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I'm wondering if schools just grade easier now or whats up, but everyone I grew up with seems to have kids on the honor roll. Even kids from parents who weren't that bright. I have a friend I grew up with who was not bright in all ways and I don't think the women he married is either, yet their kids all seem to make really great grades. I'm wondering if its just coincidences or if schools give out A's easier now or if the next generation of kids is just smarter for some reason?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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We have heard a lot of talk about the "dumbing down" in our schools, with the liberal theories about tests being biased and discriminatory to minorities. When grading is changed in the name of "equity" to help the least productive kids improve their scores, the "average" kids end up on the honor roll. Unfortunately that helps no one, as the slower kids end up graduating on time with a decent GPA but are still not well enough educated to get a job.
Two districts near my home have removed the grade system.
It's goal is to.gradient in ways of ' applies self', volunteers , requires more dedication.
Rather then johnny can't read . It's johnny will eventually read while he improves in his speech/ pronunciation.
It's a slow burn to get to the final reward of achieving a skill.
Like most things in my area from how folks jump ship or vaccilate from wanting to have money to wanting playtime
I see it's effect practiced in education. Less homework, more creative time!
I'm all for balance. And that needs to be a balance of accountability to apply the task, Garner , practice and conclude.
The students can only achieve when taken to task. Most students left to their own wants will rarely improve or thrive.
So lower the bar and collectively pretend...hey ! They showed up! They made an effort.
I'm guessing your sample size is too small and/or people are exaggerating how bright their children are. Or, it could very well be that their local schools have low academic standards.
I have three kids. The oldest is genuinely an intellectual and gifted in multiple areas; she got a perfect score on the verbal SAT in high school, has won many awards for her pencil drawings and watercolor paintings, and is about to graduate with an engineering degree from a UC school with a 4.0 GPA (I don't think the UC schools are dumbed down). She really is "that" smart.
Second child is also bright but not particularly academic. Her high school and college grades to date are As with a handful of Bs, but she had to work for them. She is motivated and a hard worker and is going to do well in life despite academics not coming as easily to her as they did to her older sister. She was also careful not to sign up for classes that she didn't absolutely need that seemed like they would be particularly difficult for her (e.g. Calculus).
Third child is reasonably bright but very lazy and unmotivated. He's about to graduate from high school with a mediocre GPA, definitely not honor roll. He admits he could have done much better if he'd tried, oh well.
I currently have a High Schooler and a Middle Schooler. Both of them are in the Gifted & Talented program and both go to accelerated programs in their Middle Schools or Magnets. Part of me agrees that too many kids are now being identified as gifted. I don't know the percentage in my district, but I think it's about 10%, when to me, a truly "gifted" individual is the 1% (or even higher). For example, I think my oldest is truly an accelerated student and has the potential to be near the top of her HS class, but my younger kid, while very bright, is not gifted per se.
I think the big issues are at the bottom, not the top. Schools can no longer make kids repeat grades or even adequately discipline them. I think many of the GT and accelerated programs now exist to allow high achieving kids an environment to take school more seriously and separate them from some of the nonsense going around them, which doesn't always work btw.....my kids have plenty of GT and Honors' classmates who exhibit behavioral problems.
Having said all that, I think the kids at the top academically are an extremely bright and motivated group of individuals. A couple of weeks ago, I read over some applications for a scholarship that our Middle School PTA was awarding to graduating seniors, and I was very, very impressed by the applicants. All had GPA's over 5.25 range (out of 6.0); they were in the top 5-10% of their class, had tons of extracurriculars and most had jobs while in HS (something many people think teens no longer do).
I have noticed this as well. My kids are in 1st and 3rd grade so I haven't really felt the effects of anything yet...but I did noticed some article about someone who had a GPA of 8.05. I was like, really? So does getting a 4.0 GPA mean not much anymore? I remember people would be happy with a 3. something. I know of someone in all AP courses with a 4.09 GPA and the college she is going to is nothing great. I would think someone with a GPA like that would be going to a highly selective school...I think a lot of it came down to she got money from the school she is going to.
I also think so much is captured on the internet these days in terms of who is doing what...but I am still confused on why so many people seem to be in the AP/honors classes these days with 4.0 GPA. An 8.0 seems ridiculous.
I'm wondering if schools just grade easier now or whats up, but everyone I grew up with seems to have kids on the honor roll. Even kids from parents who weren't that bright. I have a friend I grew up with who was not bright in all ways and I don't think the women he married is either, yet their kids all seem to make really great grades. I'm wondering if its just coincidences or if schools give out A's easier now or if the next generation of kids is just smarter for some reason?
FWIW just because the parents weren't 'bright' doesn't mean the kids won't be. Some people have learning issues that they don't pass on to kids, some people didn't try in school but end up with kids that do, etc.
I'm wondering if schools just grade easier now or whats up, but everyone I grew up with seems to have kids on the honor roll. Even kids from parents who weren't that bright. I have a friend I grew up with who was not bright in all ways and I don't think the women he married is either, yet their kids all seem to make really great grades. I'm wondering if its just coincidences or if schools give out A's easier now or if the next generation of kids is just smarter for some reason?
And we have a winner. It's the natural result of raising the bottom so no one can fail. If the fails get moved up to passing, then how do you differentiate the C's? They have to move up to B's. Then the B's move up to A's. Then there is no more up so you get a lot more A and B grades naturally.
The new education philosophy that says even if a kid does nothing, as in a blank sheet of paper, the lowest grade they can get is 50. There's a whole discussion on this over in the Education forum.
Like the rest of society, the system has bifurcated into haves and have-nots. The haves ARE actually smarter than previous generations--at least the Whites, Hispanics, and Blacks. They are attempting to keep up with the Asians, whose parents will literally walk through fire to make sure their kids go to the best schools, do ALL the correct extracurriculars, and do cram school to boot because their society is strongly based on Confuscian principles which elevate academics uber alles. The Asian kids are probably a bit less hardworking and smart compared to their previous FOB or 1st/2nd generation parents, but they still exceed their average peers of non-Confuscian heritage. So the level of performance in top/private/magnet schools is much higher than in the past, when lazy legacies--protected by a racist monocultural make-up of the student body--could skate by on daddy’s money, and the top standards were lower. Now they are forced to compete, or drop out.
On the other hand, the have-nots are trying to stay relevant--meaning that the teachers and administrators need their schools to look good on paper, lest they be closed or starved of funding. Massive grade inflation goes on at these schools, such that the scores--outside of standardized tests--are pretty much meaningless. Since in-class school-specific scores radically diverge from the standardized testing at these schools, the administration and activists claim that standardized testing is wrong and should be abolished, because it is discriminatory against the have-nots.
Of course, that’s bunk. It is society itself which has freely self-segregated into haves and have-nots. The test scores (and under-educated have-nots) are merely a symptom.
The problem is that nobody knows the cure to the underlying disease of lack of emphasis on education, so they try treating the symptoms, which--like with taking fever reducers or painkillers--may be worse than doing nothing at all.
I really have no idea about grade inflation, but it is quite possible for kids to be smarter than their parents. Maybe the mother was exceptionally careful during pregnancy and ate correctly and got all of her protein and vitamins and the fetuses developed well and to a higher potential.
Quite honestly, there is nothing in most public schools that a normal, or slightly subnormal person, can not learn and understand if they apply some effort to it. Most of the problem with kids not learning is that they won't try to learn or even actively resist learning.
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