The Journal

Issue date: 5/4/06 Section: Opinion/Editorial

Miller

Much has been made in the media over the past few years about the "dumbing down of America."

It's one thing for imbeciles to have their own TV show like Paris Hilton or their own fragrance line like Britney Spears, but it can be disturbing when some of this culture creeps its way into higher education. Almost everyone has heard about the concerns with the American education system. If you believe what you read, it is, at worst, in shambles or, at best, hells in serious need of some revamping.

While a lot of finger-pointing occurs and everyone attempts to dodge blame, test scores keep dropping and even college graduates can't seem to perform basic skills. I understand this is a complicated issue with several components, but I think a significant number of people are working off of a faulty assumption that everyone who attends school is there for the primary purpose of learning.

The majority of students who attend graduate school, presumably, are there to gain knowledge - either for career advancement or personal growth. Since most graduate students pay their own tuition or have their employer reimburse them, the assumption is that they are in school because they truly desire to be there. While this is the case for many, there is a conspicuous minority who seem to be attending graduate school for questionable motives.

Some graduate students seem to be overly focused on grades simply for the sake of grades. I show up, therefore I deserve an "A." Apparently, there is an assumption that effort alone automatically equates to superior grades regardless of the quality of work that is done.

Others occasionally show up, hardly participate in classroom discussions and then become incensed if they get anything below a "B." Graduate school should not be about grades; it should be about knowledge. You should feel better about a "B" that you worked your ass off for than an "A" for a class in which you learned little to nothing because the content was so "dumbed down."

A friend of mine who graduated recently told me she was disturbed by an incident she witnessed in one of her graduate classes here at Webster. Although the professor had made his expectations for a test explicitly clear to the class, a handful of students did poorly on the test and raised such a commotion that the teacher apparently caved to the pressure. These students were allowed to re-take the test with a sanctioned "crib sheet" of their notes.

If this story is true, I have issues with it for two reasons: 1.) Unless a majority of the class failed the test the first time, it sounds as though the test was fair but some people didn't study and prepare to the level that they should have and 2.) What message for "real life" experience was being conveyed here? If you fail at a job task, your employer normally doesn't allow for a do over.

How much did these students really learn in this class? More importantly, what message did this send to those students who did the work the first time and excelled?

Not everyone is equal in terms of
intellect and ability and not everyone puts in the same level of effort or commitment either. We live in a society where the mentality has been shifting towards an "everyone gets a gold star just for participating" mindset. This is unfair to those who excel and, perhaps more importantly, is unfair to those who are not meeting standards.

Receiving high grades for unwarranted or questionable work is doing no one any favors. If a student is truly not learning and not demonstrating that knowledge in some measurable way, then that is a disservice to them. They are being given false assurances that they have met or exceeded standards when in fact they have not.

I am unsure as to what is driving some of this behavior, but we should expect - no, demand - that everyone is held to the same standards and levels of accountability. Situations arise in a person's life when he or she may need some additional help or may not be able to perform at his or her optimal level.

These situations are exceptions and can be treated as such between teacher and student. Believing that one should receive good grades simply because they pay tuition, however, doesn't add up. The tuition, as painful as it is financially, does not entitle a student to automatically pass a test or a class. It is but one part of an equation that also requires intelligence, effort and some measure of integrity.



Donald C. Miller, a graduate student in media communications, is a guest writer for The Journal.

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