At 11:37 AM 5/9/97 -0400, you wrote:
>I'm out of school. Leaving tomorrow moring for two weeks of much needed (and
>well deserved ;-) ) vacation. Just had to comment on this before I left.
>
>I think a transcript and a degree ought to mean something. I tell students
>that I use the "Truth-in-Packaging" method of assigning grades. I think the
>grade I assign should accurately (as much as I am capable of) reflect the
>'knowledge' the student has of the course.
>
>Now, how do we square that with the increased expectations and deands of
>society, students, parents, and sometimes administrations, for higher
>grades with less work. I have a plan.
>
>I say we give the student a choice of earning the grade or buying the grade.
>I figure regular tuition gives the student a chance to earn a grade. But if
>he/she is willing to pay double tuition that should guarantee a "C" , triple
>tuition should guarantee at least a "B" and anybody willing to pay quadruple
>tuition should be guaranteed and "A."
>
>Stay with me now, don't judge my plan without hearing it all. A student
>who, for example, paid double tuition could still work in class and earn an
>A, B or C, but if the final grade would have been a D or F we will just put
>a C on the transcript.
>
>Another important part of this plan is that the college would not tell the
>instructor what tuition as paid by the student (so as to bias the
>instructor). The instructor would turn in the accurate grade; if this grade
>were equal to or higher than the "bought" grade it would be entered onto the
>transcript. If it were lover, the bought grade would be entered.
>
>Now, you are probably asking how is this consistent with my "Truth-in-
>Packaging" concept. Here is the beauty of my plan. A bought grade would be
>followed by an asterisk. So a grade of B* would mean the student bought the
>grade, while a grade of B would signify that the grade was earned.
>
>Am explanation of the grades would be posted at the bottom of the
>transcript, so anyone reading it could immediatley know which grades were
>earned and which were bought.
>
>I figure it's a win-win situation. Instructors could maintain standards,
>but any student who flunked would have only himself to blame. (He could have
>bought a passing grade.) The administration would be happy because not only
>would fewer students fail, but tuition income would increase. Parents
>wqould be happy because their child would be guaranteed the degree (and the
>GPA) they (the parents and student) desire.
>
>I haven't presented my plan to our administration or Board of Trustees
>because I'm afraid they might take me seriously and implement it.
>
>Do you think I need a vacation, or what?
>
>See you in a couple of weeks.
>
>
>
>Bret Taylor Lake-Sumter Community College Leesburg FL
>
>"It matters not the subject taught, nor all the books on all the shelves.
>What matters more, yes most of all, is what the teachers are themselves."
> John Wooden
>
>John 3: 3^3 + 3
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>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sharon Smith
Augusta Technical Institute
3116 Deans Bridge Road
Augusta, GA 30906
Math Instructor
Isa 43:1-3
email ssmith@augusta.tec.ga.us
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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