Up For Debate: Grade Inflation
May 7, 2010 by Kathy McManus
Is it ethical for a law school to retroactively raise the grades of students and graduates in order to increase their employment chances?
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Loyola Law School in Los Angeles will “boost by one step” the previously-earned grades of all current students as well as graduates from 2007 onward, to help them “remain competitive with other California law schools.”
The grade inflation means “what previously was a B- would be a B, what previously was a B would be a B+, and so forth,” explained Dean Victor J. Gold, who noted that Loyola’s previously tougher grading system had been “sending incorrect information about our students, and frankly, it was putting them at an unfair competitive disadvantage in a pretty tough job market.”
“Although employers often gauge law students' academic achievement based on their class rank,” says The Chronicle, “some governmental agencies will not consider hiring students with less than a B average.” With Loyola’s first-year student average of B- “you automatically exclude them from employment with those agencies," said Dean Gold. "We're not trying to make them look better than other comparable students at other schools. We just want them to be on an even playing field."
Blogger and Harvard Law alum Elie Mystal disagreed, however, writing on Above The Law: “That’s not just inflation; that’s a rewriting of history.”
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- about law, schools, grades, inflation, California, employment
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7 Comments
What do you think? Leave a comment
May 11, 2010 by Maggie
Yes, it is technically grade inflation. However, what this article failed to mention-an incredibly important fact- is that this means Loyola is now on the same playing field as UCLA and USC. With a B- curve, Loyolans were at a disadvantage to students from the other universities because their curve is at a B (Say, 70% of Loyolas would get a B- while at UCLA or USC that same 70% would get a B instead). While it may look bad now, the curve is FINALLY fair to Loyolans competing in the same job market as students from those local schools. Loyola may not be top 20 but it is by no means a bad school and their graduates are very well respected in the community. As a hiring attorney in the area, I applaud Dean Gold for the decision to make the grade curve fair.
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May 13, 2010 by mom
I may ask this question. Would you let some one that has not learned the necessary things to be able to do heart surgery because someone gave the student a grade for things not learned do heart surgery on your heart? Probably not..... Same thing for your car machanic given a grade for something not learned or not learned well just so that person could get a job. I know of a beautician (someone that does hair) that did not learn to cut hair well and gave some very bad hair cuts. This beautician has lost jobs at several salons for this reason! Will giving someone abetter grade than they have earned really help that person or those they work with? How long do you think that person will be able to keep that job doing poor work on the job? How would you like to be the one working with that someone always cleaning up after their mistakes or poorly done work? Is the instructor really doing that person a favor? From personal experience NO. So i think it not a good idea to give a better grade to a student that has not shown he can do the work, willing or not.
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December 30, 2010 by shawn
possibly, HOwever, do you consider education and the system of teaching as a never ending and unperfect process? One person passes the class with an A and the other person with a B. Does this mean, six months from now the person with the A in the class knows more knowledge in the subject than the person with the B? MAybe the person with the B letter grade didn't study on the 1st exam got a lower grade than the other person. Later studies the previous exam subject and now understands the content as well as the A grade person. To me, it's clear the system should of education should have some leaway. The problem is our society of capitalism and business. We assume the better the school and grades means higher status and wealth.
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December 30, 2010 by george
Uhh, I doubt, there is letter grading system for heart surgery and mechinics. Satisfactory or unsatisfactory.
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May 15, 2010 by Sandy DeWitt
Why award grades at all? Why not just post the percentage of work accomplished correctly and rank the students from most to least productive?
Any hiring authority knows the caliber of education from these schools and should be able to rank the prospective employees by arranging their productivity with a built-in factor to increase the scores of those who attended schools with a more difficult curriculum. (Example: if XXXX has the most difficult curriculum and a person achieves a 95% productivity score, he would be ranked higher than a candidate from YYY Law School who earns a 95% score because XXX would have a built-in factor for difficulty and excellence.) Does that make sense? I use this formula all the time to evaluate candidates for employment. And IT WORKS!!
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May 19, 2010 by anon
This should be publicized in addition to the Loyola thing. Colorado's administration shouldn't be able to slip this under the table.
http://www.colorado.edu/law/about/rules/#_ednref82
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September 4, 2011 by KIMRutledge25
If you're in not good state and have got no cash to move out from that point, you would require to take the loan. Just because it should help you emphatically. I get financial loan every time I need and feel myself OK because of this.
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