10 Things You Didn't Know About College Grading

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Okay, as a professor, I have to disagree with point #1. I wish it only took me 10 minutes to grade each paper! Ha! I spend so much time providing detailed feedback that most of my students don't even end up reading. But I still do it for those few students who take the time to use my comments to improve their writing.

MA of WA 4:59PM April 25, 2013

What do they mean by "A's are often in short supply. At most colleges, despite what you might have heard about grade inflation, professors give about 10 percent to 25 percent A's in introductory classes and perhaps 30 percent to 50 percent in more advanced courses". Does that mean it is easier or more probable to get an A in harder classes than in Easy classes. Are there more occurences of A's in the tougher classes because the professor allows it. Will someone please elaborate on this fact for me. Thanks

Rick Darian of FL 5:29PM October 12, 2012

As the commenter SHE SHE demonstrates, students who perform poorly and produce inferior writing samples are often indignant with their results and look to place blame elsewhere. Poor performers tend to adopt a stance of entitlement or right to their desired outcome without actually earning that outcome. It's a defense mechanism, of course, but it's also extremely transparent. Before you start crying foul just because you didn't get what you want, remember that others can see how hollow your case is when it is presented in the open.

Prof X of CA 6:38AM June 10, 2012

I think the reason why professors do what they do in terms of grades is because they know the cannot be challenged or better it is no use. I think that we need to beging to fight for what we know is right. If a professor gives you an undeserving grade you need to stand on what is right. Too often, I have seen where low grades were given on matters that were subjective. I beleive you can win if you have the time and money to go to court. Students should stop being robbed of what is deserving.

She she of NC 12:35PM November 08, 2010

So apparently some professors don't grade tests at all and leave that work to Grad students yet we should be satisfied with our grade because Professors know what to look for in the essay?
YET, the mere mention that some don't even look at the papers calls into question if the grade is really accurate, no? It depends on who is grading it, does it not?
This list of 10 facts are in stark contradiction with each other on some points and rather incorrect in other categories.

Seth of NY 8:47AM September 08, 2010

One thing Jeremy and I do is to grade "blind" -- that is, to grade without knowing the identity of the student. We ask each student to put his or her student ID number on the paper, and then we grade each paper without knowing who wrote it. This, we think, achieves maximum fairness and would eliminate some of the things that happened to you.

Lynn of AR 8:54PM December 28, 2009

My concern regarding subjective grading of essays involves personal biases. I've been a manager at my current company for fourteen years and let's face it, some people are not as likeable as others. As a matter of fact, some of them are downright annoying. But should I let that affect my assessment of their job performance? I say no. That's why I have several measurable categories which cover approximately 80% of the evaluation. I do this to ensure fairness and guard against any personal biases.
I have think that the same thing occurs in the academic world. Professors are only human, right? So what happens when a professor, for whatever reason, does not like the person whose essay she is grading? Maybe they don't bring in cupcakes or pizza like other students or maybe they are not one of her Facebook friends. Certainly there is a chance that their personal feelings about the student can affect the grade assigned. There's no way to prove it, but the fact remains that it is a possibility. For this reason, I do not believe a class grade should be assigned based only on subjective grading.
I enrolled in grad school for fall semester '09. I was apprehensive because it had been 14+ years since I'd completed my undergraduate degree. Never before had I received a grade of "F", at least until now. I took two classes and received a score of "84" in one (70% objective scoring and 30% subjective)and a "66.3" ("F") in the other. I received a score of "100" on both the homework assignments and the group projects which combined accounted for 32% of the grade. However, I received scores of 60, 47, and 56 on the three essays (served as our tests) which accounted for 63% of the grade. The remaining 5% of our grade was based on the professor's "personal evaluation", and she gave me a score of "0". "0"! I missed only one class all year, I did all of the research for one of our group projects, and was one of only four people that presented the final homework assignment to the class.
Now I am by no means one of those people who think more highly of themselves than they should. As a matter of fact, I'm my on worst critic. But a "0"? There were other subtle hints throughout the year which gave me the impression that did not view me favorably, but I won't go into them here. What made things worse was the fact that I was not made aware of the fact that I'd received a score of 47 and 56 on the last two essay tests until the final grade was posted. Lastly, she refused to make herself available to meet with me to discuss the grade. Most of the students in the class think I have a valid argument but I'm sure it's going to be difficult to prove it via appeal. I welcome all thoughts and/or suggestions.

Damon Deese of GA 3:09PM December 28, 2009

It's true that sometimes professors don't give any guidelines or rubrics for the "outsourced" graders. I've worked grading problems sets and made my own rubric. But I think this is more common only when 1 person will grade everything so it's still fair.
#3 is misleading though.
If you get a D you know you made a major mistake--you probably put forth next to no effort or didn't do half the problems. Where subjectivity comes in is where you expect--deciding between B+ and A- or A- and A.
Two professors often will disagree about which paper should get the B+ and which should get the A-. I'd say most of the time at least 30-40% of professors would have given you a different grade than you got.

Steve of FL 2:49AM November 26, 2009

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mariancook of FL 8:38AM November 17, 2009

I have been a college professor for 30 years at three institutions. Most of what is said here is accurate with the following exceptions. First, most students attend universities like the ones in which I have taught, middle-level state universities with no signficant numbers of grad assistants. In fact most of the programs offer only undergraduate degrees. As a result there are no grad assistants and the professor does all his or her own grading. The grad assistant as grader exists only at larger or more prestigious institutions with large graduate programs.
Second, most classes are not huge at the middle-level state universities that are the dominant kind, but the professor teaches around 4 classes so the numbers add up.
The points students should most keep in mind are that the quality of the answer, not the effort put into studying is rewarded. Learn to read and write critically, not just memorize mountains of material. In other words learn to study and write efficiently. The idea that grading of essays is "subjective," and therefore "just a matter of opinion," does not take into account the knowledge and expertise of the faculty member. We know a good answer and when we compare find a high level of agrreement on what is a good essay, what is not, and why.

Frank of TX 4:01PM November 12, 2009