Faculty Urged to Examine UCT Study on Grade Inflation at BC
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Grade inflation has become a significant problem at Boston College, according to a new study by the University Council on Teaching (UCT), which recommends that BC administrators and faculty take immediate steps — including wider and more effective sharing of grading data — to address the issue. The UCT also calls for a broad University-wide discussion on appropriate expectations for students’ performance.The report, commissioned by Provost and Dean of Faculties Cuberto Garza, found that the number of A and A- grades at BC increased from 32.4 percent in 1993-94 to 45 percent by 2000 and to 50 percent by 2007-08. The average grade of the graduating class in May 2007 was more than 3.4, the report said.
Copies of the report, titled “Report and Recommendations on Grade Inflation/Grade Compression at BC,” are available in PDF format at www.bc.edu/offices/avp/documents.html.
Noting a recent survey in which only 47 percent of graduating seniors indicated that faculty “frequently” provided them with intellectual challenge and stimulation, the UCT report said that while the academic quality of BC’s incoming freshmen risen steadily, the combined SAT scores of incoming classes have been increasing at a lower rate than the average GPAs of those classes at graduation.
“It may be inferred that rather than raising their academic challenges and expectations for our students, BC faculty have been responding instead by simply raising grades,” the report stated. “Our students may not perceive an intellectual challenge in their courses because, at least in part, grading no longer provides an incentive or guidance for rising to the challenge.”
In addition, the UCT said grading disparity exists between schools and departments, which raises potential fairness issues.
The UCT study describes grade inflation as “a complex national issue at all levels of education and clearly not restricted to Boston College.” But the impact of grade inflation makes it difficult “to distinguish exceptional work by students,” and if trends continue, could severely mitigate the efficacy of “grading as an educational tool.”
Recognizing a complicated “interrelation between grading and pedagogy,” the UCT said BC should reexamine its expectations for students and determine what systemic problem in teaching, if any, grade inflation might suggest.
More immediately, the UCT recommended that at the end of each semester faculty, department or program chairs and deans be provided with such course data as enrollment, average and median grade, distribution of letter grades, as well as the overall averages of statistics for the department or school for a prior benchmark year.
Deans should ask each department to initiate discussions about grades and to establish its own grading norms, perhaps under the guidance of an ad hoc committee or their individual Educational Policy Committee, the UCT added.
“Faculty obviously need the flexibility to deviate from norms,” the report said. “However, if a faculty member deviates from norms set by the department, that faculty member should be held accountable to departmental chairs and asked to explain the reasons for the deviation.”
Added Garza, “The UCT report should be a very informative read for BC faculty and administrators. Grade inflation and compression seriously threaten a university’s ability to provide meaningful feedback intended to challenge and stimulate students. External to universities, inflated grades diminish a transcript’s credibility and may put truly talented students at a disadvantage when they apply to graduate programs and employment.
“I hope that BC faculty, staff, and administrators who encounter our students take the time to read and reflect on a well written report prepared by the University Council on Teaching, one of BC’s most hard working, effective, and productive faculty groups. Its findings and recommendations point the way toward addressing a number of issues of importance to us and many other universities.”
Sean Smith can be reached at sean.smith.1@bc.edu