

When 81% Passing Suddenly Becomes 18% - tokenadult
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/education/01schools.html

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bediger
Does NYC school district have enough schools that this kind of a curve makes
sense?

I've certainly been in classes that the teacher chose to do a normal-form
arrangement of the number of grades, and in a lot of classes, that just didn't
fit. Sometimes, such a grade-count gives a lot fewer good grades than are
deserved, even on some absolute scale. More often, it gives passing grades
that aren't deserved on an absolute scale.

I think an "on-the-curve" grading system just doesn't reflect reality, just
like a "zero-tolerance" system doesn't. They're both excuses for not
recognizing individual variations.

