S.C. College's Grading Policy Makes Waves

Fox News ^ | 11-16-04 | WestVirginiaRebel

[WestVirginiaRebel]

COLUMBIA, SC-It's possible for freshmen at Benedict College to pass their classes, even if they fail every written exam.

[WestVirginiaRebel]

"Dude, I passed! Now I can go work at Micky D's for like, life, man!" "Oh, that is so cool, dude!" "Dude!" "Dude!"

[cynicom]

This has been going on in many publik skools for a long time.

[Kaisersrsic]

Academic progress is required for federal financial aid. What the College is doing is stealing from the taxpayers and teaching poor students a lesson in accumulating debt that will take years and years to pay off.

[billorites]

See related thread Here.

[chs68]

Damn!

All my life I have wanted to be a brain surgeon.

I was afraid that I could not successfully master the skills necessary to be one.

And now I discover that all I really needed to succeed was effort -- not talent or ability -- only effort.

Because Success Equals Effort.

SEE?

[randog]

I think you nailed it. Colleges have a high freshman dropout rate. This is just a way to create "satisfied customers".

[xtargeter]

Many of the for-profit schools have had this policy in place for a long time. I know because I taught in several of them.

The results are just what you expect. The students don't complete the degree because they can't do the work and they can't get jobs for the same reason.

[Fierce Allegiance]

[buddyholly]

This explains a lot.

[Grendel9]

If you read the entire article, you find that percentage of 40-60 (effort-achievement) pertains ONLY to the Freshman year. After that, it is a 60-40 deal. This may have more to do with state schools not being allowed to deny a native student admission if they have any kind of high shool record above a D. That's true here in Illinois as well.
The intent is to avoid lawsuits as well as give a leg up to the kid who for some reason is able to turn over the page and start fresh. Believe it or not, some kids do surprisingly well once they get out of the home environment.
And, there are all kinds of reasons 10-12th graders do
poorly in school, inability to escape peer pressure being just one. And then there's the school Sports program!

[cvq3842]

This seems to be part of the "self-esteem" movement that says we have to make everybody feel like a winner.

Self-esteem comes from achievement, not someone telling you you're great for no reason.

If our young people can't handle failing a class because they couldn't or wouldn't do the work, then we are in deep, deep trouble. These hothouse roses won't make it in society. then waht? the few who actually tried to make something of themselves will have to support them?

Failure hurts. I have had a few, although I've been relatively lucky. But a failure shuts a door and opens another - pointing you in a direction that's better for you in the end.

But it's probably not even so "lofty" (although eclearly misguided) a motive which led to this. The school is just trying to make more money by keeping the kids there longer. they are doing these kids a terrible disservice.

[Final Authority]

My wife was a lecturer for a local college that specialized in providing masters degrees to cops and teachers. After her first semester the administration called her on the carpet and told her she needed to go easy on the students because they have jobs and need the degrees to get promotions and the like. She told him that they that they can't read, can't write, can't spell, can't think, and do not study enough to know the course material that they are being tested for. She told him that she will grade accordingly. She was fired on the spot.

Now just think. As taxpayers we are paying higher salaries for cops and school administrators because they got degrees from such schools and the holders of these degrees are as dumb as the day they enrolled. Degrees mean little these days unless they are from reputable Universities and backed by performance.

[buddyholly]

And, there are all kinds of reasons 10-12th graders do poorly in school, inability to escape peer pressure being just one. And then there's the school Sports program! Good point. I was a terrible student while in high school, but in college I did much better. Actually, in high school I was just damn lazy.

[cinives]

The kind of kids of whom you speak more properly belong in community colleges, not in $20,000 per year colleges where the work is dumbed down to their level, also dragging down their classmates who might and possibly are capable of higher-level work. If these students do so much better out of high school, a year at a cc will set them on a successful path at a 4 year institution.

As a side note, the Dept. of Labor (yeah I know a gubmint idiot house) says that 80% of jobs do not require a college degree; many just require specialized training. Also, this spring, in the local rag, was a story about college grads finding work. The article quoted Avis (you know, the rent a car folks) who were looking to hire 6000 counter workers with college degrees. Really ? You "need" a college education to staff a rental car counter to fill out forms ? How about we really give students a solid education K-12 so we don't need these dumbed-down, feel-good degrees. A college degree from most colleges now counts for not much more than a high school education of 20 years ago.

[sasafras]

You forgot to mention in your headline that this is a BLACK College. Its important because it shows how the liberals are dumbing down their population. Instead of forcing them to achieve they are allowing them to fail. Black America needs to start taking a hard look at their progress, is it forward or backwards?

[Tailback]

Well there's one school I'd never attend. I liked classes where as long as you ace the exams it didn't matter if you did homework.

[Republic If You Can Keep It]

that percentage of 40-60 (effort-achievement) pertains ONLY to the Freshman year.

I'm sure that the employers of these grads will offer them the same deal.

For the first year, if they can do only 60% of the job, it's just fine.

Right?

[valkyrieanne]

The article quoted Avis (you know, the rent a car folks) who were looking to hire 6000 counter workers with college degrees. Really ? You "need" a college education to staff a rental car counter to fill out forms ?

Of course you don't. What the college degree *mostly* tells the employer is that (in most cases, obviously present college under discussion excepted) the employee isn't a total slacker. It *used* to be that a high school education guaranteed that (since those who couldn't handle high school left after 8th grade), but no more.

Make compulsory education end at age 14; i.e. after 8th grade, and make parents pay *tuition* for high school. Then the value of a high school diploma would be re-established, and there wouldn't be such pressure on kids to go to college unnecessarily.

[upchuck]

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[Novel]

My roommate at the University of Tennessee about eight years ago was an Engineering Student. He used to come home with 40's on his tests with a big smile on his face. When I asked him why he was smiling, he said that with the grading curve he made a 'B'. A 40 was a 'B'! These people are building our bridges!!