paul “Back in the USSR” McCartney. Some may succumb to the temptation to say that the odds were agianst the President and there was nothing he could do in the wake of such a catastrophe, however Governor Jindal seems to have taken great precautions to protect his shoreline, that is until the President decided to paint the Lousiana coastline black with oil. The President has simply done remarkably little to prevent disaster or clean it up. Since he made no effort whatsoever to protect the coastlines he will have to begin the more protracted and harder task of cleaning up the oil. The only question is, will he have blackballed the oil industry enough to pass Cap ‘n’ Tax by the time the cleanup stage commences?
Lucia: It is important to remember that this is not simply a public policy problem- it is an engineering problem. Thus, the government has limited power to deal with it directly. Aside from perhaps overseeing BP’s work or preparing panels of experts to discuss potential solutions, there is not much the government can do to actually repair the leak, because it simply does not have the necessary expert knowledge.
Joe: Obama’s response to the BP spill is no better or worse than Bush’s response to Hurricane Katrina. Both meant well, but ended up merely getting in the way of state-led clean-up efforts. There are a few differences here of course; first off, the major corporation responsible for the spill is contributing hugely to the clean up, an advantage Bush never had and that Obama seems to be squandering, even alienating. Secondly, Bush and FEMA acted fairly quickly with the hurricane, while Obama took his sweet time in responding to the spill, which only made his public image worse.
