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Sunday, February 27, 2011

Persistently Low Achieving...Better than Consistently Overinflated?



A friend recently returned from a conference in Richmond where, among other topics, the status of TC Williams came up.  What was of great interest to those at the conference was not TC's Persistently Low Achieving (PLA) position, nor was it the course that the city opted to take to remedy PLA standing--the so called TCW Transformation.  No, what had the room abuzz was the approach to grading in the city of Alexandria's only high school.  Word has reached the capital of the commonwealth that the approach to evaluating our students has taken a turn that has parents, colleges and teachers alike scratching their heads.  
If the intent of wholesale changing (raising) of grades by administrators, the ban on issuing 'F's' and the insistence that summative assessments be administered ad infinitum was to project a positive image, the result has been just the opposite.  According to those in the world of academia who study the effects of such radical grade inflation and manipulation, TC is making yet another foolish mistake.  While some parents will be lulled into thinking that pumping up GPA's and forcing higher enrollment in AP courses are signs of progress, colleges and universities are not so easily fooled.   In fact, the trend toward higher GPA's among the lowest achieving high schools is already the subject of scholarly studies.  To wit:

Grade Inflation: The Current Fraud

By M. Donald Thomas, Ph.D. President Emeritus, School Management Study Group
William Bainbridge, Ph.D. President, SchoolMatch Corporation, Columbus, Ohio


After conducting a large number of audits, the auditors were amazed to find that some grade inflation was apparent in most schools. What was unexpected was that the highest amount of grade infaltion existed in the lowest achieving schools. Five high schools in one school district showed these results:
SchoolSATNorm Ref. TestGrade Point
ReadingMathematics
A75035 %tile26 %tile3.6
B90040 %tile42 %tile3.2
C99048 %tile48 %tile2.8
D105058 %tile55 %tile2.6
E112567 %tile74 %tile2.5
It is extremely difficult to explain how the lowest achieving school can have a higher grade point average than the higher achieving schools. Yet, this same pattern is found in most of the school districts in which the authors have conducted "School Effectiveness Audits."
The conclusion can be drawn that in low achieving schools with high grade point averages, expectations are extremely low—just the opposite of what research indicates should be done. Having low expectations begets low achievement. The fraud is that the high grade point average gives a FALSE message to the students. Schools which expect little and provide high grades, regardless of the level of academic achievement, are fraudulent educational systems and should be corrected.
It is our position that every high school examine its grade point averages to uncover grade inflation. Wherever it exists, it should be forcefully and quickly eradicated.


The short term, 'feel good' fix that is grade inflation is a danger.   It is the responsibility of every teacher and administrator who knows of this wrong to report it.  Why not begin by sharing your account here, anonymously.  State officials are reading this blog.

"Everything's fine today, that is our illusion. "
— Voltaire





21 comments:

  1. Shame, shame, the Commonwealth knows your game.

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  2. A sad commentary: every recent graduate of TC that I've spoken to has said that one of the best parts of college is being in a class where everyone is paying attention and doing the work. And these kids were all in AP and honors classes at TC. I say we should have fired all the students and made THEM reapply.

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  3. Nice to know not everyone in Richmond is a stupid a Sherman thinks they are.

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  4. School SAT Norm Ref. Reading Mathematics Grade Point

    A 750 35 %tile 26 %tile 3.6

    Just to be fair, this is obviously absurd, and does not represent TCWHS. I worry less (with a student nearing graduation) with grade inflation as she works hard at her studies and earns her grades fairly, but I worry mightily that the "PLA" status has now been swallowed hook, line and sinker by the top 50 colleges and universities, such that our students get shunned erroneously. There are plenty of demanding AP classes and teachers at TCWHS. This year and next will reveal if the PTL reputation and running with it (if indeed it was done for money) hurts students more than was deserved.

    Money doesn't buy you everything. Listening to you teachers, engaging you, honoring you with raises may have been the better answer than top heavy administration and expensive consultants brought to you by our federal money.

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  5. So what about the kids who take AP classes now, pass those classes and also pass the AP Exam- are you suggesting TC's grading weakened the AP Exam grading scale too?

    I hope Richmond is watching and I hope they see the wisdom behind a policy that is attempting to allow more students to achieve at higher levels and break-up the Apartheid System that has been allowed to rule for far too long.

    Students don't have to apply to attend a public school, can't fire them.

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  6. At least there is a quick litmus test on this new grading policy: If it works as intended, SOL scores and AP exam scores will rise this year along with GPAs. If not, hopefully, Dr. Sherman will admit to erring and correct the policy.

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  7. Hi Anonymous Feb 28. I'm the post above you, and no, I am not suggesting there has been a lowering of grade standards in our AP classes. As to the national AP tests themselves, well that's run through ETS (Educational Testing Service) I believe, and our local school grading policy has no impact on the national AP exam grading scale itself. As to broad inclusiveness in AP classes, I'm very much with you there too.

    My point in the above post was to say that I hope the decision to adopt the label of TCWHS as "Persistently Low Achieving" or PLA (not PTL once above, sorry) doesn't hurt in current and future college/university admissions. It's a crafty but onerous label. If you are an admission officer with two like-kind applications, would you go with the one without the PLA label to be safe, or not accused of discrimination of taking a PLA student over a non-PLA student ? I am wondering if that label might have better been avoided if the primary focus of its' adoption was federal funds (monies). This is a complex issue. I'm hopeful the impact of the PLA label on our kids was chewed over, pro's and cons'd, and mightily discussed with staff and teachers before reaching for the hand out of Federal Gold. Money does not solve everything imho.

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  8. Hi Anonymous Feb 28, I agree with you that money does not solve everything. I'm glad to hear another contributor to this blog supports broad inclusiveness in AP classes, you and I may be the only ones.

    The PLA designation troubles me more from the perspective of what was going to happen to address failing scores without PLA? Not accepting the money and therefore avoiding the PLA designation for years prior hasn't seem to put the spotlight on a continuing problem of low achievement.

    I'm not sure having or not having the PLA will impact the comparison you describe. Many colleges/universities ask to see the profile of the school, which includes, average SAT scores and grades of the graduating class. They can see for themselves what the overall achievement level is of the school.

    I'm hopeful that the impact of PLA will improve achievement and raise the status of the school for all of it's students.

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  9. The authors of the study cited above, also support outsourcing education to private companies, which is a Transformation Model ACPS could have selected. Is that an acceptable choice?

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  10. There was no choice regarding that designation - it was assigned by the state.

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  11. I am an 11th grade student at T.C. and I take 3 AP classes. I know from personal experience that the open-enrollment policy sounds nice in theory but is not entirely practical. Students should not be failing AP classes in the third quarter; they should have switched to another class after realizing that they were unable or unwilling to complete the work. I think that the school should require AP students to have a minimum GPA of 3.0. This will allow students who are not at the top of their class to enroll in AP courses, but it will prevent students from enrolling and then failing to complete the work. Regarding the comment about apartheid, a minimum GPA of 3.0 will in no way segregate AP classes; to say that is insulting to the strong students of every background who take AP classes.

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  12. Well said student. Well said.

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  13. You are correct that open enrollment sounds nice in theory. The result of the policy is a lot of students reading at an 8th grade level taking "college-level" classes. The new grading policies have made the problem even worse-it is almost impossible to fail a class if you take advantage of retakes. We'll continue to see a lot of students passing AP classes and getting a 1 on the exam. Sitting in a class for an entire year and getting a 1 is downright shameful.

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  14. The Apartheid comment wasn't about the students, it is about a system that has allowed AP to be exclusive and it has not reflected the rich diversity of the student population. Still doesn't, and that isn't because a more diverse student population couldn't succeed, it's because the system has not included them.

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  15. What about the kids who hadn't been in the AP club before now, pass the class and get a 4 on the exam, can you celebrate that, or is that shameful too?

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  16. There was no choice for the PLA designation it was applied by the state, but there is a choice on how to comply, ACPS could have closed the school and turned it over to a private education corporation, or it could have fired 50% of the teachers, or it could transform the delivery of instruction to include extending the school year, which do you prefer?

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  17. ACPS could also decline to accept the money. Then they wouldn't have to go along with the PLA requirements (ie. the transformation). Also, Dr. Sherman is going to propose an extended day for teachers AND students, even though the people who spoke at the School Board meeting were almost unanimously opposed to it.

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  18. And they could continue to fail a large number of students as well.

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  19. So throwing millions of dollars at a school designated to be PLA and increasing the amount and length of students days will prevent the failing students from failing? Are you implying that the problem boils down to a lack of time and money?

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  20. Yes. It is a lack of time and it has been a resistance to spend money on helping struggling students. Yes.

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  21. Alexandria spends more money per student than any other jurisdiction in the D.C. metropolitan area. So there does not appear to be a "resistance to spend money" within ACPS. And with regards to time, not a single educational study indicates that adding two days to the school year or thirty minutes to a student's day will do anything to address the needs of struggling students. So, no, the ills of public education in Alexandria do not fall upon the swords of time and money. The issues are a bit more complicated than the simplistic reasoning you offer.

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