Oo ah oo ah oo oo, Kitty

....Tell us about the boy
From New York City
Oo ah oo ah come on, Kitty
Tell us about the boy
From New York City..." (The Ad Libs)

In case anyone missed the comments spread around on our blogs by Goader, I will post it again.


The subject of grade inflation should be taken seriously.
The subject of the credibility of public education should be taken seriously.

The slippery slope of public school systems that are more about image without substance should be taken seriously.

I know the public education system is not a business.....sort of. But what the public education system is selling and what the ignorant public is buying (talking generalities here) is "look how good our kids are doing because look how high their grades are". "There is a sucker born every minute".

It is my personal opinion that any "grading" of any "facet", (such as the FCAT, school site grades, District Grades, MAP grades, STAR grades etc) of the public school system has the same integrity as wholesale district grading curves. See here: Tampa Bay Online (note that the public comments were deleted); and here: Painted on The Wall; and here: Live again from New York with Matt Tabor.

To toot my own horn (that would be a trumpet or a sousaphone- treble or bass cleft), look here; and here; and here with Karl Marx

What I think is the basis of these inflated grades is that it is aimed at bringing the failing grades up- for the sake of money for the system or those within it. Inflated high GPA's can be used as a statistical means to camouflage "failing" students and school sites.


Here is the response to the criticism

I think this sentence speaks volumes about the issue: "Colleges recalculate GPAs to level the playing field."