At 11:54 AM 1/6/98 -0800, Roger wrote: >What does the following quote from your recent email mean to you?: > >"Only 3 of 46 studies reviewed in 1971 showed a significant relationship between GPA and performance; half the studies showed no correlation whatsoever." I know that many of those of us who have been involved in some kind of grading system are having to wrestle with the questions you have raised. For one thing, your question, >Would all the studies have used similiar or consistent performance measures? I think is really at the core of how those of us in academic situations use grades. The studies done ten or so years ago showed that there _weren't_ consistent performance measures then being used in the grading. And even today, I am not sure how consistent college grading is with any performance measures. Ohmer, whom I cited in my last posting, seemed well aware of the complexity of the grade "problem": "There is certainly no single recommendation for improving the grading game" Ohmer wrote; "the magnitude of the grading system, the complexities of subject matter, smugly recalcitrant faculties, and the varying aims of colleges and universities signal the necessity for several approaches if we hope to make even a dent in the academic armour surrounding the grade issue." There were other indicators of problems with grading consistency. In the period from 1965 to 1980, average GPA's rose nationwide, while SAT scores fell. By 1990, as I recall, U.S. high school students had the highest confidence in their ability to do math of all the industrialized nations, yet had one of the lowest scores in standardized math tests. Although employers and graduate schools still seem to give a certain weight to the meaning of GPA's, many (most?) faculty still have no consistent standard, other than an arbitrary "percentage" -- of what? -- often performance in unstandardized tests and quizzes. Often, "academic freedom" is cited as a reason not even to talk about this difficult issue. I think it might feel threatening at first to have to admit that, as St. Augustine said, "I measure it: But what it is I measure, I do not know." There are exceptions to this. The medical field and certain others have definite performance standards for competency. National councils have been working on standardized competencies for English, math, etc. I have not seen any data recently about how many colleges have adopted performance-based assessment, or how many of those colleges use that assessment in the assignment of grades. One excellent summary of the move towards consistent performance assessment is in the first chapter of Marzano, Pickering, and McTighe's _Assessing Student Outcomes_ (Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 1993). Neal Steiger NH Community Technical College 379 New Prescott Hill Road Laconia NH 03276 phone: 603-524-3207 fax: 603-524-8084 "Even a planarian worm can learn." --Eunice Cornish