"Praise is warming and desirable. But it is an earned thing. It has to be deserved, like a hug from a child." -- Phyllis McGinley.
The message from the educational elites is clear:
- Don't give Ds or Fs.
- Inflate your grades to be more "fair."
- Boost test scores to get parents off your back.
- Your standards are too high.
I'm not about to do it. Not on your life. If I have to, I will give you a D or an F. Unearned grades help no one.
It should be no surprise that grade inflation has followed students into grad school. Some profs hesitate to grade accurately because they fear student evaluations,. Students are now accustomed to cherry-picking easy-grading teachers while administrators turn a blind eye. (Lowered standards = more students graduating.) Parents are stunned when their more-than-average children are failed.
Today I'm working on my final grades for the semester. I have mixed feelings about the process. The true goal of learning is not a grade or a degree. Unfortunately, grades and degrees are now little more than proxies for a genuine education. The result has been the inflation of both. So grade-assigning has its weaknesses. But unearned grades are even worse.
If you get a bad grade, don't act as if your professor is Scrooge or suspect him or her of being unfair. I'll never forget the first class I got a C in when I was in college. It stung. I needed that wake up call. Thankfully I had a prof who rejected sham work.
For the record, I oppose grade inflation, but I am 100 percent in favor of rising grades. I am grateful that, for the most part, the students in my classes receive consistently high scores. But they work for their grades. Deep down, I believe they share my support of a grading scheme where a C is still average.