For Whom the Bell (Curve) Tolls? Classes Yielding Many A's!

Striving for a near-equal distribution of A’s and F’s is viewed as a misdirected goal better suited to assembly-line sorting. Higher grades are considered preferable when grading is based on quality rubrics and viable, up-to-date learning outcomes are assessed effectively. Recent reports indicate Harvard and Yale are considering policies that would reduce the percentage of A’s awarded in classes. Harvard’s approach includes giving A+ grades, aiming to lower the share of A’s shown in posted results. Harvard reported that A grades fell to 53.4% from 60.2% after faculty tightened grading, though some faculty noted less favorable student evaluations. Yale’s concerns are described as similar, and broader data on grade inflation is referenced.

"It is my long-held belief that striving to have a near-equal number of A's and F's in a college class is a grossly misdirected goal. This always seemed to me to be better applied to a sorting guideline for assembly-line manufacturing. It strikes me that the more A's earned in a well-designed class using quality grading rubrics, the better. If viable, relevant, up-to-date learning outcomes are well assessed, then higher grades on average are commendable."

"Yet, in recent weeks, we have learned that a couple of our higher education institutions, the venerable Harvard and Yale Universities, are considering policies designed to reduce the percentage of A's that may be earned in a given class. Writing in The New York Times, Mark Arsenault reports, " One Solution for Too Many A's? Harvard Considers Giving A+ Grades." That seems a bit disingenuous-merely changing the title of the grade by adding a plus sign in order to reduce the disreputable number of A's posted in a class."

"The Times article goes on to quote the dean of undergraduate education: "'A number of you tightened up your grading this fall, and your efforts have made a meaningful difference,' the dean, Amanda Claybaugh, wrote in an email to the faculty Monday afternoon. Grades of A fell to 53.4 percent of grades awarded in the fall semester, from 60.2 percent in the prior academic year, Dr. Claybaugh reported. 'I know this change wasn't easy,' she added, noting that some faculty members had said they were receiving less favorable course evaluations from students.""

"The concern at Yale seems to be similar. Jaeha Jang writes in The Yale Daily News, The issue is not a wholly new topic, nor one that is confined to a few Ivy League schools. Jane Nam shares essential data on the Best Colleges website in the May 2024 report " Grade Inflation in College: Trends and Why It Happens " : There are multiple points of pressure that tend to inflate grading at both the institutional and individual facult"

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