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May 14
Students Fail — and Professor Loses Job
Who is to blame when students fail? If many students fail — a majority even — does that demonstrate faculty incompetence, or could it point to a problem with standards?
Related stories
- Out of Work for Doing Extra Work?, July 23
- Killing the Messenger?, July 8
- Fight Over Tenure and Faculty Rights, Nov. 6
- Critique of Faculty Treatment Post-Katrina, May 16, 2007
- Conversion Experience, Dec. 12, 2006
These are the questions at the center of a dispute that cost Steven D. Aird his job teaching biology at Norfolk State University. Today is his last day of work, but on his way out, he has started to tell his story — one that he suggests points to large educational problems at the university and in society. The university isn’t talking publicly about his case, but because Aird has released numerous documents prepared by the university about his performance — including the key negative tenure decisions by administrators — it is clear that he was denied tenure for one reason: failing too many students. The university documents portray Aird as unwilling to compromise to pass more students.
A subtext of the discussion is that Norfolk State is a historically black university with a mission that includes educating many students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The university suggests that Aird — who is white — has failed to embrace the mission of educating those who aren’t well prepared. But Aird — who had backing from his department and has some very loyal students as well — maintains that the university is hurting the very students it says it wants to help. Aird believes most of his students could succeed, but have no incentive to work as hard as they need to when the administration makes clear they can pass regardless.
“Show me how lowering the bar has ever helped anyone,” Aird said in an interview. Continuing the metaphor, he said that officials at Norfolk State have the attitude of “a track coach who tells the team ‘I really want to win this season but I really like you guys, so you can decide whether to come to practice and when.’ ” Such a team wouldn’t win, Aird said, and a university based on such a principle would not be helping its students.
Sharon R. Hoggard, a spokeswoman for Norfolk State, said that she could not comment at all on Aird’s case. But she did say this, generally, on the issues raised by Aird: “Something is wrong when you cannot impart your knowledge onto students. We are a university of opportunity, so we take students who are underprepared, but we have a history of whipping them into shape. That’s our niche.”
The question raised by Aird and his defenders is whether Norfolk State is succeeding and whether policies about who passes and who fails have an impact. According to U.S. Education Department data, only 12 percent of Norfolk State students graduate in four years, and only 30 percent graduate in six years.
Aird points to a Catch-22 that he said hinders professors’ ability to help students. Because so many students come from disadvantaged backgrounds and never received a good high school education, they are already behind, he said, and attendance is essential. Norfolk State would appear to endorse this point of view, and official university policy states that a student who doesn’t attend at least 80 percent of class sessions may be failed.
The problem, Aird said, is that very few Norfolk State students meet even that standard. In the classes for which he was criticized by the dean for his grading — classes in which he awarded D’s or F’s to about 90 percent of students — Aird has attendance records indicating that the average student attended class only 66 percent of the time. Based on such a figure, he said, “the expected mean grade would have been an F,” and yet he was denied tenure for giving such grades.
Other professors at Norfolk State, generally requesting anonymity, confirmed that following the 80 percent attendance rule would result frequently in failing a substantial share — in many cases a majority — of their students. Professors said attendance rates are considerably lower than at many institutions — although most institutions serve students with better preparation.
One reason that this does not happen (outside Aird’s classes) is that many professors at Norfolk State say that there is a clear expectation from administrators — in particular from Dean Sandra J. DeLoatch, the dean whose recommendation turned the tide against Aird’s tenure bid — that 70 percent of students should pass.
Aird said that figure was repeatedly made clear to him and he resisted it. Others back his claim privately. For the record, Joseph C. Hall, a chemistry professor at president of the Faculty Senate, said that DeLoatch “encouraged” professors to pass at least 70 percent of students in each course, regardless of performance. Hall said that there is never a direct order given, but that one isn’t really needed.
“When you are in a meeting and an administrator says our goal is to try to get above 70 percent, then that indirectly says that’s what you are going to try to do,” he said. (Hoggard, the university spokeswoman, said that it was untrue that there was any quota for passing students.)
Hall agreed that both attendance and preparation are problems for many students at Norfolk State. He said that he generally fails between 20 and 35 percent of students, and has not been criticized by his dean. But Hall has tenure and the highest failure rate he can remember in one of his classes was 45 percent.
Dean DeLoatch’s report on Aird’s tenure bid may be the best source of information on how the administration views the pass rate issue. The report from the dean said that Aird met the standards for tenure in service and research, and noted that he took teaching seriously, using his own student evaluations on top of the university’s. The detailed evaluations Aird does for his courses, turned over in summary form for this article, suggest a professor who is seen as a tough grader (too tough by some), but who wins fairly universal praise for his excitement about science, for being willing to meet students after class to help them, and providing extra help.
DeLoatch’s review finds similarly. Of Aird, she wrote, based on student reviews: “He is respectful and fair to students, adhered to the syllabus, demonstrated that he found the material interesting, was available to students outside of class, etc.”
What she faulted him for, entirely, was failing students. The review listed various courses, with remarks such as: “At the end of Spring 2004, 22 students remained in Dr. Aird’s CHM 100 class. One student earned a grade of ‘B’ and all others, approximately 95 percent, earned grades between ‘D’ and ‘F.’” Or: “At the end of Fall 2005, 38 students remained in Dr. Aird’s BIO 100 class. Four students earned a grade of ‘C-’ or better and 34, approximately 89 percent, received D’s and F’s.”
These class records resulted in the reason cited for tenure denial: “the core problem of the overwhelming failure of the vast majority of the students he teaches, especially since the students who enroll in the classes of Dr. Aird’s supporters achieve a greater level of success than Dr. Aird’s students.”
DeLoatch also rejected the relevance of 16 letters in Aird’s portfolio from students who praised him as a teacher. The students, some of whom are now in medical or graduate school or who have gone on to win research awards, talked about his extra efforts on their behalf, how he had been a mentor, and so forth. DeLoatch named each student in the review, and noted their high grade point averages and various successes. Some of the students writing on his behalf received grades as low as C, although others received higher grades.
But although DeLoatch held Aird responsible for his failures, she wrote that he did not deserve any credit for his success stories and these students, by virtue of their strong academic performance, shouldn’t influence the tenure decision. “With the exception of one of these students, it appears that all have either excelled or are presently performing well at NSU. Given their records, it is likely that that would be the case no matter who their advisors or teachers were.”
Aird stressed that he does not believe Norfolk State should try to become an elite college. He said he believes that only about 20 percent of the students who enroll truly can’t do the work. He believes another 20 percent are ready from the start. Of the middle 60 percent, he said that when the university tells them that substandard work and frequent class skipping are OK, these students are doomed to fail his courses (and not to learn what they need from other professors).
“I think most of the students have the intellectual capacity to succeed, but they have been so poorly trained, and given all the wrong messages by the university,” he said.
The problem at Norfolk State, he said, isn’t his low grades, but the way the university lowers expectations. He noted that in the dean’s negative review of his tenure bid, nowhere did she cite specific students who should have received higher grades, or subject matter that shouldn’t have been in his courses or on his tests. The emphasis is simply on passing students, he said.
“If everyone here would tell students that ‘you are either going to work or get out,’ they would work, and they would blossom,” he said. “We’ve got to present a united front — high academic standards in all classes across the institution. Some students will bail, and we can’t help those, but the ones who stay will realize that they aren’t going to be given a diploma for nothing, and that their diploma means something.”
Reaction in Norfolk has been mixed. After The Virginian-Pilot wrote about the case last week, it received numerous online comments — some calling Aird a hero, others saying he was denigrating the university.
Faculty leaders have a range of views about Aird’s case. Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander, an associate professor of history and secretary of the Faculty Senate, led a grievance committee that found Aird’s first tenure review was flawed and that ordered a second review. Newby-Alexander said that the problems Aird has raised about preparedness are real. She said that she fails about 20 percent of her students on average, some for just not showing up and others for not doing the work at appropriate levels.
“He’s not the first to raise the issue of preparedness. This is a national problem that a lot of faculty have been raising throughout the country,” she said.
In addition, while she has not experienced being told that she must pass a greater percentage of students, she said she was troubled by the implication that someone could be denied tenure for making sincere analyses of the grades he thought students deserved. Even if presidents or vice presidents would prefer different grades, she said that it “smacks of an issue of academic freedom” to punish a professor for giving low grades.
Hall, the head of the Faculty Senate, asked if Aird has been treated fairly or unfairly, said: “My father used to say that no matter how long you cook a pancake it still has two sides.”
Along those lines, he said that it was important to see the responsibility for getting students to acceptable levels of knowledge as a team process, not something that falls only on students or only on professors. “Every faculty member has to decide how they are going to take a group of students and bring them up to a particular standard. Some faculty members feel that ultimately the responsibility of having students come up to that standard is the university’s, and the university should bring students up. It’s a very complicated issue.”
For his part, Hall said that “one of the things I have been objecting to is administrators trying to constantly tell you the responsibility for student success is only the faculty member’s responsibility. It really isn’t. Success is four-pronged — the student, the university administration, parents, and the faculty.”
Added Hall: “A faculty member can’t make a student come to class. A faculty member can’t spend all of his or her time teaching students how to study. A faculty member teaching chemistry can’t deal with some of the social problems these students have, and that the students are working 30-40 hours a week. There are a lot of things that are not in the control of the faculty member.”
But at the same time, he added that “whenever you have 80-90 percent of your students failing, politically that’s going to cause some administrators to begin to question what’s going on.”
Jonathan Knight, who handles academic freedom issues for the American Association of University Professors, said that he has no problem per se with administrators asking questions about such a high failure rate. “It is not improper for an administration to be concerned about it,” he said.
But he cautioned against automatic assumptions. He said the questions to be asked are why so many students are failing, what is being done to help students succeed, what is taking place in the classroom, and so forth.
While Knight did not see academic freedom issues related to asking such questions, he said he would be concerned about orders to pass certain percentages of students. “Professors obviously should have the right to determine what grades the students should have,” he said.
Aird — who is applying for teaching jobs — acted on such a belief and stuck to it. While administrators have noted that they urged him to change his ways, his defenders note that he was always clear with his students about his belief in high standards. In a letter he sent to students at the beginning of last January’s semester, he wrote: “You can only develop skills and self-confidence when your professors maintain appropriately rigorous standards in the classroom and insist that you attain appropriate competencies. You cannot genuinely succeed if your professors pander to you. You will simply fail at the next stage in life, where the cost of failure is much greater.”
Today, Steve Aird is packing up his office.
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Comments
Most universities have some form of a grade appeal, a process by which students who believe they have received an inappropriate or incorrect grade can appeal that grade. It would have been an interesting statistic to know what percentage of students in Dr. Aird’s class filed such appeals and whether these students were successful in larger percentages than for other faculty.
Mark Staszkiewicz, at 6:30 am EDT on May 14, 2008
I am a community college professor and we have many of our students that are ill-prepared for college. I want them to be successful, but I cannot make them come to class, read the assignments, or turn their work in on time. Yet, the state of Texas wants to start paying the colleges for the number of students that are retained at the end of the semester.
Should faculty pass students if they try really hard? I want to help students with their goals, but they have work for them. We do our students a disservice when we pass them for “just trying really hard.” As an African-American female professor, I know the judgements people put on you because of skin color. My hand is always out to help our students, but they do have to reach out to grab it.
Sherry R, at 7:00 am EDT on May 14, 2008
I see that Dr. Arid has respectable academic credentials:
1983-1988 University of Wyoming Postdoctoral Research (Biochemistry) 1976-1984 Colorado State University Ph.D. (Zoology) 1974-1976 Northern Arizona University M.S. (Biology)1970-1974 Montana State University B.S. (Zoology)
Grade inflation has been and remains a problem. During a one-year professorship at the University of Northern Iowa in 1978-79 (mostly white student population), I was called in by the graduate dean for having students earning too many “C” grades.
It is crime to society that so many university leaders are focused on non-academic issues (pass rates vs academic excellence, sports vs academic excellence, etc).
Richard A. Swanson, Professor Emeritus at University of Minnesota, at 7:30 am EDT on May 14, 2008
WONDERFUL!!!! It’s about time someone stood up and fought for these students, even if they and the university don’t get it. Does anybody remember back when African-Americans overachieved? Not so long ago, we as a race realized we needed to be more, better, smarter and faster and we were. All the African-American heros we tout during each February is an exceptional person in their own right, this is why we bother to remember them. Lowering the bar for African-Americans is racist, pure and simple. It says we can’t achieve on the level of other races, which has NEVER been true. If these students are failing look at their homework grades, did they go to class, what don’t they understand? We are a brilliant race, there is no reason these students can’t pass this class, underprepared or not. We’ve ALWAYS been unprepared. But if teachers and schools keep passing students who really don’t understand the work, they do a grave disservice to these learners by making them think they can compete in the real world when they can’t.
Avis, at 8:00 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Perhaps the administration at Dr. Aird’s university needs reminding that professors do not “give” grades, students have to “earn” them. And if a student does not adhere to attendance policies then he/she deserves to fail.
I’m absolutely appalled at what I’m reading in this aritcle. Someone was “fired” for his students not making the grade??? I thought the administration was in place at least in part to protect teachers’ rights and that a university’s job was to provide an education not just degrees.
I know this is cold comfort to him right now but my good wishes are with this guy and I hope he gets a a better job real soon.
N Sankaran, American Univ. in Cairo, at 8:00 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Students Fail
It’s very simple! When the student gets an A both the teacher and the student have been successful and when a student gets an F both the teacher and student, fail. I believe that any course with over 10% failures is a failed course and the teacher needs to be put on probation. Does it ever occur to a professor that the most likely reason for poor attendance is the he can’t teach and he is wasting the student’s valuable time?
Steve, at 8:20 am EDT on May 14, 2008
grades + tenure and promotion
This article reflects the current world of college-level academe. One can see it from two points of view: success = making it possible for large numbers of students to pass OR = being tough and holding them to standards. The trick is making those two points of view congruent, and few are able to do it consistently well. If we were held to the standard he was, many of us would not not receive tenure or promotion. It’s a game to persuade students to come and to create exams and exercises that they can do and maybe even learn something. However, the administration needs to be clear about student accountability: that finally happened at my institution after 10 years and it has made a world of difference: students come in better prepared and work harder since the first year “counts” as it did not before.
LM, at 8:20 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Students’ Fail
By the same logic, the department head and dean who did not intervene to help any faculty member succeed should also lose their job.
Jonathan, at 8:20 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Pass Rates
The students I teach at a community college are admitted without regard to prior academic achievement and at tuition subsidized by the state and with financial aid. Many of the students in my entry-level courses enter college unprepared to learn. Of these only a few prove themselves to be capable scholars. Unfortunately the rest just have not been prepared to perform at a college level and the college is not equipped to accommodate them. The failure rates are no different than those described at Norfolk. The Atlantic’s June issue contains an article by a Professor X entitled Education’s Cruelest Hoax. His story could very well be a description of what is happening at Norfolk.
Bill Ellis, CPA, at 8:20 am EDT on May 14, 2008
This professor hit the HBCU wall of shame; the mission to pass students, not educate them. Unfortunately, his story is the reality, not the exception. We (I spent time in the HBCU trenches.) do teach under the direction of “no F’s,” and “D’s unwelcomed.” We have students who take their education to heart, strive and thrive, go on to professional or graduate studies, but they are the tiny exception. Students know they cannot fail, and exert little to no pressure on themselves to learn. It seems to me, if making efforts to overcome centuries of unlevel playing fields, the HBCU system would insist on strict academic performance by the students they profess to help. How many students graduate from these schools and return because they cannot find or hold jobs; heck, they cannot put a sentence together or do simple math, what employer would keep them? What law school would keep them, or med school or. . . ?
This professor did his students a favor, the school needs to back him and change the message they are sending to the students. Hyperbolic mission statements do not put paychecks in the pocket or nurture minds. Professors teach at HBCU’s for many reasons, one being they sincerely want to teach the students, help them realize dreams that too long seemed unattainable. Shame on NSU for not helping to make dreams come true, and punishing those who spend long grueling hours making those dreams happen.
Failure to educate is to keep a young person enslaved. Failure to educate mocks the UNCF motto: “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.” HBCU administrators at institutions like NSU are guilty of lining their own pockets, and padding their own CV’s, at the expense of students, faculty, and the more than eighty percent of federal tax dollars expended to support student education at their institutions.
This professor likely puts in immeasurable hours of unpaid overtime attending campus activities, chaperoning events, holding extra study sessions that few or none attend, and etc. I wore this professor’s shoes. I watched the damage such administrations inflicted on students and professors. Today, I work outside of academia, and find the hypocricy of the business world easier to stomach than that of the HBCU world, much of the academic world, in general, because this “pass them or get fired or denied prmootion/tenure” is rampant beyond the HBCU’s.
Before someone reading this suggests I am bitter, let me say I am not, far from it. The years spent working for HBCU’s prepared me for the challenges of creating my own business and working with all types of people. The HBCU’s are essential, they are unfortunately, being opearted by a generation of administrators who lost sight of the goal: educate. Would they be the administrators if their professors and HBCU presidents had insisted failure is a positive student outcome? I doubt it.
I hope this professor finds a school that appreciates his dedication, and his academic integrity. It is hard not to sell out when your job is at stake because you grade honestly. Stand tall professor, those students you helped along the way will not forget you, and that will help you realize you did make a difference. And, if you find yourself working outside those ivy-covered walls, there are a million ways to continue to help those students in spite of the administrative wall of shame enclosing them.
Failure is not Ok, NSU, at 8:20 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Norfolk State University must be condemned
and should be censured by the AAUP. No student should ever be given any grade, especially for unqualified, unacceptable, poor work. Professor Aird is correct and should win the support of all faculty, as education is a privilege, not a right, and students must earn their degrees and diplomas and not be awarded them for filling chairs or handing in late papers. No university or other school has the right to penalize faculty that have standards, but should discipline and counsel those students ill-prepared or unwilling to do quality work.
Norfolk State University’s administrators and those who dismissed Aird must be fired for their total incompetence and their lack of knowledge of what education is about. There are too many willingly ignorant lazy students who waste tax dollars sitting in classes they find boring or demanding that they read, think, right, and discuss the topic of the day. Those students who received a plethora of D and F grades from Aird should be expelled, and teachers who gave them degrees to keep their own jobs should be fired.
Dr Arthur Frederick Ide, at 8:20 am EDT on May 14, 2008
“[O]fficial university policy states that a student who doesn’t attend at least 80 percent of class sessions may be failed.” The denial of tenure reinforces, in stone, that the official policy is to be ignored while the unwritten policy that 70% of the students not fail is to be rigidly enforced. Rather than sending a message to students to shape up or ship out, the dean has chosen to send that message to the faculty.
justaguy, at 8:20 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Good coverage — sad story
My heart goes out to Professor Aird, and the story makes me wonder what the legal consequences will be for the college when he can prove that he is being held to a standard for tenure that is different from the institution’s published criteria for tenure. Very thorough coverage by IHE — a gripping, albeit depressing, story.
Dan Barwick, Associate Professor, at 8:45 am EDT on May 14, 2008
“The Atlantic” article summarized
http://www.quickanded.com/2008/05/cruel-but-not-hoax.html
“There’s a good higher education article in the The Atlantic this month, not on-line yet, titled “In The Basement of the Ivory Tower.” .. The gist is that many of his students are woefully unprepared for even the introductory courses he teaches. So he must fail them, exposing, in the words splashed across The Atlantic’s cover, “Higher Education’s Cruelest Hoax ..”
As first noted in the movie, “Kentucky Fried Movie” — kids, be sure to not let your parents find out the facts.
Edu-crats and the tenured, desperately trying to hold onto their pensions (e.g., Ward Churchill, $70,000/year), let the untenured deal with the most at-risk — underclasspersons. Democrats, not wanting to anger the NEA/AFT/AAUP/AFSCME unions, keep shoveling taxpayer money into a failing system. Republicans, trying to remain incumbents, quietly go along.
In “The Sopranos,” Tony Soprano defensively talks about his “1 1/2 years at Seton Hall.” Did ol’ Tone just get out in time? Hmm ...
Frank, at 8:50 am EDT on May 14, 2008
This article brings up a lot of issues. Being an academic advisor, I always tell students to let professors know if they are having trouble. Most faculty members are more than willing to work with those who seek help.
I think this type of issue cannot wait to be addressed in higher education. It must be attacked before students gets to college — in high school. Most look to higher education as the fix-all for problems that started much earlier.
Yes, faculty need to help prepare students, especially if they are teaching an intro level class, but again this issue starts long before college. Unfortunately our government has not found a satisfactory way to help those who end up not prepared for college, regardless of race.
Rachel, at 9:15 am EDT on May 14, 2008
grade inflation
It is interesting that this involves the sciences and that there is an instutional goal of grade inflation at a time when the American Competes Act has been passed and is up for funding and at a time when the ability for the U.S. to compete in the STEM areas is waning. It is important to prepare students and to find their talents to do so. It seems that the professor tried to do this but you can only lead the student to class you cannot make them learn or even attend class.
rbolla, at 9:30 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Business as usual
It is unfortunate that this article refers to an HBCU. People will think that this is a problem that only exists there. It is not! The problem has deeper roots and it is undermining education in this country. The problem is indeed more extreme in HBCUs because those institutions serve students that have poorer education than the normally poor education of K-12 years. In a HBCU there are students who are very underprepared not really able to read or write properly and with less than rudimentary level of knowledge of mathematics. They were never taught and nobody really cared. If one really wants to change their way, one has to swim against the current, fighting other teachers and the administration, to be able to have the students understand what is learning and how does one learn. Unfortunately the views expressed by NSU’s administration is the view that some other agencies or they representatives have. Some points that people are forgetting are, peers of Dr. Aird who gave good grades to the same students. As I’ve found out that, if a student misses many of my classes they miss many of other faculties classes. Dr. Aird is doing his job, the others are not. This is just a normal progression of the state of the education in this country. It is a business! Students are clients! Those clients do not want to get an education, they are here to buy the degree, the diploma and good grades. How dare if we do not deliver those goods to them.Dr. Aird’s future is the future of many other good teachers. The lesson is pass your kids no matter what if you want to survive. This way they’ll leave the University the same way they came in, completely illiterate.
david, Assistant Professor at Cheyney University of PA, at 9:30 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Failing students
At my university we believe in access, and it seems to be valued above everything else. Ok. No problem with access. It’s a good thing. But we don’t seem to be so concerned about EXITS. How well have we prepared them to face the realities of life in the 21st century, which is more competitive now than ever? As a department Chair, I received two phone calls from high school principals last year who wanted to express their dismay at how ill prepared our teacher candidates seem to be these days. Both administrators had received letters of application from our students and were horrified at the number of misspelled words, run-on and incomplete sentences, and the like. “It appears that your institution doesn’t take education seriously; otherwise you would be producing a better product. In the future we probably won’t be hiring any students from your school.” Need I say more? It doesn’t take long for a university to develop a bad reputation, and we seem to be making good progress at it! This all has to do with accountability. Students don’t want to be held accountable when they fail. They want to blame the professor. The administration doesn’t want to be held accountable when the students they admit cannot possibly pass their courses. They want to blame the professor. Many of my colleagues have simply given in to pressure: “Ok, if the students have been admitted, and we need to get them out of here in a reasonable amount of time, let’s not give any lower than a C to any student, even the most unaccomplished or lazy or just plain stupid.” The reality, my friends, is that we are becoming a third world country because we’re not insisting on standards. America is lagging behind other nations and will continue to decline. I’m just glad that I am getting close to retirement. It’s all too painful for me to watch.
John Geary, at 10:35 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Students Fail and Professor Loses Job
What an outrage, especially in respect of higher education! I agree with many other comments here that the administration and Deans should be reprimaded or fired for not supporting their own written policies and this professor! One stated the following: “. . .although DeLoatch held Aird responsible for his failures, she wrote that he did not deserve any credit for his success stories. . .". While she clearly is holding him responsible for his failures and is not willing to give credit to this professor for his successes, she is NOT willing to hold the students responsible for their own failures and wishes to give them credit for their successes! How biased and one sided is this!
Let’s all be responsible for doing the best we can in educating the students to the best of our abilities as educators and still retain higher standards while holding the students responsible for their part of learning. I have students that I give the information to and they refuse to learn and then claim I never taught them, but is that truly my fault when they refuse to take notes, prepare for class, study, and so on? I make myself available virtually anytime to help struggling students, and they know this, but is it my fault when they don’t come in extra for the help and then do not do well? I calculate mid-term grades and tell every student when they are done and to come see me to receive them, yet some do not come to check them and then complain at the end of the semester they did not know their standing within the class in terms of grades, and further want to hold me responsible for them not knowing! Please. If the professor takes his or her responsiblity seriously and follows facility policy and their syllabus for the class, the remaining responsibility for the grade falls to the student. Let it fall where it may then. If the student does not do what is expected, give us professors the freedom to grade accordingly and “give” the grade the student earns; that is the only grade they deserve.
If we do otherwise, the education system is in jeopardy of extrememe failure to everyone. This will impact our country and our future. Do we honestly want to turn out people into the workforce who are unqualified, even if only in respect of not being able to follow simple directions or showing up when they are suppose to? If higher education is so unimportant that we will just pass anyone who comes through, then honestly, where do we stand?
I further ask this: If the institutions we work at do not trust us to grade accurately and fairly, according to school policy and the approved syllabus (typically they are approved by the Dean at most institutions!), then do we really want to work for that institution? Will we be able to trust them during times we may need to?
Anonymous, at 10:40 am EDT on May 14, 2008
New age education
Today’s students feel that enrollment assures a passing grade regardless of the effort put forth. And, if when they fail to hold up their end of the bargain, the schools loose funding, assessments abound addressing the quality of the education received, faculty is perceived as racially insensitive, and countless other obstacles to placing the blame on students responsible for their own education arise. How did Americans save the world from a self-appointed emperor-God, the army of a mustached psychopath, land men on the moon, and become the juggernaut it once was without a lot of bleeding heart finger pointers? It is time to look at the reason students and America are failing — the students. Why work when you are assures a passing grade based on the color of your skin or your checkbook balance?
Sad, at 10:45 am EDT on May 14, 2008
There are no absolute standards for grades
There are no absolute standards for grades.
Consequently, student performance that would merit a grade of “A” at one college, would merit a lesser grade at a more elite college.
As a graduate student at Princeton I taught one section of a large literature course. The level of reading, and amount of work expected, was far higher than that at Montclair State, where I have since taught for many years.
It would be strange if it were otherwise. Princeton students typically come from much more affluent backgrounds; have much higher SAT scores; live on campus without time-consuming commutes; do not have jobs that take up 20-40 hours a week; do not have children at home.
It would be anomalous if they were NOT capable of much more work, and on a higher level of academic performance!
So, a student who earns an “A” in a course at MSU might well earn a “B” or “B-” in a Princeton course. One can’t say precisely — but something like that!
When I entered McGill University in 1961 I wanted to be a math major. There were three “freshman math” courses: one for general students (most of them); one for science majors; and one — the one I signed up for — for math majors.
I worked very, very hard, and got the equivalent of a B-. A half-dozen students in that class did little work — they told me! — and got “A"s.
I assumed I’d have gotten an “A” with less work had I taken the “general” math class. That I did not almost cost me my scholarship, which was awarded purely on grade-point average.
Once again, there’s no absolute standard for an “A” grade. In this case, an “A” in one class would have no doubt been a “C” in the more advanced class I took.
So there is indeed something wrong if a professor ANYWHERE consistently fails, or grants “D"s to, all but a small number of his students.
His standards are too high — too high for that particular college, that is.
Not not too high for many another college where neither his students, nor he, is? Sure! But they aren’t there, and neither is he!
This has nothing to do with “grade inflation", another issue entirely that concerns classes in which most grades are “A"s and high “B"s. That isn’t the case here at all.
I don’t know the details of Prof. Aird’s situation at Norfolk State, so I can’t say to what extent my remarks apply to NS’s policies and the denial of tenure to Prof. Aird. But it sounds like it may.
Grover Furr, at 10:45 am EDT on May 14, 2008
It really takes an 80% absence rate to fail a class a Norfolk?! I’d fail them for a quarter of that! What kind of student misses more than 10-20% of a course and expects to pass? What kind of university would endorse such a policy? If this were a school with high academic standards, I might take their censuring of this professor’s grading practices seriously, because it might, in fact, indicate a problem with the professor. But the university has very little credibility when more than one faculty member acknowledges that they’ve been told that a 70% pass rate is “expected.” Any professor who tolerates such a written or unwritten policy isn’t serving his students or his profession.
The argument that this is “a university of opportunity” seems to belie one of two realities: that the school does, indeed, purposely lower its standards for the sake of increasing its pass (and graduation?) rates, or, that they’ve deluded themselves into believing that they really are taking underprivileged students and “whipping them into shape.” I’m sorry, but generous attendance and grading practices do not constitute being “in shape". And I agree with the above poster that its an insult to the students and their families to suggest that such practices are fair because the students are underprivileged or under-served.
As a student, then professor, who came from such a community and now teaches a similar demographic of students, I can say with some conviction that the only measure of progress or “opportunity” for these students is their ability to meet the same high standards that apply across the disciplines. If they have to fail the same class three times before they master the skills, so be it. If they can’t master the skills, no grading policy on earth will help them to succeed.
John Edward Martin, at 10:45 am EDT on May 14, 2008
a side issue, concerning the graduation numbers
This is not about the central topic of the article, but I do want to raise a point. In the article we read “According to U.S. Education Department data, only 12 percent of Norfolk State students graduate in four years, and only 30 percent graduate in six years.”
What are NSU’s ten-year graduation stats? The six year figures can be misleading, casting the school in an inaccurately negative light.
In this New York Times article http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15...r=1&pagewanted=2&oref=slogin Chicago State University’s six year graduation rate is described as only 16%. But CSU’s seven year rate jumps to 35%. That’s an impressive figure! I imagine that obligations of family and job make it difficult for many CSU students to support a course load that would earn them a bachelor’s degree any faster than that.
I am cheered that CSU’s seven year figure is more than double its six year graduation rate. The ability of its students to slug it out, even after six or seven years, says a lot about their determination and desire for success. That’s a positive thing, for sure, and must tell us something important about how CSU manages issues of retention.
George Gollin, Professor of Physics at University of Illinois, at 10:45 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Relativism versus Absolute
In an age when context outweighs any chance of right and wrong, any chance of finding absolute answers or solutions, all is relative. The constraints of correctivity suppresses many important discussions. This one needs to take place. Bravo (sadly) to Steven D. Aird for taking a stand that will most assuredly cost him greatly.
Thomas G. Fairbairn, Academic/Career Counsellor, at 10:45 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Don’t Lower the Bar
When I started my tenure at a community college, I learned about another form of bias. It appeared to me that several of my African-American students had transcript grades which did not reflect their level of knowledge in their courses.
I am aware that teachers are under pressure to award passing grades to students — whether or not the students have earned them. It seems to me it is easier to pass the student rather than to spend the extra time discerning an individual student’s problem and working with that student. We are doing all students (especially students of color who will be required to know more and do more on the job) a serious injustice when we tell them (by the grades we award) that they understand an adequate amount of the subject matter to function on future jobs.
I believe that faculty who over-inflate grades are insulting students by lowering the bar. How would we feel in a foot race if the bar was held steady for most runners; but once we approached the bar, it was lowered.
If we don’t insist that students work at a reasonable level of rigor, they will not since they are busy people. Instructors should not lower the bar but should offer students a hand up over the bar.
Former College Faculty, at 10:45 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Let me get this straight. This person is fired because his students attend class 65% of the time and fail. What the hell is wrong with the world? Since when is it OK to accept sub-par attendance and achievement?
As a instructor who is also a person of color, I am sick and tired of administrators allowing any student, regardless of race, to do less than what is expected. It is not only a dis-service to the student, but an insult. Basically, what the administration is saying is that “We don’t expect you to do well because of your race, so we’ll just make it easier for you.” Please! Many students of color probably never had anyone tell them that they could be successful, because either someone said they couldn’t or there were policies like this which look like help, but are implied racism.
I was always taught that I had to give 100% if I wanted to get a decent grade. If I did less than that, I should expect to receive a poor grade. My parents would never allow me to use my race as an excuse for poor performance. As an instructor, I don’t accept anything less than someone doing their best. I will give them all the tools to be successful, but I will not lower the bar for them. That does not happen in the real world.
Prof TK, Adjunct Instructor, at 10:45 am EDT on May 14, 2008
This is a well reported, important article that touches in a very specific way the grade inflation epidemic in higher education and the consequences of admitting under-prepared students to the university.
Declining by Degrees, a documentary by The Merrow Report, also articulately outlines the need to address high school preparedness and grade inflation— among other issues plaguing many higher education institutions.
I commend teachers like Dr. Aird — any institution that has among its own a professor of such integrity and vision is lucky indeed.
Briee, at 10:45 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Future Jobs
This article demonstates why so many major companies now have pretests to determine if people with college credentials are really capable. My guess is, not many would be interested on the face value of credentials from Norfolk given the standards discussed in this article. After being “in the game” for decades I have seen the system go to dumbing down, endless grade appeals, snotty student attitudes and parents who don’t have a grip on reality. I will be leaving soon with a great sense of loss as to the direction of American Higher Education today.
Old Dog, at 10:50 am EDT on May 14, 2008
I was truly moved by Professor Steven D. Aird’s story, mostly because I can relate to it well. As a professor, I too have been battling the issue of cut classes, for all know that there is a direct correlation between missing classes and failing the course. Moreover, students who attend classes sporadically hurt the rest of their peers by asking questions on material which was already carefully presented to the class while they were absent. Unfortunately, those students do get to fill anonymous evaluations at the end of the course. Is it fair – or simply ethical- to judge the performance of a professor when you only attended 50% of his/her class? This, unfortunately, is not taking into consideration when weighing answers. For that reason, many of my colleagues don’t bother taking attendance. In my opinion, this is a sign of non caring and being as irresponsible as our students. It is not unlike parents witnessing in their child a behavior which is bound to hurt them and doing nothing about it. I have to blame Norkfolk State University for making that empty statement that 70% of their students must graduate no matter what their level is. I would love to ask the Dean teach such classes and see what her reaction is at the end of the semester. This laisser-faire attitude is indeed not unique to Norfolk State University. I know of one of the top colleges in the US which failed to tenure one professor for being too demanding on her students, for that mars the “fun image” of the school that it wishes to promote. Administrators only seem to understand numbers and profit. In my college, the more students each department can “pack” in a class, the more benefits it receives. What about the quality? As long as the school’s motto boasts “Expect Excellence”, all is said. So we allow grades to be inflated and graduate students who are quite unprepared. If I were to include excerpts of work by many of those who do pass the class, since it is a majority, the reader of this letter would be appalled in disbelief. I love teaching and when I am in front of my class, the mere contact with my students is invigorating. I have real fun with my students. But at the same time, I react when I see many of them doomed for self-awarded failure: missing classes, text messaging in class, leaving in the middle of an explanation to chat with their friends on cell phones, sitting unprepared in front of their immaculate exercise books, sleeping for having gone to bed a few hours before class, students who do not buy the book because it is too expensive… Our profession is at the lowest position on the scale of professionals, while we graduate students who –no matter how ready they are- will make more money than we do in a very short time. We hire administrators who earn the double of what we make so that they can set rules that hurt us in our profession. Does that make sense? I feel for Professor Aird because I know it takes a lot more courage and dedication to be “tough” than “soft”. I suppose that we need to relearn, as a society, the meaning of true caring and of the old fashioned adage “qui aime bien, châtie bien” “who loves well chastises well”.
Professor Anne-Marie Moscatelli, Ph.D.
anne-Marie Moscatelli, Associate Professor (Ph.D., at 10:50 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Success and Failure
How tragic that American institutions of higher learning are officially setting aside their academic standards in the interest of preserving their financial solvency. If paying students are not allowed to fail, it is inevitable that the institutions (that invalidate their own offering by lowering standards), themselves, eventually will. (And the sooner the better!) The market for real education in America appears to be rapidly losing ground to the demand for shallow, watered down credentials and country club accoutrements that falsely appear to pave the way to the fast buck. Professor Aird, you are a breath of fresh air. Your concept of uncompromising ethics in education is inspirational and should be a lesson for professors everywhere. Keep up the great work! I hope you start a national trend. The life lessons learned by those absentee students who suffer the consequences of failing for lack of effort in your class (and those of other real educators like yourself) are likely to be far more valuable to the student and to this country than the science material, itself. Real colleges and universities should be clamoring to hire you immediately. They will be lucky to have you.
Sergeant Bulldog, at 10:55 am EDT on May 14, 2008
“Dog Bites Man” News to NTT Faculty
As I understand the facts, teachers simply can’t be held accountable for student performance. Why, according to AFT and NEA leaders, their millions of K-12 teachers simply cannot be held accountable for student performance. (Yes, I am rolling my eyes—I have two kids in elementary school. I most recently had to teach my son how to divide fractions after his teacher had “covered” that material with his class).
In New York, NYSUT recently flexed its political muscle, and the state Assembly defeated legislation which would have tied teacher tenure decisions to student performance. This is a link to a great piece in the WSJ on the subject of teacher accountability: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121029630059279623.html?mod=Letters
Non tenure-track faculty lose their jobs over grading issues semester-after-semester. Why doesn’t IHE cover that? How come nice and sympathetic people—like the ones who’ve commented above—don’t get all worked up over the sheer hypocrisy of a system that does that to the majority of the faculty who teach college in our country? Heck, I bet if you ask around in your department, you’ll find out it’s why that lecturer whom you never spoke to doesn’t teach those intro. classes (those classes you didn’t want to teach) anymore.
Temporary faculty are smart; they’re survivors. After a while, they learn to play ball to keep their jobs. There are 700,000 temporary college faculty members who know very well that giving too many low grades will cost you your teaching job. To them, this is a “Dog Bites Man” piece, as the saying goes in journalism circles.
Tough grading may have cost one man his tenure. I am sorry for his professional inconvenience. In the bigger picture, it costs the tens of millions of students taught by temporary faculty a chance for a fair assessment of their academic abilities and progress. Worse still, it costs the majority of college faculty in our country (the non-tenured multitudes) their professional dignity.
P.D. Lesko, Executive Editor at Adjunct Advocate magazine, at 11:05 am EDT on May 14, 2008
If anyone wants to personally contact the Dean:
Deloatch, Sandra J. Dean School Of Science And Technology (757) 823-8180 or email at sjdeloatch@nsu.edu
or contact Dr. Aird:Aird, Steven D. Associate Professor Biology (757) 823-2327 oe email at sdaird@nsu.edu
TG, at 11:10 am EDT on May 14, 2008
NSU’s FAILURE
NSU has failed muliple times. They have failed many students and they have failed a fine faculty member. When is enough, enough? The administrators responsible for these failures should be fired before they do further damage. Both the students and this faculty member deserve better—a lot better! The State Legislature in Virginia should be brought into this discussison. Cudos to IHE for reporting this disaster!
Armando, at 11:15 am EDT on May 14, 2008
can’t wait
One wonders when and if a companion story — about denial of tenure to a professor who’s graded too EASILY — will be brought to light.
Abbott Katz, at 11:15 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Grade Inflation Crusade
Depends on where you are. I was slammed on my first year review for giving too many high grades in one class. We’re under constant pressure, including peer pressure, to resist grade inflation. Faculty congratulate themselves on being tough. In some cases the attitude is, “These rich brats have everything and think they’re just wonderful. We’ll take them down a peg or two.” Junior faculty going for re-appointment, promotion or tenure have to provide distributions of grades to show that they’ve been manfully resisting grade-inflation and are rewarded for giving a sufficient number (whatever that is) of adverse grades.
I’d love to see our semi-official grading policy publicized in our student newspaper. Students: you aren’t imagining it. We’re here to screw you over.
Anonymous Tenured Professor, at 11:15 am EDT on May 14, 2008
To Avis, David, et. al.
Add my support to Prof. Aird.
Avis, Yes, African-Americans have a long history of overachieving and then seeing those achievements appropriated by system while knocking the stuffing out of the achievers themselves. The grade inflation encouraged by NSU is indeed racist.
David, I agree that it’s also classist.
Forgive me if my quick scan of both the article and comments made me miss mention of another factor to consider. What are these students’ lives like outside of the classes they are not attending? When rich kids who’ve been brought up from early childhood with enriched educational experiences trot off to their respective colleges and perform with less than their full effort, we can.perhaps, more readily attribute their lackluster performance to personal failure. (Even then we have certain other cultural factors to consider, which would partially account for internal obstacles to learning.)
When working class students’ struggle for financial survival follow them to college,along with a lack of preparation, the problem of academic effort is made that much more complex. But I don’t believe grade inflation is the way to “compensate.”
Rather, higher education should be free or at least substantially subsidized so that students have comparable financial support for schooling that rich or culturally capitalized students enjoy. Then, and perhaps only then, can society realistically expect full effort on students’ parts while simultaneously expecting professors not to lie to them about where they stand relative to meaningful academic standards.
Moreover, we need a pass/fail system with a high bar for passing. Grades create too much a sense of competitive hierarchy which is actually detrimental to most—repeat, most—students’ motivation, no matter their class background. Listen, if that sounds just too counterintuitive, then I refer you to Alfie Kohn and others who provide a detailed analysis of the phenomenon.
Raymond, at 11:15 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Why I left teaching
Envision 35% of your junior-level students, incapable of achieving 60% of learning objectives in a hard-facts course involving the public’s well-being.
Not some foo-foo course involving endless and ineffectual “critical thinking.” The students had already borrowed nearly $10,000 to get this point.
Where was the got-dang leadership? Where was the administration?
Feeding at the public trough, of course. Nobody really gave a hoot — they needed the paychecks.
I had to leave. It was just too depressing.
A cruel hoax, indeed.
J.J., at 11:20 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Fighting the good fight...
John Mellencamp sang “I fought authority, authority always wins.” But when it is the right thing to do you fight anyway. Good Job Dr. Aird. Don’t give up the fight.
It is called “putting your money where your mouth is.” We now know where Norfolk State puts their money.
I hope someone else will step up to help you.
The Roger Clemens of the world are not our true heroes.
Bob, at 11:50 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Students Fail
I wonder how many professors have not had any formal courses in higher education principles, strategies, curriculum and evidence-based teaching practices? I personally find that I am constantly using the information from the undergraduate and doctoral education theory and practice courses that I completed. Perhaps instead of firing a professor or instructor, they should be offered courses.
Joan Morris, ARNP, Full Time Instructor at USF Tampa Campus, at 11:50 am EDT on May 14, 2008
been there, done that
My best wishes follow Professor Aird in his search for a position in an institution in which reasonable standards are upheld. I have never taught in an HBCU but I have on numerous occasions been in the position of having three choices: give everyone decent grades no matter what their performances merit; teach the class as outlined in the catalog and syllabus and fail a large number; teach them where they are and the syllabus is just another murdered tree. I wish I knew what the real answer is.It does however remind me of an instance early on in my career, when my husband and I ordered a pizza. It was delivered by a not-at-all familiar looking young man. He asked whether I am Dr. XYZ, and I said yes. He said he’d been in my class the previous year but had failed. I said I was sorry (which I am, because I do think we have SHARED responsibility with our students for their outcomes.) He said, “No, I deserved, I didn’t come to class.” Perhaps he, and maybe even some of Professor Aird’s students, learned the most important lesson when they did not pass.
Lynn, at 11:50 am EDT on May 14, 2008
Grade inflation
Apparently success and failure at Norfolk State are judged by the manipulated score at the end of the day, and how you play the game isn’t important. This is a situation where everybody wins as long as they sign up on the roster and pay a fee. Showing up is optional! Performance is optional also. By the tenure report from Dean DeLoatch—Professor Aird was fair, and respectful to students, and was available outside of class. The overall impression was that attendance was the deciding factor in most of these cases. Grading structure and class standards are covered on day one and generally on the class syllabi. Students know up front what is expected and how to earn the “grade.” The professor didn’t fail the students in question; they failed him and worse yet themselves. Handing out grades for the sake of headcount dilutes the efforts of the motivated, hardworking students, who push themselves to succeed, leaving the diploma they earned, barely worth the paper it is written on.
Bill, at 12:10 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
I would be insulted...
If I regularly attended a class and performed well, I would be insulted if other students received a comparable grade or even simply passed the class despite not showing up. Lowering standards affects all students, not just the “ill prepared".
Amy, student at American Public University, at 12:20 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Re rbolla’s comment
Re rbolla’s comment (at 9:30 am EDT on May 14, 2008), please see:
Grade Inflationhttp://www.ent.ohiou.edu/~manhire/grade/grades.html
Brian Manhire, Professor Emeritus at Ohio University, at 1:00 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
This is a great story, especially as I sit here grading a thoroughly inadequate batch of papers.
Steve, you’re obviously a student, probably an education major. You’ve obviously never taught at an institution where passing rates are ’suggested’ by the higher ups. The students may not be bright and motivated, but they aren’t stupid. They learn that they’ll generally pass, even if they don’t do the work or meet the standard.
JimBob Jones, at 1:05 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
They ain’t fishing
A tragedy, almost comical story. Reminds me of this servant leader working with the poor. He told me, “I don’t believe in the cliche ‘Don’t give the poor fish. Rather, teach them to fish.’ The poor KNOW how to fish. They just ain’t fishing!” Why they ain’t fishing or attending classes is the root and answer of this controversy.
desertstick, at 1:10 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Steve Aird
Bravo, Steve Aird. Finally someone has taken a stand on the pervasive practice of passing students through regardless of whether they have earned a passing grade. It’s all about keeping those tuition dollars flowing into higher educational institutions, many of which have become repositories for obscenely large endowments. These days the majority of students seem to be coming out of these institutions with little understanding of the world, or even of their own culture and history. They can’t read, write, or think. Passing them through is a disservice to them, to those who are paying their tuition (including myself, a taxpayer), and to our society.
Bev Daniel, at 1:20 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Market and Political forces in higher education
Grover Furr makes the highly relevant point that grades are relative to the schools that give them. It is, or ought to be, harder to get an A in chemistry at a highly ranked university than at a lightly regarded diploma mill. Unfortunately, the market does not provide very clear signals about higher ed standards today, maybe due to market turmoil, or transition—I don’t know the causes, but I know the symptoms.
One reason the very top schools are so brutally tough to get into is that school prestige is the most reliable certification of a student’s academic accomplishments—but, ironically, this is thanks to the competitive admissions market, not the education standards of the top schools. The “gentleman’s C” of the old days is, at very least, the “Yale B” of today. The top schools don’t have to grade their students, all of whom are stellar students—and, for the most part, they don’t grade them. Where do these paragons of excellence who make it into top-tier higher ed institutions get their education? Why, at excellent private and public schools that specialize in educating students to win the selection competition for excellent and good colleges. (Many of these prep schools exceed the quality and rigor of well regarded liberal arts colleges 50 years ago.)
Current market and political forces confound the situation. On the one hand, professors band together in union-like associations to demand fair and equal pay and benefits for their members, as though all teachers were more or less equal. But if that’s true, all colleges are more or less equal, as are the respective values of their degree certifications. Mix in a little pandering politics, a la the usually sensible Bill Clinton’s reprehensible call for “a college education for every American,” and you begin to see the problem.
Professors have to look with open eyes at what their employer-institutions are selling. One simple indicator, if you’re seeking a job at a college, is to ask a few profs there what their typical grade distribution is. It shouldn’t take too much digging to find out what the grading expectatiions are, if you really want to know. —Then, don’t argue about it, but decide: Is that okay with me? I may influence and/or deviate marginally from this norm, but it shows me what market this school is in. Am I willing to be in it with them?
Rod Bell, Adjunct Professor at College of DuPage, at 1:25 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
IHE Makes Many Assumptions
I am re-posting this comment which I first sent to another journal that carried the same story with the same assumptions about why Professor Aird was not retained by NSU.
I agree with AM. This faculty member should have sought out assistance for both himself and for any students he felt were unable to complete the course without assistance. As faculty we have a responsibility to continually review and improve our pedagogy and to serve as a resource for students and not as an avenging angel of biology.
We can, at times, become so wrapped up in our work that we sometimes fall into the trap of equating our value as a professor with the number of students we fail, rather than with the number we see through to a successful end.
The dean has a responsibility to ensure the integrity of the academic mission of the institution, to safeguard the rights of the faculty to plan and deliver the curriculum, and to protect students from random abuse that may occur at the hands of instructional personnel.
It’s unfortunate that this is being read as an attempt to ‘dumb-down’ the curriculum, rather than as an attempt to correct a situation that does neither the school, the department, the faculty member, nor the students any good. As I remember it, that’s par for the course for the print media in Norfolk, Va., and now IHE joins them with it’s selective reading of every bit of evidence, no matter how removed from the central issue, as significant.
I doubt if you spoke with any students who did make the poor grades in his class, and questioned them about the effectiveness of his methods in the classroom. For the most part, the surveys you refer to, which may or may not have been reliable, rarely uncover the more important facts about one’s teaching effectiveness and classroom manner.
As for graduation rates — you had a responsibility to ask all the questions. Many NSU students are individuals who know they will not finish in 4 years because they may be working to support families or have other intervening variables. Some may even drop out for a period before returning. You had a responsibility to explore these and other factors yet you seemed so bent on proving not only that this professor was wronged, but also everything else about NSU has to be bad or deficient as well.
In fact it seemed that you were willing to impugn the ethics and integrity of almost almost every other student, faculty member and administrator in order to make your case for Aird. Even if you were intent on making a case for him, you went way too far to in condemning the institution beyond his department and the principal involved.
One need only sit back now and wait for the inevitable lawsuit — no doubt there will be liberal borrowings from this article.
jfj, at 1:50 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
There are two poles in this problem:
pole 1 is mentioned in this article; lazy students who petition against the professors who try to teach their students and the administrators who undermine this in favor of lowering expectations and standards.
pole 2 involves lazy professors who stop teaching their students for one reason or another. Some of these professors even decide to make their classes more difficult learning experiences because they can’t allow their courses to seem too easy.
Terry, at 2:20 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
This is very dismal; it seems to have touched a nerve among teachers. Couple of other points:
The grade inflation has been directly proportional to the increasing cost of college education. In my experience, the ideology of treating students as clients/customers is very vigorous on campuses, although the administration may be savvy enough not to use the term. The message is clear to faculty that student retention and satisfaction are the goals, not real excellence in education, as somebody pointed out in an earlier post.
To the person who worried about adjuncts losing jobs because of their grading policies, the anecdotal evidence is often the opposite. At least one adjunct faculty in my field is extremely generous with grades. It is disheartening to find that students end up thinking that there is something wrong with the professors who grade realistically and fairly. But who am I kidding? My own standards have declined in keeping with the changing ideology
Dismal Scientist, at 2:20 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Entire college failing
It seems to me the entire college is failing its students. If these students are not even attending 90% of classes, and do not have the study skills necessary, then instead of putting them into Chemistry 101 they need to put them into Remedial Study Skills 101, to teach them these skills so they CAN succeed.
And by succeed I don’t mean getting good grades, which is apparently what the administrators think is “success".
By passing them the college is taking the students’ money and not giving them anything in return, taking poor people’s money no less. By asking science teachers to not teach science but instead teach study skills is a waste of the teacher.
By forcing students who work full time into a quarterly schedule that they can’t attend is also a disservice. If these people all have special needs, then they should have special service. Longer semesters, more part time or night offerings, more basic training in how to study and learn, etc. That’s what they need. They don’t need to be passed in classes so they fail only after they get out of school, they don’t need to be failed in school but never given the tools to succeed in the first place either.
chrisb, at 2:20 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Students fail — and Professor Loses Job
This is clearly a serious problem for Norfolk State — and not the professor. In the sciences — unlike several of the humanities — factual information is generally graded “right” or “wrong.” “Intepretation” is usually not a consideration in Intro courses. If these failing students then go on to upper division courses without the prerequisite knowledge base, then they remain at risk through-out college — and beyond. God help us all if we get diagnosed by a physician who got a BS from Norfolk under such conditions. I would fire the Dean and the Board, not the professor.
JVK
JVK, Professor of English at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, at 2:20 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Avis: I read almost the entire article and did not notice that the students in question were African-American....
Anonymous, at 2:50 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Am I missing something?
It’s an interesting story, but I find some context lacking here, it seems the only data related to failure of students was attendance.
While attendence is important in a classroom environment to get a student to master the material, isn’t the true measure of that mastery demonstrated in submitted work, tests and exams?
Attendance was essentially optional at my university, generally Final Grade was composed of weekly quizzes (25%); submitted homework/papers (25%); 4xTests (25%); Final Exam (4 hours, 25%). Some courses were just 4 Tests and Final exam. If you were not able to show competence in the material you did not pass.
Granted if you have a professor/teacher with poor communication skills that make difficult learning that is one thing. But if the students do not come into the classroom with the prerequisite skills to be able to learn the material at hand, they should be given an opportunity to go through a remedial or pre-core program to get them to the right level.
I do agree that lowering the bar will not help the students nor the larger world in which they will one day enter, but if the main criteria for passage is attendance the education systems are in more dire circumstance than I’d imagined.
Crazy Uncle Mark, Engineering Consultant at Private Sector, at 2:50 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Students fail-Prof loses job
Would the administrators feel comfortable being operated on by someone from this group of students who was passed on without merit? What happened to academic ethics for students? What happened to remedial or academic support for underprepared students? It should not be the major professors job. When will these students ever grow up and become responsible adults? Let us know in a follow up if this professor gets another job. I think he will be snapped up and this institution has lost an opportunity to improve its standards. I agree with other comments that the bar hould not be lowered for black students. We should be expected to reach or exceed any standards set.Peggy
Peggy L, PhD Student at Georgia State, at 2:50 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
The guy deserved to lose his job
From the article: ““At the end of Spring 2004, 22 students remained in Dr. Aird’s CHM 100 class. One student earned a grade of ‘B’ and all others, approximately 95 percent, earned grades between ‘D’ and ‘F.’” Or: “At the end of Fall 2005, 38 students remained in Dr. Aird’s BIO 100 class. Four students earned a grade of ‘C-’ or better and 34, approximately 89 percent, received D’s and F’s.”
That’s simply horrendous.
Either the teacher could not learn how to grade on a curve or he deserved to lose his job. We’re talking about this guy stiffing a predominant percentage of the students who remained in his class. Lord only knows how many reasonably took a hike when they realized what this guy’s game was.
Good riddance.
Paul, Head Mucky Muck at Institution of the Streets, at 2:50 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Students Fail
Instructors at other institutions may not be up against a quota for passing students, but they face something equally effective and pernicious: Student evaluations. Unless instructors pander to the customers (e.g., provide notes, teach exams, entertain and not challenge), and deal out honor grades fairly indiscriminately, their “unimpressive"student evaluations will be used as the mechanism for denying tenure or promotion
Lou, Professor, at 3:00 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Response to John Geary
John Geary said:
As a department Chair, I received two phone calls from high school principals last year who wanted to express their dismay at how ill prepared our teacher candidates seem to be these days. Both administrators had received letters of application from our students and were horrified at the number of misspelled words, run-on and incomplete sentences, and the like. “It appears that your institution doesn’t take education seriously; otherwise you would be producing a better product. In the future we probably won’t be hiring any students from your school.”
My response to these principals would have been to point out that these students learned (or didn’t learn) their writing skills in high school, and that in no small part the fault is theirs. We all see terrible writing skills in our students all the time. I do my best to correct their errors, but I can only do so much to to remedy the negligence of primary and secondary education. Lack of preparedness for college is the fault of the high schools, as well as of the students and their parents.
Steve, at 3:15 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Scholarship of Teaching
As an earlier poster noted, how many professors have had the formal training in effective college teaching? Boyer’s Scholarship Reconsidered (1990) argues that there are four domains of scholarship: discovery, integration, application and teaching. We spend a great deal of time learning how to effective accomplish the first two or three but until recently little effort has been spent on learning how to teach.
I empathize with Dr. Aird’s plight but I have to ask, what self-development did he undertake to reach his students — adjusting one’s teaching style is not “dumbing down” the course; it is using the right pedagogical tools for fostering student success. I have to ask the same question for the administration, are professors given an opportunity to learn how to teach.
I have taught woefully unprepared students but accept the challenge that part of my job is remedial preparation in addition to imparting disciplinary knowledge.
One of the most useful tools is the bi-weekly but brief tips, tricks, and insights from TOMORROWS PROFESSOR ( Desk-Top Faculty Development, One Hundred Times A Year.)http://ctl.stanford.edu/Tomprof/index.shtml
Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. Ernest L. Boyer, Carnegie Foundation, 1990. http://www.sfsu.edu/~acaffrs/facu...s/other/Scholarship_Reconsidered.doc
Robin Hubbard
RymH, Graduate Student/Instructor at University of Missouri — Columbia, at 3:15 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Yep, No ABSOLUTE Grades in College
Much as I sympathise with comments by most contributors and the Professor who lost his job, the ony comment that truly makes sense is GROVER FURR’s. There are no absolute grades in college. PERIOD! Setting high standards and having high expectations are both noble, but if they are too far removed from the capability of your students, then you are likely in the wrong place. How often do we find ourselves ‘CURVING’ to bring negatively skewed grades to a more normal distribution? [And this happens as much in Ivy League as it does anywhere else]. Is it unethical? I DON’T THINK SO! Not as long as the tests used to assign the grades are themselves subjective.
Awika J, U of MO, at 3:30 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Kudos to IHE. No other issue is as relevant and important than this one, and I am very encouraged by the volume of comments/responses. It is very sad that Dr. Aird is being dismissed by the NSU, and guess who lost? It is the NSU for not having the services of a real “hero” (I am not using the term loosely). It is so easy to “go along”, “not to rock the boat”. Even as a tenured full-professor, I feel the pressure from the administration (albeit gently) to pass “more” to boost the numbers. I can imagine what new, untenured educators are enduring, especially in the cut-throat market place for the few open slots. I fear that the word will go around and we will have less (and less qualified) graduates choosing academia as a career. I have so much more to say but a note in the article really hits the spot: students are “working” 30-40 hours a week. I think it is analogous to getting into a boxing match with one (maybe two) hand tied behind you. As an old timer, I refuse to accept that as an excuse; you are either a “student” or “not a student”. I think this will generate a lot of responses
IS, Professor at WMU, at 3:45 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
We need more Airds
As a baby boomer and graduate of Rutgers University (when it was a competitive school) I wish there were more Mr. Airds in the US. Perhaps the left-wing is preparing another generation of lemmings whose efforts will be spend voting for entitlements. I guess we don’t need world class colleges if you can live off the sweat of others. end of the USA.
Janice Martorano, at 3:55 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
If a student has not learned, have I taught?
Although DeLoatch’s did not indicate how many students started out in Aird’s classes, one of the first questions that should be asked of Aird and administration is why so many students dropped Aird’s classes. Surely, not because he is the only person at NSU who has high academic standards. Aird allows as how he doesn’t expect NSU to become an elite college. What does he wantNSU to become and what contributions has he made to help NSU to become the best that it can be serving the students it serves to the best of all faculties abilities, including Aird, who needs to take a look at why he has “failed” so many of NSU’s students. I think Jonathan Knight from the AAUP got it just right: “Why are so many students failing?’ Hall, from the Faculty Senate, got it just wrong: A faculty member can make his class interesting enough for students to want to attend;; A faculty member teaching chemistry should look for a lab so that someone who teaches students, chemistry can be hired.
Clara Fitzpatrick, Faculty at Columbia College, at 4:15 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Lowering the bar
My own experience at an HBCU was similar. Not saying that all HBCU administrators are guilty, if that’s the correct term, but many of these institutions do enroll disadvantaged students. However, lowering academic standards for anyone is just WANKED. How can we expect these people to function in global context if we do not demand that of them? There must be consequ3ences for skipping classes, not doing the required work, etc. The consequences should be failure, and at the risk of offending Mary Sherry, “F” bomb works well for most of the skippers and whiners. It is also an effective cure for laziness and procrastination.
Thank you for sharing.
Eugenia Eberhart, English instructor, at 4:50 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
STudents Fail—and Professor Loses Job
This is a variation on the “kill the messenger” theme—blaming Steve Aird for students’ failures. You can only go so far with students who (somehow)get admitted to a college and are totally unprepared. Yes, the college (as well as the one where I’m an adjunct)has a mission to educate students who are non-traditional, minority, under-represented— what ever the current buzzwords are— but at what cost? These students are not “victims"...Professor Aird is for showing them a slice of the real world..and for losing his job in the process. How tragic and how depressing!!
rosanne soifer, at 5:25 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
The Pain of Lost Illusion
I suppose I am one of the world’s foremost experts on this subject ... and, indeed, I am tempted to write as much as all other responders to this article combined (I won’t). It will help you interpret my perspective if you know I teach mathematics and statistics, very frequently to students majoring in the social sciences, business, and education.
I failed senior English in high school (deservedly so), was unable to graduate with my class (I graduated after getting an A in English IV in summer school), and, I think, I learned very little from the experience.
At various times I have taught at Princeton, Yale, Michigan, and Duke, and if you looked at my students’ grades at those universities, you would imagine I was contributing to grade inflation (I was not). I always judge student performance in comparison to instructional objectives (no nonsensical curve for me), my objectives at the aforementioned universities were very stringent, and the students got what they deserved. Frankly, the combination of my students’ intelligence, preparation, and motivation was such that I could have handed out my syllabus at the beginning of the term, told my students I would see them at the final exam, and at least half would have “performed” almost as well without me as they would have if they had diligently attended every class (okay, I’ll at least make myself available for office hours).
Two of the important missing ingredients in this article and the subsequent discussion are (1) the distribution of Professor Aird’s grades (although I’m assuming they must be J- or U-distributions) and (2) students’ use of his office hours (and I’m assuming he rarely saw a poorly performing student during his office hours).
In addition to the abovementioned universities, I have also taught at three universities whose identities I will disguise by identifying them with meaningless symbols. At UNCA and JMU, I taught in the Mathematics Departments and was instrumental in the introduction of courses that led to both becoming Departments of Mathematics and Statistics. At UNCA – where, incidentally, the long-departed Vice President for Academic Affairs went unpunished for changing students’ grades (including mine ... and you can guess who brought it to the attention of the Academic Policies Committee) — mathematics majors were required to “pass” the GRE in mathematics with a score at or above the 35th percentile.
You guessed it ... the requirement has been eliminated (in fact it was eliminated quite some time ago) because virtually none of the graduating seniors whose grades were quite acceptable, even in mathematics, could surpass the 35th percentile.
At both UNCA and JMU I had something on the order of 15-20 percent of my students making As and Bs, 35-40 percent making Ds and Fs, and the rest Cs. Isn’t that curious? Think about poor Professor Aird – and I am here to promise you this is not an issue of race – walking into a typical class with, say, 10-15 percent of his charges well prepared and highly motivated, another 10-20 percent are unprepared and motivated, and the rest are there to give the good professor the privilege of popping off the tops of their heads (Monty Python style), and pouring in a can of information ... although in waaay too many cases a can of brains would be more apropos (and even though they can’t be bothered to show up for class). Whatever his responsibilities are – and that is another (significant) missing part of this discussion – I’d love to give some of his sanctimonious critics above a never-ending schedule of his classes.
At SU – and, by the way, they fired me for being insensitive to the needs of my students even though my student evaluations were in the upper quartile (and are usually in the upper decile) – they are tuition driven. So giving students the grades they deserve (and that all-too-often means “of which they are capable,” given the SU culture for learning) carries important financial costs.
InsideHigherEd once had an article about Advanced Placement courses that included the statement ...
“The College Board announced the results of its audit of Advanced Placement courses Monday, saying that most AP courses meet college-level standards.”
To that I responded, “I have been teaching at colleges and universities for almost 50 years now and, during thee past twenty years, I have taught very few course that met college-level standards. I was going to make a boastful estimate that one in three of my courses met those standards, but, truthfully, at UNCA, JMU, and SU, it was more like one in ten.”
“If, now-a-days, I insisted on teaching courses that met my sense of college-level standards, I’d probably have fifty percent or more of my students getting Ds and Fs ... and I’m a damned fine teacher. It’s not that I have standards my students aren’t meeting ... it’s just that I’ve changed my standards – dumbed down my courses – to satisfy the needs and expectations of my customers’ (I think that’s what they’re called).”
How can you have a college like that ... one in which it is “rational” for a professor (teacher) to dumb down the intellectual content of his courses? That’s a good question especially in light of Dean Sandra J. DeLoatch’s comments that (1) “with the exception of one of these students, it appears that all have either excelled or are presently performing well at NSU ... Given their records, it is likely that that would be the case no matter who their advisors or teachers were” and (2) “70 percent of students should pass.”
At SU, incompetent students were being “passed through” right and left, and my efforts to get faculty to focus attention on the culture for learning that was SU didn’t so much fall on deaf ears as it turned out to be a concept faculty had difficulty understanding in the first place ... especially in an environment in which the reward structure for faculty emphasized passing and popularity, not intellectual excellence. Pedagogical excellence was equivalent to passing students through. You may be certain Professor Aird’s class was not the only one in which his failing students were enrolled. It’s just that they had already been socialized by NSU’s culture for learning ... they knew precisely what the intellectual and motivational requirements were for passing the courses of others.
Personally, I have never experienced a problem with class attendance, but two years ago I sat in on a couple of sections of a required statistics course in the business school at Auburn University. Both classes had 70 students enrolled. In one class 15 students were in attendance and in the other only 13 students showed up ... and by the way, amongst those in attendance, there was the “usual” reading the newspaper and laptop activity that was clearly not class-related.
Please do not misunderstand my point. I blame Norfolk State and SU much more than I blame their students. In my opinion, there is nothing inherently wrong with admitting large numbers of unprepared and unmotivated students as both of those universities do. There is everything wrong with subjecting such students to a culture for learning that does not optimize the probability of their educational and intellectual success (and that means setting standards, doing more than a little diagnostic work, and having a great many support programs). Shame on a university that has 12% of its students graduate in four years and only 30% graduate in six years (NSU) ... that reinforces (does not penalize) student attendance as low as 20% in required courses (Auburn) ... that is famous for passing students through (SU).
Unfortunately, I have said damned little about Professor Aird ... but I hope a great deal about the dysfunctional cultures for learning that a great many competent university faculty walk into every teaching day of their lives. Let’s face it, as long as NSU and Dean DeLoatch are a good match, NSU and Professor Aird are a bad match ... and sadly it is hardly related to what is the best interest of the students at Norfolk State. Equally sad is the fact that the culture for learning there is so pathetic only the very best NSU students could possibly understand the ramifications of this state of affairs.
What I can promise Professor Aird is that one professor – or even a small number of them – cannot change a university’s culture for learning. If there is not a critical mass of responsible individuals who join together and say, “ENOUGH! ... Let’s do something about this,” forget it. Going it alone is a fruitless, frustrating, and painful process.
As Charles Marriott said, “The only way to save yourself from the pain of lost illusion is to have none.”
Frizbane Manley, at 5:35 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
I’ve skimmed through the comments and noted that no one’s made the connection between this article and an older one focused on the declining value of a B.A. degree. Could the subject of this article be a reason why that might be true?
I’m sure everyone has stories of teachers who couldn’t teach (at least in the student’s opinion), but that does not negate the fact that you cannot give up on the class because of the quality of the teacher.
Curving grades will not permanently solve the problem; it shows one of two things: 1) you don’t know how write tests or 2) the students didn’t study. If every test has to be graded on a curve, what is the profit of those tests?
Ben, at 5:50 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Question for Janice Martorano
I appreciate your view; I’m not sure what you mean by “living off the sweat of others.”
It seems to me that low-income and working class students sweat aplenty doing what we may consider menial jobs. Yet those jobs are very important to us all. Somebody has to do them, educated or not.
In that sense, we’re all living off the sweat of others. The question is on whose terms, or according to what equilibrium? What education should be all about is a whole citizenry researching ways to share the work and wealth. How transformative, how motivating such a new equilibrium would be. Not as imposed by a group of rulers, but as enacted by a purer democracy. Don’t say it’s socialism which has been shown not to work. What’s been shown not to work is bosses telling workers what to do and trying to control them through rewards and punishment (a turn-off to most folks!) I’m talking about something that has not been tried, but ought to be looked into, especially by students.
Is it possible to pull our own weight while also mutually living, to some extent, off each other’s sweat, albeit on much more egalitarian terms? It’s called cooperation. The discussion about grades here, including their relativity, is an anxiety about how we’re going to maintain the existing class structure that legitimizes itself on some erroneous notion of competition, no matter how well educated the “underprivileged” might become.
I applaud Prof. Aird for having standards and high expectations of students. He should just get rid of grades. Of course, that too would get him fired. We must question our institutions—all of them.
Raymond, at 6:00 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Dr. Aird
Unfortunately Dr. Aird was not only up against the administration for his teaching standards, but probably also due to the fact that he did not present himself to the administration with the proper “stooge” factor and it wouldn’t surprise me if his race, Caucasian, also played a factor in his tenure decision. At NSU the administration is all powerful, always right and almost always African-American.
Norfolk is a city where the majority of the population is composed of minorities. Most of this population has realized long ago that the quality of instruction is inferior compared to the quality of instruction at other academic institutions to which this population has access (Old Dominion University, Christopher Newport University or Hampton University, College of William and Mary). This is obviously an important factor in NSU’s declining enrollment, while these other institutions are struggling to let in deserving applicants. NSU fails to serve the minority population that resides in it’s vicinity. However if you make this point to the administration at NSU, they will claim that their students are receiving an equal or better education than those at these other institutions. This is just not the case.
The state of Virginia needs to step in and see that they change NSU into a an institution that serves the population of Norfolk with quality higher education — not 13th grade. The state needs the seats this institution could provide if it was managed properly. Virginia and the state university system is not in a position, financially or otherwise, to support an institution of substandard education.
BozwellMuscadine, at 6:45 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Comments support Scott’s story
Inconvenient facts —
” .. Four students earned a grade of ‘C-’ or better and 34, approximately 89 percent, received D’s and F’s.” That’s simply horrendous. Either the teacher could not learn how to grade on a curve or he deserved to lose his job.
CHM100 is an intro chem class taken by a lot of pre-meds. It is the first of many weed-out courses on the way to medical school — hard-facts, memorization, now. NOT a “curve” class — you either know or don’t know. As in: would you want your MD NOT to know the difference between chemical agents? I don’t think so. Plus, the MCAT weeds-out a lot of folks who are not scientifically-oriented.
Whoever wrote this is obviously someone who has never taken CHM100, or a hard-facts course. An incredible display of lack of actual knowledge.
” .. the ony comment that truly makes sense is GROVER FURR’s ..”
Given Mr. Furr’s publishing record, this is so undergrad-laughable, it is beyond the pale of reality. Try making sense of this —
http://www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv12n2/furr.htm
What incredible displays of a lack of actual knowledge. Obviously, Prof. Aird is on to something.
Frank, at 7:45 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
To Frank
Frank, You’re right about the pre-med course. I would want a physician who had mastered the appropriate chemistry. Of course, you don’t master anything by memorizing it once and placing in short-term memory for a single test. There’s more to real learning than that.
Also, you are referring to skills in solving what cognitive psychologists call “well-defined problems” over against “ill-defined problems” with which the humanities must grapple. Both are important intellectual skills.
The Grover Furr publication refers to history. Scanning it quickly I gathered the article’s thesis to be that communism is not inherently anti-semitic. I’m not sure what your objection is. As history, though, I’m sure it’s not the last word on that particular historical problem of interpretation.
Students’ grades should never be determined on the basis of short-term memory alone, but other modes of demonstrating mastery. For that matter, students shouldn’t be working for grades at all, in my estimation. They should be striving for mastery, which means analyzing, synthesizing, evaluating, interpreting, manipulating information toward innovative problem solving—not mere rote memory and regurgitation on (too often poorly written) multiple-choice tests.
Raymond, at 8:50 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
how is this any better than a basketball coach coercing passing grades of failing athletes out of teachers? i can’t believe this kind of attitude from administration exists at the University level. and we wonder why the value of a B.A. keeps plummeting! a college education is a huge investment, one that not everyone should be making. but how is passing students who clearly are not willing to do the work, or even go to class- how is this helping them? how is this helping them to succeed in their future careers? how is the preparing them for the world of work? this is a system which only works to set kids up for failure, to create the idea in them that they don’t need to work for anything. what is the value of an education if it is not earned? there are plenty of diploma mills out there who will give you a certificate in exchange for funds if that is what is wanted.
manda, at 8:50 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
the clincher
The fact that he’s a biology teacher makes me think he’s in the right here. If you’re regularly failing a majority of your Liberal Arts students, the problem is likely with you. If students of biology or another “hard” discipline, on the other hand, are failing, the problem is more likely with the kind of education they’re getting before they get to you.
There are things any responsible teacher can (and should) do to make sure students have the best opportunity to pass, perhaps even going “soft” on elements of the course to see if the regimen, rather than the material, is the problem. But if students simply don’t know what they need to pass a course, then the fault doesn’t lie with the professor, and firing him or her is just acquiescing to substandard graduates from your university.
hitnrun, at 8:50 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Engineering Technology
There are too many unknown variables and special circumstances in this case to comment directly on it.
However, in order to reduce my personal stress level l, I now routinely pass all students from minority groups regardless of their performance.
I also routinely pass weak students who know how to manipulate the system.
Life is too short. I apologize for contributing to the decay of society but my dreams of the 60s have faded along with my idealism.
Roland Jugandi, Professor at CEGEP Heritage College, at 9:30 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
If failure passes as success...then what’s the point!
If only to further diminish the value of education and our competitiveness on the world market. It’s far beyond time for a RIGHT turn.
1SG, at 10:55 pm EDT on May 14, 2008
Administration’s Pressure to Pass is Real
This article rings so true, it makes me sick at my stomach. During my time as an assistant professor, I attempted to fail many st
Provocative
This article is a great example of why I read IHE on a regular basis. Thanks, Scott.
Patrick Mattimore, Teacher, at 6:10 am EDT on May 14, 2008