Case Study #3
Case 6: Retroactive Grade Inflation The academic integrity of many academic institutions nationwide is becoming more challenging. This case study presents an example on how the academic integrity of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles is being challenged after they’ve decided to inflate students GPAs. The central moral issue in the case revolves around the fact that Loyola Law School in Los Angeles retroactively inflated its students‘ GPAs by 0.333. The grade inflation will effortlessly grant a student with an A- an A. Inflating the students’ GPAs by 0.333. has the potential to harm employers and school graduates. According to the author, employers may believe that the graduates were given the high grades undeservingly. Even students whose grades have been inflated are complaining that they will no longer be able to use their GPAs as an accurate measure of their performance in law school. On the other hand, grade inflation has the potential to help students that have not done very well academically. It would raise their average by a considerable amount of grades, which would
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Increasing students’ grades means lying and not providing the actual grades that the students earned. Kant believed that lying was absolutely prohibited, even in cases where the action would bring more happiness to the individual. In Kant’s deontological moral philosophy, the moral law is grounded in the form of the categorical imperative. The categorical imperative is an unconditional command. It is applicable to everyone equally by being a human. It includes three components: universalizability, reversibility, and impartiality. In order for us to understand Kant’s view more in depth on Loyola’s grade inflation we have to look at the three components as tests that we should be able to
In his essay, "Why Colleges Shower Their Students With A’s,” Staples claims that student grades are increasing for the wrong reasons, causing college degrees to become meaningless. Staples provides evidence that average grades have increased significantly over the last several decades, but claims that it is not because students are working harder. The real explanation for grade inflation, he argues, is the effect of grades on both students and their professors. Teachers give more A’s to receive better evaluations and increase job security. Students give more importance to their grades as a result of the rapidly increasing cost of a college education. Staples argues that modern
The author states that when he was a kid, he was very pleased to get a B grade and now students see those grades as mediocre to say the least. When he attended Tufts in late 1960s, a “B” in certain courses was something that he could dream about. Primack states that GPA’s across the nation have risen since the 1960’s. He believes that this issue could be due to teachers not wanting to give out bad grades in fear that students will not want to take their classes. He uses Harvard University as a prime example of a college guilty of grade inflation.
In the op-ed, “Grade Inflation Gone Wild,” Stuart Rojstaczer addresses the concern of grade inflation and its effects on students. Rojstaczer uses several different methods to prove his point of view to the reader. Rojstaczer links grade inflation to the sinking quality of education, as well as the rise of college alcoholics. While this op-ed does a satisfactory job appealing to the reader on a person-person basis, many of Rojstaczer’s main claims do not hold any scholarly evidence. This analysis over “Grade Inflation Gone Wild” will discuss whether Rojstaczer has written this editorial solely to convince readers of his opinion, or does Rojstaczer present a credible claim in higher education’s grade inflation.
In “Life is Not Measured by Grade-Point Averages” by H. Bruce Miller, Miller announces that a young lady named Gabrielle Napolitano was suing the University for accusing her of plagiarism in her paper. Napolitano hired a lawyer and built the case stating that the so called “plagiarism” was just a, quote “technical error” (Miller, par.2). Miller announces this problem but doesn’t get his true argument out until the last few paragraphs of his paper, stating that students need to stop worrying about their grades or grade-point averages and need to start enjoying the process of learning, to embrace the knowledge and use it without the fear of lack of money in the back of their minds. Miller uses strong terminology throughout his paper and keeps the paper at a fast-pace to retrieve the audiences full attention and to also keep it until the end, he also uses antonomasia to refer back to his university, making his style of writing very entertaining; however, Miller fails to accept Napolitano’s feelings about the problems at hand and makes a huge assumption that she is only concentrated on her grade-point average, fails to appeal to his audiences beliefs, and includes inappropriate fallacies in his paper. Even though Miller has weaknesses in his paper, he did a good job using the proper style in his paper to keep the reader’s attention and to get his argument that people need to enjoy learning and not just be in it for the money across.
The author was a freshman at Princeton University when this article was written. He seems to have enough drive and determination in order to embrace grade deflation compared to his peers, who complained and disagreed with the grading system, which is what started this essay.
Attending college is not only a chance for students to further their education, but it also allows them to experience the lessons life has to offer. One of the hardest lessons to learn is how unfair life can be. Students who work diligently to achieve academic success in the classroom may quickly realize their academic efforts do not “pay off” as much as the student-athlete who possesses the ability to kick a football fifty yards. There is an evident failure in the educational system when the student-athlete’s performance and how they contribute to a winning season, is more valuable to the university, than the academic student who strives to graduate with honors. Students who focus their efforts on an academic based education are not rewarded with the same benefits, resources, and perks as their student-athlete counterparts.
In “Why Colleges Should Ditch Honor Codes” Susan Greenberg is trying to inform the audience as to why society does not require the honor code anymore. The rules that lie behind this regulation are becoming outdated and more students are finding themselves punished for disobeying it. A lot of honor code schools are trying to get rid of this process because it only brings the students more pressure. Typically, students that are in honor code schools tend to cheat more than schools that do not possess it. If a student is enrolled in a more prestigious school, he/she is more tempted to cheat in order to maintain his or her good grades. Greenberg explains a situation that took place in Stanford University that led more than 100 students in academic
If you grew up in this generation, then more than likely you grew up watching the Nickelodeon show “The Fairly Odd Parent’s.” The show is about a ten-year-old boy named Timmy Turner. His parents barely parented him and were always gone, therefore they hired a babysitter who seems to be an angle to the parents, but behind closed doors she torments Timmy. One day, he is blessed with the opportunity to be given fairy godparents, Wanda and Cosmo, and they have magical powers and grants Timmy’s wishes. The cartoon show is unpredictable, but after watching it over the years I found one thing that I could predict that happens every time. Timmy’s teacher, Mr. Crocker, always failed Timmy with a grade of an F, and he always gave a character named AJ a letter grade of an A. Some could argue that Timmy simply didn’t study or do his homework, but the show portrays it as the teacher mistreating him. At the end of the day the teacher is the one that plugs the grades into the computer and they solely give you your grade.
However, this may stem from a lack of enforcement of the rules. Even at the most prestigious schools, such as Harvard University, students are not upholding the rules implemented: “The possibility that 125 Harvard students ‘improperly collaborated’ on an exam in the spring has galvanized … discussion about … honor codes” (Source: C). In this case, people may argue that the only party at fault consists of the students. However, the faculty may be partially guilty as well, as their lack of care towards the rules has created a situation that jeopardizes the school’s integrity. Revision may then seem like the least of the school’s priorities, as they must show they seriously consider educational integrity. Likewise, at the University of Virginia, “157 students have been investigated by their peers in the largest cheating scandal in memory” (Source: D). Again, the school and all those who work there hold at least part of the fault for this ignorance because, theoretically, they should preserve and enforce the rules provided. The fact that the scandal exists means that they were not doing their jobs to their fullest. Although revision may seem simpler to carry out, the school’s staff must show an attempt at intervention within the student lives to keep them on a path towards
However, such accusations such as laziness and entitlement, although common, have been prevalent amongst those of college age as proven in “A’s for Everyone.” Shepard had investigated the cause behind this and had put the blame on grade inflation in the years prior to entering college, the pressure to get superb grades due to high tuition costs, and most importantly the belief that “effort” constitutes a grade bonus. However, if one has entered the school system in America, one could see the relative ease in which one could improve their grades through inordinate amounts of extra credit. Multiple students have heard and even seen fellow students ask their parents to even come in for meetings of which equate to blaming their child’s poor grades on the teacher and harassing said teacher to allow their child, soon to be a hardworking, productive citizen of society, to get the “grade they
In “Stop Giving In To Higher Grades: Ten suggestions On How to Fight Grade Inflation,” the author Kevin C. Costley explains why grade inflation should be strictly decreased and how faculties should act to actually reduce it through providing a good number of citations and his own solutions. Nowadays, not only students and parents but even principals expect higher grade and this kind of problem extensively prevails in the United States. Universities also acknowledge that if the students get poor grades, they will transfer to another institute that retains a more generous grading standard, which eventually leads to imposing pressure on professors. If the students’ grades are inflated, they will not receive the chance to
In conclusion, the issue of academic integrity does not only affect an individual, but also an institution. Therefore, it is the duty of students and schools to ensure that ethical principles are upheld all the time. Moreover, institutions of higher learning should deal with all reported cases of academic dishonestly severely to deter others. In addition, a culture of academic integrity should be promoted. For students, it is even more important because it helps them to avoid losing a potential career due to misconduct. Moreover, upholding the values of ethics and integrity provides them with intrinsic
Archer, Jan. “The effects of students who get caught cheating in college.” Global Post. Demand Media,
Carla Rivera from the Los Angeles Times mentions that, “exams are not supervised so students are expected to do the right thing when they witness others committing violations” hoping the students will speak up, (Rivera). Therefore, this is one reason students feel pressured to do work themselves. Some students also feel the need to cheat in order to achieve their goal. On the other hand, students are encouraged to cheat with the use of technology. In today’s society students have access to technology such as smart phones, and computers etc. According to Lisa Lapin in the article “College Cheating: Success above Honor”, every student has the opportunity to present evidence of the work they have created, (Lapin). Students have their reasons for why they cheat; some want to succeed, but every student’s choice is their own. In addition, stakes are high for college admission. Stacy Teicher Khadaroo, a staff writer of the Christian Science Monitor newspaper notes that, “college’s looks for great bright students; there are six defendants who tried to cheat the system.” These defendants may have kept honest applicants from submitting into their dream school. These six students went to Great Neck North High
The issues and infractions mentioned above are examples of what is and has occurred at universities nationwide. This is not an isolated problem. As these corrupt acts of academic fraudulence and plagiarism continue to reoccur, it is slowing chipping away at the prestige and respect that make these educational establishments what they are suppose to be, institutions of the highest learning. By treating academics as a secondary concern to the athletic primacy, universities cannot fully accomplish their sole purpose. These acts of immoral and unethical procedures do not permit the schools from maintaining unblemished academic environments. Although part of the universities' goals are to create well rounded students, this objective should not come at the expense of academics, corruption, or unethical behavior.