The A-F grading scale has been the most commonly used system for teachers for more than 100 years. It came into widespread use because it was considered a “scientific” approach to grading.
In an article written for the Washington Post in 2003, Stuart Rojstaczer, a Duke University professor, provided a distressing report which showed that up “until the Vietnam War, C was the most common grade on college campuses.” And, that had been true for over fifty years. By 1973, the average GPA of college students was 2.9. Today, the most common grade in college is an A.
Add to this report the further revelation that during the same period that student grades were significantly on the rise, the amount of time students spent studying for their education declined from 40 hours per week to just 5 hours per week. While the research for these reports were conducted primarily in the higher education sector, the trend trickled down into both public and private secondary education as well.
The reason for this disturbing trend is rather complex, but in short it reveals a profound shift in the attitudes of teachers and professors about teaching and the function of grading. Add to this shift in attitude toward education the growing national compulsion to make sure everyone receives a college degree, plus the ease of access to government funding, and education is now a marketable commodity.
It’s easy to do the math from there and conceptualize the numerous implications (i.e., a degree required for jobs that don’t really need one, universities and colleges cashing in on government funding and loans by exploiting students, teachers and parents feeling the pressure to make sure the student succeeds at being “whatever they want to be,” etc.)
The collapse of the modern education system we’re witnessing shouldn’t come as a surprise. As a matter of fact, providing an alternative to the failing “mainstream” approach to education is the one of the primary reasons Kepler Education exists today.
Agreed. It’s been declining for a long time. My mother’s eighth grade education that she received in the 1930’s was better than my high school education that I received in the 80’s.