"A" is for Apathy

It is an epidemic problem in academe, written up in the international press and bemoaned by many. Grade inflation is a scourge in education. Nowhere is it more in evidence than in private instruction studios in music schools and conservatories where an “A” grade is the norm and some teachers virtually grade all students pro-forma.

In talking about a student who was by a professor’s own account, “not really cutting it” the professor defended the student “A” as a “mercy” grade. But what could possibly be more unmerciful than to give a student a false sense of security through an inflated grade?  How can an institution possibly advise a student that they are unlikely to succeed in the profession, while giving the student top grades?

The roots of much of the grade inflation problem can be found in two underlying systemic issues. The first one is enrollment needs: specifically the fleshing out of programs and the money generated by enrollment. The second problem is personal ignorance and laziness on the part of instructors, and institutional laziness propagated by administrators who are steeped in an enabling culture.

When students enroll at music schools they are, among other things, fulfilling the needs of the institution’s programs. This routinely taints the audition process, wherein a thin spot in a particular area of the orchestra, and a dearth of suitable applicants can cause enrollment offers to be made to candidates who have little or no chance of vocational success with their chosen major. Once the student is admitted, the next problem becomes a professor's unwillingness to "rock the boat" with appropriate low grades for a student's output, combined with institutional unwillingness to appropriately deal with the fact that admittance for the student was a mistake. The prevailing sensibility is often to simply usher the student through matriculation, babying them through juries and recitals, inflating grades, and finally sending them on their way with many tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt and a useless degree.

In current academic culture there is a steep penalty incurred by professors and administrators who grade realistically, hold a hard line, and push for the kind of consistent standards by which students can measure their success toward professional efficacy as opposed to matriculation. Within the prevailing culture at most schools today, tough professors and administrators are often branded as “unfair” or “hard-asses” by students, parents, and fellow faculty and administrators, when in fact they are simply doing their jobs with integrity by giving appropriate and important information to the students. Conversely, professors and administrators who enable students with inflated grades and spongy learning environments, make no waves, and are rewarded with smiles, glad-handing and congratulations from a system that seems to have adopted the notion of academe as a retailer of services. In this system the student and parent of the student is regarded as the consumer, and the administrators take the view that the “consumer” is always right.

The goal in any training institution should be to give the student the necessary tools to survive in the world in their chosen vocation. The skills developed at the point of matriculation should correspond to professional viability. Grades along the way should reflect a student's progress toward ultimate viability. To do otherwise is to abuse the trust implicit in the student/teacher/institution relationship. Along the way some students will inadvertently be admitted inappropriately; it is not possible to vet a prospective student's ultimate ability to progress toward viability with a 100% success rate. It is the responsibility of the private instructor and the institution to recognize a student's lack of viability as early as possible in the educational process, and to direct students toward areas of study where they have a reasonable chance of becoming vocationally viable.

The all too common "take-the-money" and graduate them along system is reprehensible but unfortunately shows no sign of abatement. ###             Stefan Hersh

Stefan Hersh is a violinist who teaches at Roosevelt University's Chicago College of  Performing Arts  

A professor stood before his class of twenty senior students, about to hand out the final exam. "I want to say that it's been a pleasure teaching you this semester. I know you've all worked extremely hard and many of you are off to graduate school after summer. So that no one gets their GPA messed up because they might have been celebrating a bit too much this week, anyone who would like to opt out of the final exam today will receive a 'B' for the course."

There was much rejoicing in the class as students got up, walked to the front of the class, and took the professor up on his offer. As the last taker left the room, the professor looked out over the handful of remaining students and asked, "Anyone else? This is your last chance."

One final student rose up and opted out of the final. The professor closed the door and took attendance of those still remaining. "I'm glad to see you believe in yourselves," he said. "You all get 'A's."

from www.basicjokes.com