By Jeff Salisbury jeffsalisbury@charter.net
Wayland’s
Class of 2015 went through commencement exercises recently and as is the common practice the district recognized those students who achieved top academic honors.
According to a Wayland Union Schools press release: Seventeen (17) seniors received a 4.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA). Twenty (20) students earned a 3.8-3.9 GPA. Thirty-five (35) received a 3.5-3.7 GPA – that’s seventy-two (72) students out of a class of about 212.
That’s about 34 percent of the graduating class earning high honors.
Typically, high schools name a valedictorian and a salutatorian (number 1 and number 2 in the class), while simultaneously recognizing a Top Ten list of seniors. It’s also common to recognize the other top students with terms similar to those used by the WUS. Generally, the most common designations include the same Latin terms:
• “Summa Cum Laude” = 3.9 GPA and above
• “Magna Cum Laude” = 3.7 – 3.89 GPA
• “Cum Laude” = 3.5 – 3.69 GPA.
Way-back-when (1967) I graduated high school – and NO, before you even ask I was Loud but not any of those Laudes – in a class of about 235 our district (Howell MI) named a valedictorian and a salutatorian – both were only a fraction of a decimal points apart. Four more students earned above a 3.9 but not as high as No. 1 or No. 2. In addition, another 22 earned above a 3.5 but below a 3.9. And that was it. That’s 32 out of 235 or about 14 percent of the class being named high-honors seniors.
• 34 percent in 2015 versus 14 percent in 1967 awarded high honors
• 17 seniors versus 2 seniors awarded 4.0
What to make of that?
Plain and simply, it’s grade inflation.
Some, maybe much of that inflation is deliberate – intentional because students who enroll in and successfully complete Advance Placement (AP) courses are awarded an inflated grade by adding a “point-five” (.5) to the overall course grade based on the contention that “AP” courses are more difficult than traditional courses.
When A is for Average
In a 2013 newpaper article titled “When A is for Average: the High Cost of Grade Inflation” Harvard Professor Harvey Mansfield, who has spent his career in the hotbed of rising GPAs, insists that grade inflation persists because “parents like it, students like it, the faculty likes it, and the administration loves it.” These various groups he says have good reason to love higher and higher GPAs, which confer a clear admissions advantage to students.
In a provocative study led by researcher Sam Swift of the University of California Berkeley, grade inflation was found to pay tremendous dividends for students applying to graduate schools. Students applying from colleges with lower average GPAs were deeply penalized. Students graduating from grade-inflating institutions were accepted at more than double the rate of those students applying from schools with low grading norms.
Swift warned that this practice, “threatens the meritocracy of our society,” and questioned whether it still makes sense to factor GPA into evaluative admissions processes.”
“What message are we sending our children when two-thirds of the students in a high school class graduate with honors, relegating the non-honors students to a stigmatized minority? How do we explain why the cutoff to graduate Cum Laude, reserved for the top 10% of a class as determined by cumulative GPA, has crept in recent decades from 89 to 97?
What does it mean when the median student in a class has a 93 Cumulative GPA?” writes Jed Applerouth, a teacher and an educational researcher who has a PhD in Educational Psychology. https://www.applerouth.com/blog/2013/10/23/when-a-is-for-average-the-high-cost-of-grade-inflation/
AP’s point of origin
Kristin Klopfenstein is senior researcher at the U.T. Dallas Texas Schools Project writes, “The original point of the AP program was to make college-level study possible for advanced high school students. The program’s novel aspect was the AP exam, a standardized test that assessed how well students had mastered the coursework. The exams served as quality assurance for colleges, and high scores on the exam meant students were prepared for subsequent coursework.”
However Klopfenstein notes that when schools started expanding AP offerings, non-AP classes may get bigger simply because resources are limited. “But now, she says, “the AP program has been transformed to serve many more purposes. For students, taking AP courses signals academic ability and work ethic to prospective colleges. For high schools, having a lot of AP classes signals quality to the community and real estate markets. For educational reformers, offering the program has become a way to provide academic rigor with accountability in the form of standardized end-of-course exams.”
All of these forces are jointly responsible for the dramatic growth in the AP program over the last 15 years she says. Klopfenstein says these newer functions have introduced substantial challenges and distortions. “Grade weighting — where AP grades are weighted more heavily than other course grades when calculating class rank — propels students to take more AP courses to secure a spot at the top of the class even when they have no intention of taking the AP exam,” Klopfenstein says. http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/the-advanced-placement-juggernaut/
Fraud? Scam? Don’t take my word for it.
This criticism of grade inflation, especially when it’s caused by AP course enrollment can be a polarizing topic even among AP teachers. I feel certain if I ran this by a group of AP teachers a number would be in agreement with much of this — but sadly, I also think they’d probably be in the minority. More and more we’re seeing high school faculty who’ve taught AP courses for their entire teaching careers and in my view this unfortunately leaves them with such a narrow vision that it severely impairs their ability to grasp the much larger and far more diverse world of the general education students. And beyond that, folks, it’s a scam pulling millions of scarce public education dollars from local school districts and sending them to a private company.
If you’d rather not take my word for it… after all… I never took an AP class… never taught one either… following some of these links.
AP Classes Are a Scam
The College Board earns over half of all its revenues from the courses — and, in an uncertain environment, students keep being suckered.
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/the-advanced-placement-juggernaut/
The Advanced Placement Scam
A private organization takes your money, promising college credit for high schoolers, but delivers that only for a tiny minority. Tell me why Advanced Placement deserves tax dollars, again?
http://thefederalist.com/2015/05/27/the-advanced-placement-scam/
Op-Ed: AP Classes Are One of America’s ‘Great Frauds’ : NPR
www.npr.org/2012/12/03/166414595/op-ed-ap-classes-are-a-scam
And as always, when you can, please attend a school board meeting!
Wayland Union Schools – Board of Education Regular Business Meetings, Work Sessions, Committee Meetings
• June 8, 6:00 p.m. – Athletic Committee @ Middle School
• June 8, 7:00 pm – Wayland Union Middle School, 701 Wildcat Drive
• June 22 6:45 p.m.- Administration Building, 850 E. Superior (Annual Budget Hearing)
• June 22, 7:00 p.m. – Administration Building, 850 E. Superior
• July 13, 2015 7:00 pm – Administration Building, 850 E. Superior
During the PUBLIC COMMENTS, tell Board members to:
- Question Every Aspect of the District’s Essential and Non-Essential Educational Programming and Personnel Expenditures (Needs versus Wants)
- Set General Fund & Casino Revenue Spending Guidelines
- Track and Trim All Expenditures & Make Targeted Programs & Personnel Cuts As Needed
REMIND THE BOARD TO:
- “Build ONE Budget” – combine general fund revenue (local, state and federal dollars) and Gun Lake Casino “in lieu of taxes” revenue.
- “Pay Yourselves First” – restore the fund equity – which dipped from 15% to 7% in four years – by committing to saving 1% to 1.5% per year for AT LEAST the next 5 years.
- “No More Loans” – resist the temptation to borrow more money on top of the $291,000 annual loan payments to United Bank for the science wing from 2015 to 2025… no loans for iPads, no loans for school buses – no more loans PERIOD.
BOARD MEMBERS CONTACT INFORMATION:
- Nancy Thelen, President, Email: nancyboe@waylandunion.net Phone: 616-877-3098
- Tom Salingue, Vice-President, Email: tomboe@waylandunion.net Phone: 269-792-2061
- Toni Ordway, Treasurer, Email: ordwayt@waylandunion.net Phone: 269-910-3297
- Theresa Dobry, Secretary, Email: theresaboe@waylandunion.net Phone: 616-681-2119
- Janel Hott, Trustee, Email: hottj@waylandunion.net Phone: (h) 269-792-0297 (c) 269-250-0286
- Gary Wood, Trustee, Email: glw_boe@yahoo.com Phone: 616-681-2120
- Pete Zondervan, Trustee, Email: zondervanp@waylandunion.net Phone: 616-450-1468.