Reply to Harvard Report on Impacts of Grade Inflation

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[quote=Anonymous]
“For the past decade or so, the College has been exhorting faculty to remember that some students arrive less prepared for college than others, that some are struggling with difficult family situations or other challenges, that many are struggling with imposter syndrome-and nearly all are suffering from stress.”

“Unsure how best to support their students, many have simply become more lenient. Requirements were relaxed, and grades were raised, particularly in the year of remote instruction. This leniency, while well-intentioned, has had pernicious effects.”

Faculty have also adopted new methods of evaluation:

Many of us [b]shifted from high-stakes exams[/b] to more frequent lower-stakes assignments, believing that this would help students retain the material. A number have found, however, that lower-stakes assignments are more effective at rewarding effort than at evaluating performance, giving students the false sense that they'd mastered material that still eludes them. Similarly, f[b]faculty shifted from exams and papers to alternate modes [/b]of assessment, such as creative assignments and group projects, in the hopes of increasing student engagement with their courses. A number struggled, however, to assess these assignments in a sufficiently differentiated way. Finally, some [b]faculty have eschewed conventional grading, turning instead to ‘ungrading’ or ‘contract-based learning’ or other systems in which students earn As for completing all assigned work. [/b]There is a pedagogical case to be made for these alternate approaches, but they're fundamentally at odds with our current grading system, which relies on grades to differentiate.”

Crimson article: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2025/10/27/grading-workload-report/[/quote]

I have two kids at two different ivies both in the Top 10, neither Harvard. They have high-stakes exams, complex psets, conventional grading. humanities courses require extensive reading and papers. Primary sourced research papers are the norm not the exception. Challenging complex exam problems that stretch the students ability to analyze and apply are the norm. There is more inflation than there was 25 years ago but it remains the case that most Stem classes have a median of B or B+ and most non-stem are median A-. Getting 3.8+ overall is hard, requiring intensive study, not the average(or below median, as it is at Harvard). [/quote]

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