Claims of college grade inflation and dumbing-down are overblown | Hacker News Reader

Claims of college grade inflation and dumbing-down are overblown

greyenlightenment.com

11 pointsdebesyla7 comments

This piece cites data on acceptance rates to support the author's claim that colleges are more selective than ever:

However, today’s top colleges are considerably more selective and competitive compared to those same colleges generations ago. Acceptance rates have plunged.

This is a misuse of statistics. Without data on the number and strength of applicants to each school we might be misled into believing that colleges are more selective and exclusive than ever.

I think the truth is far less interesting (though annoyingly not well-studied): students may now apply to up to 20 different schools using a single common application. They are highly encouraged by school guidance counsellors to include a mix of "safe" schools (high likelihood of acceptance) and "reach" schools (low likelihood of acceptance). If this form of strategic college application is a widespread practice (and I have no reason to believe it isn't) then we should expect to see acceptance rates plummet across all top institutions even as total college enrolment rises.

Furthermore, we should expect to see large numbers of applicants at top schools who really have no business applying (and I think we do). This would represent a large contribution to plummeting acceptance rates without any corresponding increase in selectivity.

I haven't read it.

The claim is silly. In 1992 a Calculus I professor showed me the coursework he was allowed to cover that year and the coursework he covered in 1982. It was 5-10%. He was forced to grade on a curve because the department mandated a certain pass rate. All of this was done because students were dropping out of the class (ie: depriving the school of funds), long before any other motives entered the scene.

One teacher, one class, one school, 33 years ago.

"Overblown" seems wildly off base.

Again, didn't read it.

That's an anecdote, not a statistic. I wouldn't disregard a well made argument based on an anecdote.

Of course, and that is why I repeated that I hadn’t bothered to read it before writing. Just sharing something I experienced.

Yeah, I have been teaching calculus for ... several years, and it's very clear that the curriculum has been dumbed down over the years across the board. The last place I was at removed infinite series from the curriculum altogether. Epsilon/delta proofs were removed from the AP exam not so long ago. Some calculus classes don't use any transcendental functions because students can't handle it. At the same time grades have gone up, I suspect mostly because exams are usually weighted less than they were in the old days.

It is probably true however that there is more of a baseline expectation that you take it in high school. Whether this is sensible I do not know. It is also true that the very best students are better than ever, because the materials on the internet have gotten better and better over time.

Med School orientation

1951: 1/3 of you will make it 1976: 1/2 of you will make it 2018: all of you will make it, and if you flunk out first year we will give you a do-over and please don't forget to use our counseling services to help you with any stress you may be feeling

Student acknowledges grade inflation, but claims kids today are smarter than parents so it makes sense professors call them all geniuses. Yawn.

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