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Show !THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1999 PAGE 11 UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OPINION LETTERS Problems with grade inflation (continued from page 10) "may .· He doesn't know. The fact is that many professors in other colleges also utilize criterion reference grading systmes. I have completed my major in the College of Arts , Letters and Humanities, having not once been graqed on the curve. SUU ' s statistics strongly suggest that criterion reference grading, as it is applied in the College of Education .is a questionable practice. The last time I checked , criterion reference grading meant that requirements for a class were established, and students who demonstrated certain levels of competence received appropriate grades. These grades are not based on the performance of others in the class, as occurs in bell-curve grading . If 82 .5 percent of education students are receiving A 's, isn't there something wrong with the criteria against which students are being assessed? Criterion reference grading does not ju stify graduating everybody summa cum laude . Consider this: if the average education student receives A' s in 82 .5 percent of their classes, and B's in all the others, this ·average· student would meet the 3.8 GPA requirement to graduate summa. You do the math ! Yes. this is an oversimplification, but you get my point. On a personal level , having been enrolled in the teacher education program at SUU , I found that criterion reference grading, as it was applied in. the majority of education classes I took , discouraged me from doing my best work . The rewards were simply not there. When A's are awarded willynilly, students are not rewarded for puttin g in the extra t im e usually required to achieve an A in other classes. Full credit for assignments in education classes was often given simply for turning in assignments on time. The content did not matter. This was a major factor in my quitting the teacher education program last year. Some strateg ies for addressing the grade inflation problem have concentrated on standardizing grading techniques . As Provost Reutzel states, "How do you assign one grading technique based on all those different measures? Each discipline is d ifferent. · The answer is a no-brainer, even for an undergraduate such as myself. You don't assign standard techniques, you adjust them to regulate outcomes. If the outcome is that 82.5 percent of students are · outstanding, " there is something wrong with your technique. SUU must address these problems and stop providing excuses. It is at best unfortunate that the excuses put forward by SUU administrators mask valid problems that must be addressed to adequately deal with grade inflation. An example of a valid problem is Professor Earl Mulderink's argument that professors who attempt to assign more realistic grades are often given poor evaluations by students . Addressing how grade inflation can be reversed under conditions in which professor's advancement is threatened by student evaluations is vital to the issue . As long as the administration continues to support grade inflation by denyin g that it is a problem , students at SUU will continue to receive a second-rate education. MIDNIGHT SALE NOV. 1 5! Free Food! • Giveavvays! Huge discounts! Korn Celine Dion Robert Sidford Cell phones in class annoying To the Editor: The story in the early edition of the Joumal last week about the problems caused by cell phones and pagers in class struck a nerve with me. I would like to say that I don't think the problem is that in structors are forgetting to advise students as to whether or not cell phones and/or pagers are permitted in class. I think the problem is that some of the students who own them just don 't care how much of an annoyance their cell phones and pagers cause for the rest of the dass. Would it be asking too much of these students to show the rest of the class the respect of turning them off during class? Cell phones and pagers serve a purpose and have a place . Disturbing the normal function of classes in not fheir purpose. In class is not where they are to be. For the record , all of the instructors I have this semester told us on the first day of class that these devices were to be turned off unless a student was "on call" (fire department, EMT, etc.). Jean Cleaveland ,. ALSO FEATURING: • Michael Bolton • Charlotte Church • Five • Ani Di Franco • Kenny G • Run DMC • Bob Marley (Duets) Cedar City St. George 809 S. Bluff 674-2702 927 S. Main 865-1200 |