"A's for Everyone!"

I don't like the motive behind it either. But sadly, that's pretty much the only way you could get students into upper-level courses.

How so? I'm struggling to make the connection betweent the two.

I took my first regulars class in high school last year, chemistry. It was probably the worst, most depressing educational experience I've ever had. There were students in there who were virtually unable to get any of the concepts presented. That, coupled with a teacher who, IMO, wasn't patient enough to deal with them, made for a very bad experience. My grade was actually WORSE because of the awful enviornment I was in.

Now, I don't know what it was like at your school, but for us, there is a marked difference in Regulars and Honors classes.

 

Weighted grades, IMO, are a good thing.

My HS didn't weigh and therefore, a senior getting a B in AP Calc AB (which I took) was the same as a senior getting a B in Algebra 2 which I thought was ridiculous. If you are going to challenge yourself and take harder classes in HS, the grades should be weighted to reward those challenging themselves and to level the playing field (because getting a B in Algebra II is easier than getting a B in Calculus.)

 

So I guess learning Calculus isn't reward enough in itself.

Luckily now you're leaving high school and can stop thinking of yourself in competition with everyone else in your class and concentrate on dedicating yourself to learning rather than to competition. The "he got this grade taking this easy class and I got this lower grade taking this hard class" doesn't really matter so much at that point.

 

Right on. Really, grades, in and of itself, and human nature are the root of the problem.

 

Grades and the college admissions process.

It totally ********s up people's attitudes toward learning in high school, making it entirely competition oriented, and then when those people get to college they think a B is the end of the world, rather than a sign that they could do better.

There was a great article in the New Yorker about various lawsuits over determining who should be high school valedictoria, which, in the grand scheme of things, is about as unimportant a title as can be imagined.

(RoverMax, rereading my earlier post, it sounds like I was being kind of a dick to you. Not intended. Imagine a after the first comment)

 

Haha...it's fine.

And I actually never worried about the competition in HS, I'm not a competitive person at all, I know school is about learning for yourself, but I do feel that kids who take tougher courseloads should be rewarded through weighted grades.

And as for the "learning Calculus is a reward comment," there are many classes in HS that I liked, but I can't say Calculus was one of them. The only reason I took it was because my options as a senior were either Calculus or no math at all and no math at all wasn't really something I wanted to do.

 

I'm facing a similar choice, and going with no math. Next year, it's AP Statistics, and I'm done with math!

 

I so wish my school had AP Stats last year, I would have picked it over Calc (which I was never exactly "excited" about) in a second.

 

I figure Stats has alot more application to what I'm interested in than Calculus ever will.

 

There is a story in Today's WAPO on grading that stands this issue on its ear: A local (VA) court lets Law Graduate Sue George Mason University (GMU) Over F She received on constitutional law exam. Seems she has taken the test three times and has "headaches" which prevent her from getting a better grade! Stupid! The University has been more than accomodating to her, and her earlier legal claims were thrown out by a federal judge in Alexandria, but apparently this broad got the attention of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond.

From the article I find this outrageous: "Constantinewho graduated from George Mason in 2003 with the F on her transcript, is studying to take the bar exam in Florida" Since when do law students graduate with an F? No wonder our legal system is hosed!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/14/AR2005061401509.html

 

Eh, it's Florida. That should be enough said, right there.

 

Naw... that's where the broad is studying now... the legal issue concerns woman and GMU in VA.

 

Broad?

 

Yeah, the point was that Florida is letting her take the bar after failing in school.

 

Florida's messed up.

 

ha, you all think grade inflation at the top is bad, check this out: I'm teaching English in Thailand and teachers are not allowed to fail students - absolutely everyone passes, regardless of minor considerations like effort, knowledge acquired, and so forth. how delightful, no?

 

In France, situation is coming close to this, too. The reasons ?

1) While kids are "students" (note quotation marks), they are not counted as unemployed in the official stats.
2) Students are young voters, or future voters. You don't want young voters to be unhappy, right ?
3) Students are a big market for a lot of people. They buy many things with their parents money (except books, it seems ), they go in vacation, watch TV a lot, organize parties, and so on...

In short: everything is ok, spend money, have fun, trust the society. In the whole process, learning things is not mandatory at all.