Poll: Grading System Flawed?

[Musiclly enhanced]

I dont think the grades are a problem because a D is the UK average and anything above that is decent which is why you need a c or above because employers need people that are above average. But grade boundaries are an issue for me as in English literature and language (AQA)are based on bands which teachers don't even understand and are only like 1 or 2 marks for each one but cover like 1 grade each, who the fuck thinks of these?
also i got one to two grades too low in my geography exam because edexcel decided to make the exams easy but have impossible grade boundaries so everyone got below target in their exams.
so yeah secondary education = shit

 

[waj9876]

I would feel sympathy for all of you complaining about getting an "Average" from a 50-70% work. My high school? Anything that was less than an 80% is a D. Which also counted as failing. So I don't feel any sympathy at all.

 

[CobraX]

Strange since up here in Canada, at least where I live a B is considered average. What I hate about it is how it is constantly counting down on you. You start at 100% and once you get anything less than that, even 99% then 100% is forever unobtainable. There needs to be a way to eliminate outliers and chart actual progress than simply adding up everything you've ever done and deciding on an arbitrary contextless number.

Here in British Columbia, Canada (In my area at least) a "C" and/or a "C+" are considered average.

OT:Yeah the way the Grading system currently works is a bit screwy and needs to have a couple of changes made to it.

 

[Supah]

Its fine the way it is, its the testing system that is the problem. They teach you a subject then give you a test on the subject with untaught elements or changed elements. That leads to bad grades in the first place.

C is technically average but its on the fence, you could lean towards a A/B and be among the better half of the class or D/F and be with the people who slack or struggle, usually you are closer to the D/F territory if you get a C at all though.

 

[370999]

Really it depends on how your teacher grades it. I had classes where getting 70% was considered average, and some where 50% was average. it just depends.

 

[violinist1129]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/31/education/31princeton.html I feel that this may be relevant on the higher education side. High schools, particularly public high schools would have a much harder time adopting this sort of view, so expect Bs to be the average for a long time to come

 

[Rin Little]

I always hated it that if you do bad on one project or test, it screwed over your entire grade and you had to work twice as hard just to get back to your original grade. I don't think a C is horrible, but I think that whole thing comes from the fact that there's now this mentality that you have to be amazing at everything and that an A is only good when you can't get any higher than an A and a B is considered average.

 

[Freechoice]

Wow, this thread became more popular than I thought it would be. Its kinda weird knowing that education standards across the globe are completely different than my own country.

But you learned that most of them are fucked too!

Except for that Nordic guy's gym thing. That sounded pretty good.

 

[chuckman1]

The whole education system in America is horrible and needs radical reform.
That's just one of the many problems with it.

 

[Biosophilogical]

Who said that C = average? Because it is in the middle of "A B C D F"? I suppose that on average then people live to be L years, despite the fact that only 20 people do, and that it just happens to be at the middle of an arbitrary scale?

The interpretation is flawed. Subjective grading is flawed, which is the reality of many courses, but there is no superior option, as if we never do types of work which are graded subjectively, then we'll miss out on a lot of learning.

C being "average" is not referring to a mean or a median. It's referring to the quality of the work. If you accomplish the minimum requirements and do only what is asked of you. As and Bs are when the work goes beyond what was asked of the student. For example, I'm supposed to write an essay on the effects of Industrialization on the southern parts of the US. If I simply describe exactly what it says in the textbook verbatim, then that would be a C paper. But, if I not only describe what it says in the textbook, but also provide further analysis relating it back to the problems of Reconstruction and show how it ties eventually in with the Great Depression, then that would be closer to an A or a B. I proved I have more than a basic or minimal understanding of the topic.

Building on this, where I was educated, a C was a minimum pass, Ds and Es were fail-grades, and Bs and As were good/very good passes. So if the class average is a C it means either everyone is only just managing in the course, or some people failed (to balance out those that did better than a C). If the class average was a B, then it means not only did people do well, but that others didn't necessarily fail.

A B class average isn't saying that you should be getting Bs, it means that there can be a range of ability within the class without that range needing to include failing grades.

 

[I Max95]

yes, the grading system is flawed, yes, it needs to be changed
but not in the way you are saying

i get Cs all the time, i'm not content with a C but that's just me applying myself in a class i honestly suck at, i am not doing well in those classes, and thus, i get a C

the thing is, if the school system was changed the way i wanted it changed, i imagine that wouldn't be the case. but alase, it never will while i'm still in it, i'm stuck with the shitty system for my next 5 years

 

[BlumiereBleck]

I used to think it was, then actually started trying in school. My districts average is very demanding 100-92 is an A, 91-83 B, 82-74 C, 73-65 D, and everything bellow is an F. I think there is nothing wrong with the system, we just all wish we were better in school.