All posts by Dana Huff

English Department Chair/English teacher, doctoral candidate at Northeastern University, reader, writer, bread baker, sometime soapmaker, amateur foodie. Wife and mom of three.
Professional Development

Schools Attuned Checklist

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In about a week, I will be leaving for a Schools Attuned workshop in Charlotte, North Carolina. I received an e-mail today from the site director reminding me of all the things I need to do/prepare for the trip:

  • Access the Schools Attuned website, www.schoolsattuned.org, create a user name and password and review, print out and sign the Participant Agreement and bring your printed acceptance with you to the Core Course.
  • Complete the Journal writing activity [discuss a good and bad school experience].
  • Complete the On-Line Preparation Activity.
  • Reading: You should have received a copy of Dr. Mel Levine’s A Mind at a Time in your course Prep-Packet. Please read Chapter 2 “The Ways of Learning”, Chapter 5, “Ways with Words: Our Language System” and Chapter 8, “Some Peeks at a Mind’s Peaks: Our Higher Thinking System.”
  • If you are a subject-specific teacher [I am], collect and bring the following with [you]:
    • A copy of the school, district, and/or state curriculum that you use when planning lessons in your subject, course, or level (e.g., Chemistry, Algebra II, Creative Writing)
    • Two lesson plans that you have used this year from the same subject, course, or level
    • Three examples of assignments (e.g., projects, activities, reports) and/or assessments (e.g., quizzes, tests). Select one piece of your work that you would like to look at with the group and bring two extra copies of that document.
    • Several examples of student work from the same subject

That sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? I’ve crossed off the things I’ve already done. As you can see, that’s not a lot. I’m having some trouble thinking of a really bad school experience to share — at least something specific. I have had poor teachers and can share a general sense of dissatisfaction with some aspects of my education, but I can’t think of a single incident that really inspires strong feelings of anger or ill-treatment. I’ll have to think about that. I will post both journal entries here once I have them written.

I am going to sit down and start reading the book tonight. I am glad we only have to read three chapters, but I think I’ll start from the beginning and plow through anyway. If I am finding it difficult to read, then I’ll skip as they suggested.

In terms of collecting my curriculum, ours is a little too nebulous. We have one, and I follow it, but it isn’t composed of objectives like the state curriculu; I think I’ll just print a copy of the Georgia standards.

Lesson plans should be easy to figure out. Examples of assignments, too, as I have them saved on my computer here at home and on my flash drive. I am lucky I have some student work samples to bring in. I didn’t get a chance to hand back reading journals for Postmodernism to my 10th graders.

Issues

School Days

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Boy, you can tell school’s out when I post three times in one day. I’ve not had so much “free” time in I don’t know when.

The Reflective Teacher wrote about his exploits during his school days. If I have one observation to make about my school days, I’d have to say it was that I was too good. I had one detention the entire time I was in school from grades K-12, and I got it for not turning in a form on time. My teacher gave those of us who were in her detention (I think there were three of us) mocha almond fudge ice cream; it was the first time I had tried it, and it’s still a favorite.

I knew very well where “the line” was, and I never went anywhere near it. I got fussed at for talking to Leon when I was supposed to be working quietly in first grade. I wanted to disappear into a hole; I was so mortified. On rainy days in 5th grade, we went to our classroom after lunch and were allowed to draw or play games. I asked Mrs. Esquibel if I could go play with the puppets behind the puppet show. She said no. But Talisa Carmichael, that damned siren, she talked me into doing it anyway; she swore we wouldn’t get caught. Well, we did, and boy, was Mrs. Esquibel mad. She told my parents at a parent/teacher conference. I can’t think that I ever got into more serious trouble than that.

I did some dumb things, like try alcohol (on school premises, to boot), but I never tried drugs either; not even when the hulking guy who sat behind me in economics offered me a joint.

I guess I was a bit like Hermione Granger, only instead of jumping to answer every question, I shrank into my chair. If the Reflective Teacher has more sympathy and understanding for kids like him, I suppose I have learned to watch out for those shrinking violets.

Issues

Another Year Under My Belt

Is teaching weird, or what? I mean, I spent the last few weeks of school running around like the proverbial decapitated chicken, then… it’s done. I have nothing work-related to do. I could be a good egg and begin making lesson plans virtually the moment school lets out. I don’t know for sure what I’m teaching, so that’s out.

It’s weird. Today felt like Saturday, as yesterday was my last day. One of the things I want to do this summer is restore some of my older blog entries that were nearly lost when my old host had some problems.

I also want to work on my presentation on using blogs and wikis in the classroom, as I’m not sure how much time I’ll have when school starts.

In about two weeks, two of my colleagues and I are going to a workshop in North Carolina. That should be a fun roadtrip, as they are two of my favorite colleagues. I have a book to read before I go. Better get started on that, I guess.

I suppose I have more to do than I thought, but it is weird. Sort of like slamming on your brakes. Your body still wants to go forward, though the vehicle has made a sudden stop.

Issues

Academic Dishonesty

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ChemJerk recently posted about term papers for sale on eBAY.  Join us in submitting a complaint to eBAY.  If they won’t allow teachers’ editions of textbooks for sale, then I can’t see how this should be allowed, although I didn’t find it listed explicitly in the list of prohibited items.

I broached the subject of our school using the services of Turnitin.com with the IT at our school.  It’s looking more and more like a good idea…

Uncategorized

Would You Send Your Kid to Hogwarts?

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Some of you might know I’m a big Harry Potter fan. I have a Professor Snape action figure in my classroom. He’s one of my favorite characters. I was thinking over the last week or so that it might be fun to evaluate the effectiveness of some of the Hogwarts professors in light of the fact that I’m an educator myself.

Severus Snape, Potions/Defense Against the Dark Arts

Obviously the favoritism and sarcasm are not the hallmarks of a good teacher, but I don’t think we should count him out entirely. He does manage, albeit through fear tactics and bullying, to teach his students quite a great deal about Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts. It is also through Snape that Harry learns the Expelliarmus spell that helps him in his first duel with Voldemort in the graveyard in Goblet of Fire. J.K. Rowling has said that Snape was loosely based on a teacher she had. Yikes!

Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration

As much as we like to consider her tough but fair, she occasionally has her lapses, too. Disgusted by Neville Longbottom’s poor performance in class, she once remarked, “Longbottom, kindly do not reveal that you can’t even perform a simple Switching Spell in front of anyone from Durmstrang!” (Goblet of Fire, Ch. 15). All in all, however, she tends to have high expectations (but not unreasonable ones). She inspires respect in her charges, and in several instances, readers are shown she cares for her students. For example, when Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall arrive at Prof. Moody’s (really Barty Crouch, Jr.) office to rescue Harry from the man whom they now realize is an imposter, McGonagall’s first concern is Harry:

“Come along, Potter,” she whispered. The thin line of her mouth was twitching as though she was about to cry. “Come along… hospital wing…” (Goblet of Fire, Ch. 35)

After Dumbledore insists that Harry stay a moment longer, McGonagall even begins to argue with the headmaster. McGonagall is another teacher who manages to educate her students well.

Rubeus Hagrid, Care of Magical Creatures

Hagrid is just an awful teacher. He’s a great friend to Harry, but his lessons are dangerous or boring most of the time. The only time he manages to plan good lessons are when he implements units started by his replacement, Professor Grubbly-Plank (for example, the lessons on unicorns). Even Harry is forced to acknowledge that Grubbly-Plank is a better Care of Magical Creatures teacher in Order of the Phoenix:

“And don’t say that Grubbly-Plank woman’s a better teacher!” [Harry] added threateningly.

“I wasn’t going to,” said Hermione calmly.

“Because she’ll never be as good as Hagrid,” said Harry firmly, fully aware that he had just experienced an exemplary Care of Magical Creatures lesson and was thoroughly annoyed about it. (Ch. 13)

Filius Flitwick, Charms

Flitwick seems to be a competent teacher, but it would also seem he allows students a little bit too much free rein in his class. Students frequently use his class as an opportunity to talk off-task (as Harry, Ron, and Hermione do during one lesson on banishing spells in Goblet of Fire). Hermione was also able to earn a 112% on her exam in first year, which would seem to be an impossible feat, as 100% is a perfect score. It sort of makes you wonder about his assessments.

Sybill Trelawney, Divination

Professor Trelawney’s penchant for predicting the deaths of her students as a greeting seems odd in the extreme. She does not generally fraternize with the other staff, which also marks her as odd. Professor Trelawney also has a drinking problem, as Harry and/or his friends twice come across her in a state of inebriation after consuming cooking sherry. Probably not a good idea if one is attempting to learn something, but she is good for entertainment value.

Dolores Umbridge, Defense Against the Dark Arts

Harry Potter’s DADA teacher in Order of the Phoenix teaches her students nothing practical and has them read the textbook and do busywork. I had an English teacher like that in tenth grade. I can never recall her standing in front of the room. I don’t remember reading anything. I remember doing exercises out of Warriner’s grammar book every day. My shop teacher in 6th grade (at my middle school, students had to sample all the Connections classes for 6 weeks each) made us copy out of the woodworking book when he got mad at us. Which was a lot. He also drank a beer in class once. At any rate, we were talking about Professor Umbridge. Well, clearly, she’s not really there to teach, but to be the Ministry’s toadie. I wrote a post about this once, so I won’t repeat it all here. Some of you might enjoy a look at it, though.

Professor Binns, History of Magic

Binns lectures in a boring monotone, which prevents most of his students from learning anything about his subject matter, which should rightfully be a fascinating one. Not exactly sound pedagogical theory, but we’ve all had a teacher like this, too. “Bueller… Bueller…”

Gilderoy Lockhart, Defense Against the Dark Arts

Poorly prepared in his subject and focusing instruction on his own exploits, Gilderoy Lockhart might be the worst teacher Harry has at Hogwarts. A glance at the first quiz he gives should tell the reader all he/she needs to know about Lockhart’s instruction.

Pomona Sprout, Herbology

Herbology students work hard, as would seem logical in the Head of Hufflepuff House’s class. They get plenty of hands-on practical experience. Professor Sprout also seems to be a fair teacher. She also praised Neville to Professor Moody (Crouch); when Moody repeated the praise to Neville, it clearly gave him a self-esteem boost. After Goblet of Fire, the reader sees Neville excel in Herbology, which is nice to see.

Remus Lupin, Defense Against the Dark Arts

I think Professor Lupin might be the best teacher Harry has. He relates well with the students. Snape attempts to insult Neville Longbottom in front of the entire DADA class as they are about to tackle the boggart in the faculty lounge:

“Possibly no one’s warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear.”

Lupin replies in Neville’s defense:

“I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation,” he said, “and I am sure he will perform it admirably.” (Ch. 7)

Perhaps we can forgive him then, for allowing another teacher — Snape — to be mocked openly in his class (when the boggart-Snape appears dressed in clothes similar to those worn by Neville’s grandmother). In addition to caring for his students, he is also able to inspire their respect. When he rescues Harry from Snape after Snape attempts to confiscate the Marauder’s Map, he reprimands Harry for not turning it in: “Your parents gave their lives to keep you alive, Harry. A poor way to repay them — gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks” (Ch. 14). As Harry walks away, he feels “worse by far than he had at any point in Snape’s office.” Lupin’s final exam is also an excellent assessment — it is application, higher order thinking skills, a true test of what they have learned.

Alastor Moody (Barty Crouch, Jr.), Defense Agains the Dark Arts

The imposter Moody tells the DADA class that they have covered dark creatures very well under Lupin, but are behind on hexes. Even though he turns out to be a Death Eater and murderer, he might have a point. Harry and his classmates did learn quite a bit from the imposter Moody, even if he did resort to illegal curses to teach them. Harry learns how to fight the Imperius Curse. He learns about the Cruciatus Curse and the Avada Kedavra, which he previously had no knowledge of, despite the fact that the Avada Kedavra killed his parents and the fact that he is the only survivor of the AK.

Horace Slughorn, Potions

I am not sure what to make of Slughorn. His penchant for favoritism doesn’t speak well of him, but he’s not exactly evil per se. Unlike most Slytherins Harry has met so far, he is not prejudiced against Muggle-born or Half-Blood wizards. Lily Evans, Harry’s Muggle-born mother, was one of Slughorn’s favorite students. However, he told Tom Riddle about Horcruxes, which was clearly a mistake, but he seems to feel obvious shame and regret over the incident. Harry does seem to learn a great deal in his class, but he attributes most of what he learns to the notes written by the Half-Blood Prince in his textbook. As that person turns out to be Snape, one could argue he really learns a lot more about Potions from Snape.

Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster

While Dumbledore’s function in the series is mainly administrative, we do learn that he taught Transfiguration when Tom Riddle and Rubeus Hagrid went to Hogwarts. We are never given an assessment of Dumbledore’s teaching skills, but based on his relationship with the students, he was probably fairly good. I do wonder at his skill in selecting some of his staff, but he seems, in all, to be a fairly good administrator. He is not always as supportive of his faculty as he could be, but often that’s because the faculty member in question is being unreasonable (Snape, most of the time). He is careful to make sure Harry always demonstrates respect for Snape, often correcting him when he doesn’t refer to him as Professor. He is open-minded and intelligent. When the government attempts to interfere at Hogwarts, he does what he can, within bounds, to protect his faculty and students.

On a slightly unrelated note, do you ever wonder if students develop other more mundane skills necessary for survival both in the Muggle and wizarding worlds? For instance, no one seems to worry about how well students write (though they seem to be assigned quite a lot of essays) or read. They don’t take math, unless you count Arithmancy. I suppose one could consider Potions to be a chemistry class of sorts, and perhaps some biology would be covered in Transfiguration; students take Astronomy, too. However, in general, science looks nothing like it does in Muggle schools. Harry takes a history class, but it is narrow in focus, which I am not sure is wise. Harry and his friends could do with learning a bit more about history in general, and their knowledge of geography does seem weak. I suppose Muggle Studies might cover this material somewhat, but we never really learn much about that class. In terms of foreign language, I don’t see much of it, unless one counts Ancient Runes. Neil Ward at the Harry Potter Lexicon discussed the “roundness” of the Hogwarts education in this essay. Lexicon founder Steve Vander Ark asks whether we would, indeed, want a Hogwarts education for our own children.

Assessment, Issues

End of Year Dance

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Man, I’m ready for this end-of-year dance to be over. The last couple of weeks of school are so hard. That sounded like stating the obvious. I’m under some pressure; partly, I can’t tell if it’s all in my head and of my own making, or something I should be really freaking out about.

I just spent most of the day writing final exams. That was frustrating, because I can already tell that even though the exams were fair and comprehensive — they covered nothing I hadn’t covered — I had little stabs of remorse. Oh, I know they’re going to have trouble with that one. Oh, that one might throw a few of them off. It isn’t my goal to trip kids up on the exam, but I also have to hold them responsible for their learning. The sad fact is, some of them didn’t meet me halfway and learn some of this stuff.

This time of year is inevitably frustrating, too, as I reflect on all the things I did wrong and the ways I failed instead of succeeded. There is a black pall that settles over the end of the school year. I just finished a re-read of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and I feel for all the world like there’s a dementor sitting right next to me.

I wonder sometimes how many years I will need to teach before I feel completely satisfied with the job I’ve done. Does that ever come? And does completely satisfied mean “competent” or “accomplished”? I can’t even decide.

Some things I want to do better/differently next year:

  • Stay on top of portfolios and really use them effectively. The sporadic use they got this year was probably only minimally helpful to students.
  • Really work on lesson plans. I think a weakness I have is figuring out how to integrate all different areas of language arts together. For instance, how can I link teaching pronoun/antecedent agreement to a writing assignment that addresses and assesses their understanding of it?
  • The test experiment didn’t work. I decided to assess students’ understanding of literature through writing assignments (although there were reading quizzes). I did still test my 9th graders over grammar. But the fact that there were no “tests” with that big, scary label (despite the fact that I saw myself as assessing in alternative ways) led some students to take my class less seriously, I think. I don’t know. Maybe they didn’t. But I think they did.
  • I didn’t grade essays quickly enough this year and got bogged down by my workload as a result. It wasn’t until Jay McTighe’s March visit to our school that I discovered the marvelous, comprehensive rubrics used by Greece, NY Public Schools. They made me a much more efficient grader, but by the time March rolled around, I had already developed the reputation for being a snail. Slow assessment doesn’t really help kids improve much.

I’m sure I’ll think of other things to kick myself about. People I work with call that self-reflection, but at some point I have to figure out where the line between reflection and flagellation is.

Issues

Service

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Miss HaleyMiss Hazel Haley is retiring after teaching high school English for 69 years.

It is estimated that she has taught approximately 13,500 students over the years, 67 of which she has worked at Lakeland Senior High School in Lakeland, Florida. She has conducted class in the same room for the last 54 years.

I cannot conceive of how Miss Haley must feel at the close of a career like hers. I am in awe, and the only word I can think of is “service.”

I can’t imagine the things she must have seen over the course of her career. Think of this — she has been teaching long enough to have taught as many of four generations of the same family. Can you imagine having a teacher your great-grandmother had? I think that puts her accomplishment in perspective.

In 2001, I was completing my fourth year of teaching. I was burned out. I had a rough year. I had personal problems in my life, but more than that, I just didn’t think I had made the right career choice after all. I really struggled. In the end, I decided to quit teaching and do something else with my life. Something more rewarding. Something people might actually respect me for.

I searched fruitlessly and discovered in the process that not many folks were interested in employees with a teaching background. It is difficult sometimes for teachers to change careers. I can’t find the company now, but one temporary staffing agency actually stated baldly on their website that companies don’t like to hire former teachers. The perception is that there’s not much in the way of marketable skills that we can offer. I really wish I could find the website now, but after a half hour of fruitless surfing with only the vague recollection that the letters “B” and “H” were in the agency’s name, I’m afraid I’ve come up with nothing, so you’ll have to take my word for it. The point is, I interviewed for jobs copyediting (it would have been a paycut) and writing insurance textbooks. I interviewed for a position as a dental assistant. I was this close to walking down to the Mellow Mushroom and taking them up on the job offer I saw in the window. No one else was interested, after all. After four months of joblessness, I found a position teaching pre-K that was tolerable until something else came along. Yes, I was back in school. By the end of the school year, I had made up my mind to go back into the secondary classroom. I accepted the first job I was offered, which turned out to be a mistake, but that’s OK. I moved on, and I am extremely happy in my current teaching position. So happy, I can well imagine staying until my retirement if they let me.

What I figured out when I had decided to turn my back on teaching forever is that I measure out my life in school years. I like kitschy apple knick-knacks. I like working with teenagers in all their unfuriating teen-ness. I like teaching students how to become better communicators, how to become better readers. I like learning.

One of the things I learned when I absented myself from teaching is that all the clichés are true: 2 teach is 2 touch lives 4-ever… A teacher affects eternity; s/he can never tell where his or her influence stops.

It’s easy to scoff at these platitudes, but we just don’t know, do we? I can remember the names of most of the teachers I had, starting with kindergarten onward. In their ways, they each had an impact.

Mrs. Karr taught me that I wasn’t stupid — I thought I was. She taught me that I could read well.

Mrs. Jones taught me there was a time to be serious and on-task.

Mrs. Elliott taught me that I had a talent for writing and was an excellent speller.

Miss Shearer made such pretty cursive D’s that I copied them and still write them the same way — with the large sloping top loop — to this day. She also taught me to be careful with a compass.

Mrs. Esquibel taught me to keep my promises.

Mr. Velando taught me to celebrate my talents.

Mr. Schmeisser taught me to love books I had to read for school.

Mrs. Keener was my role model and mentor. I wanted to be the kind of teacher she was.

Being a teacher is special. I imagine Miss Haley will miss it. I know she will reflect upon her years as a teacher and know that she affected the lives of her students in profound and positive ways. One day, I hope that I can look back upon a lifetime of service in education and feel some pride in my accomplishment. I won’t delude myself into thinking I will accomplish anything like Miss Haley has, but that isn’t the most important thing. The most important thing is that I served. To me, that’s what teaching is all about.  In the end, I can’t think of anything more rewarding or more worthy of respect.

Issues

Teacher Threatened

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I just found out via the Education Wonks that a former colleague, Phil Carroll, was recently threatened by a student at Peachtree Ridge High School in Gwinnett County.  The two of us taught together at Snellville Middle in Gwinnett.  His room adjoined mine.  He was very knowlegeable about languages, very soft-spoken, very intelligent.  Here is the AP story.

From what I know of Phil, I am 100% positive that there is no way he has any sort of “vendetta” against this student, and I think it is preposterous for the mother to claim such a thing.  I find it inexcusable and very sad.  It’s one thing to protect our kids, but it is quite another to make baseless accusations and blame the teacher for what is clearly her daughter’s problem.  I am only glad that the student was suspended and that Phil was supported.  When we worked together, as a general rule, we were not supported by our administration.

Funny, I’ll bet that if this mother’s daughter were the subject of such a threat, then Mama would be the first in line to demand appropriate punishment, and I doubt a “suspension” would suffice.  I hope for Phil’s sake that they remove this girl from his class.

Assessment

Grade Inflation: A Student and Teacher Dialogue

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Recently, I wrote a post in which I included the following lament about grade inflation:

I would say that my grading is tough, but fair. I feel as if I am in line with my school and department in that area. However, students expect to make A’s and B’s. In fact, students in Honors classes expect to make only A’s. It is frustrating for me to communicate to them that a B is a very good grade. In most grading scales, it means “above average.” The A grade means “excellent.” I don’t know about you, but not everything I do is “excellent.” This conveys a level of mastery that is impossible to achieve on every assignment in every class.

I received a comment from Anthony Ferraro, a 10th grade student (not my own) and we began a dialogue that I found very interesting. I think Anthony has some valid points about the complexities of grade inflation, and I invited him to contribute to this blog in the hopes of stimulating further dialogue. His contribution begins below in blue text, followed by my own. Afterward, we hope to hear from you in the comments.

First off, let me begin with a small disclaimer. As a student, I believe that the vast majority of teachers are trying their very hardest to benefit us in any way they can. They are our guides; our captains, and our friends. And while the majority of this post may seem as though I am berating and criticizing the top of the heap, the wonderfully idealistic teachers chock full of noble purpose and desire to help, I am only trying to point out an unintended consequence of their actions so that we may confront the problem as a community (clichéd, I know, I apologize).

When confronted with the dilemma of grade inflation, people – parents, students, and teachers – all seem to agree on the best strategy to go about combating it. To put it bluntly, albeit a bit simplistically, all parties involved want everyone else, simultaneously, to drastically alter their expectations. Teachers wish parents and students would stop expecting higher grades, not only when the student really isn’t up to par and therefore deserves a C in the already inflated grade curve, but also to make the students and parents instantaneously equate a C with par again.

As a student, the growing problem, however, is not the rising grade inflation. The problem is the lack of a universal acceptance of a standard, any standard. A teacher who deviates from the presently inflated grading scale — a scale which, as faulty as it may seem, currently exists as the standard grading scale — can affect a student’s life to a far greater extent than the teachers may think possible. A “C” is a killer on a transcript, especially given that an A, in today’s society, does not mean “excellent.” How can college admissions possibly discern between a C from a teacher who adheres strictly to the grading scale’s purported definitions and a C from a teacher who, intentionally or simply lazily (for it doesn’t matter at all), adhered to the modern grading scale. The first C states that the student produced work of average quality, but the second C states, particularly in public schools, that the student simply showed up for class. The effect on the interpretation of a student’s grade produced when the by-the-book C appears on a transcript can severely, if unintentionally, affect the student’s ability to apply to various colleges, because universities are working blindfolded. Their hands are tied, for it is neither feasible nor logical to somehow investigate and scrutinize each and every student’s application more than they have already. College admissions officers must make the most of the information they receive, and are therefore not weighing, interpreting, and deliberating the validity of any given student’s resume – they’re comparing it with another student’s. Particularly in disciplines for which standardized testing is not applicable, and assuming all other variables are accounted for, admissions will always take the student who, on paper, is the most qualified.

In today’s ultracompetitive college applicant environment, the acceptance percentages for all elite or even decent colleges are dropping. This fall indicates only a rise in applicants, not necessarily a rise in qualified applicants (meaning the quality of the student body isn’t shooting up at a proportional rate). However, due to grade inflation, “quality” changes. “Quality” grades are getting easier and easier to come by, and this hurts both the people who earned their A’s in, say, Ms. Dana Huff’s English class, where A’s are difficult to earn, and the people in her class who earned C’s. The people who earned A’s in Ms. Huff’s class are not distinguished from those who earned A’s in Mr. Apathy’s class, and the people who earned C’s in Ms. Huff’s class have been most unfairly divided from students in Mr. Apathy’s class. So not only are more and more students applying to more and more colleges, all students are becoming almost impossibly indistinguishable.

I guess my point is that one cannot simply fight grade inflation by stubbornly resisting its effects, because innocent bystanders can get knocked by the wayside, and hurting the people you really wish to help is in nobody’s best interest. I’d also wish to point out that standing by and doing nothing is not the best option either, for the issue must be addressed. We must work together to find a better solution, a solution that is feasible, a solution that can be agreed upon, and a solution where no harm is done. Both teachers and students deserve it.

Anthony Ferraro

I do think Anthony has some valid points. Not all C’s are equal, are they? However, I do think most competitive colleges know this. There are also other factors that determine admission, such as athletic ability, gender, race, geographic location, SAT/ACT scores, college resumes, college essays, and the like.

I think students in my class usually come out all right in the end, but they do earn grades commensurate with their performance on individual writing assignments. Students might, for example, earn C’s on essays, but bring their grade up through careful reading and subsequent good performance on reading quizzes or vocabulary tests and still earn a B or even an A in the end. I did have a student who earned a C on the first draft of his research paper last year. He was extremely upset about the grade at the time, but this year he told me that he appreciated the grade. He told me that he felt nothing he wrote up until he revised that draft was reflective of his full effort, and he said he has been doing good writing this year. I asked his current English teacher about his work, and he agreed that the student is doing good writing for his class.

Our culture has taught students that grades are the goal, when they are really a form of communication. I earned mostly A’s on my writing in high school only to receive a C on my first college paper. Not only that, but my friend had written a comma splice and I didn’t even know what that was. How could I avoid using one on my own paper? I didn’t understand how I could have earned a C. No one had found fault with my writing before. What I didn’t realize is that in comparison with my high school peers, I probably was a good writer. Did that mean I had no room to improve? Of course not. And that is still not true, for there is always room to improve. Whose fault was it? I can’t entirely blame my teachers, but I think that one way in which my education failed me was that I was compared with my peers instead of a standard, such as a rubric, which was designed to show me areas of strength and weakness. My C communicated to me that I had failed, when in my college professor’s eyes, it communicated that I had done adequate work — not good, certainly not excellent, but not poor either. My high school teachers did me no favors by drawing happy faces and A’s on my work. They didn’t help me become a better writer. They sent me the message that there was nothing I could do to improve. I wish I had learned what I needed to work on in high school, when it would have been easier and the consequences for taking risks with my writing less severe.

That is not to say, however, that I disagree with Anthony. I wish that we could dispense with grades altogether and use rubrics for every assignment, but I know that grades aren’t going anywhere. Grade inflation is indeed an issue that is hurting us all. It is going to take all of us to fix it, and it probably won’t happen overnight. To be honest, I’m not even sure what can be done, but I know it begins with the kind of communication and dialogue that Anthony and I have had over the last few weeks.