Grade Inflation A Crisis in College Education
Grade inflation runs rampant at most colleges and universities, but faculty and administrators are seemingly unwilling to face the problem. This book explains why, exposing many of the misconceptions surrounding college grading. Based on historical resear
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Grade Inflation A Crisis in College Education Valen E. Johnson
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Valen E. Johnson Department of Biostatistics UM School of Public Health, Bldg II 1420 Washington Heights Ann Arbor, MI 48109 [email protected]
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Johnson, Valen E. Grade inflation : a crisis in college education / Valen E. Johnson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-387-00125-5 (softcover : alk. paper) 1. College students—Rating of—United States. 2. Grading and marking (Students)—United States. 3. Student evaluation of teachers—United States. I. Title LB2368 .J65 2003 378.1 67—dc21 2002042741 ISBN 0-387-00125-5
Printed on acid-free paper.
c 2003 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc. All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Text design by Steven Pisano. Printed in the United States of America. 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
SPIN 10898123
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A ck n o w l e d g m e n t s his book examines the phenomenon of grade inflation and its impact on postsecondary education. Much of this investigation is based on research conducted by others, but a substantial portion originates from data collected at Duke University during the 1998–99 academic year. As a consequence, one might be tempted to conclude that grade inflation is a more serious problem at Duke than it is elsewhere. This is, of course, not true. Grade inflation is a national, if not international, problem. Recent scandals over grading practices at Ivy League colleges and other top universities illustrate this point all too well. That this book was written using data collected at Duke University should therefore not be regarded as an indictment of Duke, but should instead be viewed as an indication that many professors and administrators at Duke were concerned with this problem and were willing to confront it. This book would not have been possible without their support, and probably would not have been written at many other universities. Many individuals deserve credit for their role in facilitating campus-wide discussions of grading at Duke and for making the DUET experiment a reality. Among these are Professor Daniel Graham, who chaired a committee that focused attention on th
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