Blogs
Grading on a curve
One of my Chinese friends asked, "What does grading on a curve" mean. Some teachers give grades on a scale of:
90%+ correct = A
80-89% = B
70-79% = C
60-69% = D
Less than 60% = F
"Grading on a curve" means the teacher believes the student's grades are normally distributed (normally distributed is a statistical term, meaning in the shape of a "bell" curve). That is, a few students do very well and a few do very poorly, but most are in the middle range. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_curve_grading
The "curve" is a statistical curve. So, "grading on a curve" means giving a few of the best students the highest grades and a few of the worst students the lowest. The percentages can vary from class to class. The idea is that statistics indicate most students are average and a few are very good or very poor. BUT the "90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, and less than 60% does not always reflect the statistical distribution of the student's grade. If the test is easy, more than 50% of the students may get more than 80% of the answers correct. But if a "C" grade is average, then the teacher needs to "grade on a curve" so that most of his or her students do not get A's and B's. Teachers like to give an equal number of A's and F's but to only a few students. About 50% of the students should get an average grade of C because they are average students.
Likewise (in a similar way), some teacher's test are very hard and no students may get 90% of the answers correct. So, they teacher might "grade on a curve" and give an A to the top students, even though of of them did not get 90% of the questions correct.
They might be in any of these groups for different classes of different teachers or many others:
*****************
95%+ correct = A
80-94% = B
65-79% = C
50-64% = D
Less than 50% = F
*****************
92%+ correct = A
80-91% = B
67-79% = C
55-66% = D
Less than 55% = F
*****************
80%+ correct = A
75-79% = B
65-74% = C
48-64% = D
Less than 48% = F
*****************
97%+ correct = A
92-96% = B
80-91% = C
72-79% = D
Less than 72% = F
*****************
I still tend to be in the B to C range because I don't want to work as hard as the top students! HA!
90%+ correct = A
80-89% = B
70-79% = C
60-69% = D
Less than 60% = F
"Grading on a curve" means the teacher believes the student's grades are normally distributed (normally distributed is a statistical term, meaning in the shape of a "bell" curve). That is, a few students do very well and a few do very poorly, but most are in the middle range. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_curve_grading
The "curve" is a statistical curve. So, "grading on a curve" means giving a few of the best students the highest grades and a few of the worst students the lowest. The percentages can vary from class to class. The idea is that statistics indicate most students are average and a few are very good or very poor. BUT the "90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, and less than 60% does not always reflect the statistical distribution of the student's grade. If the test is easy, more than 50% of the students may get more than 80% of the answers correct. But if a "C" grade is average, then the teacher needs to "grade on a curve" so that most of his or her students do not get A's and B's. Teachers like to give an equal number of A's and F's but to only a few students. About 50% of the students should get an average grade of C because they are average students.
Likewise (in a similar way), some teacher's test are very hard and no students may get 90% of the answers correct. So, they teacher might "grade on a curve" and give an A to the top students, even though of of them did not get 90% of the questions correct.
They might be in any of these groups for different classes of different teachers or many others:
*****************
95%+ correct = A
80-94% = B
65-79% = C
50-64% = D
Less than 50% = F
*****************
92%+ correct = A
80-91% = B
67-79% = C
55-66% = D
Less than 55% = F
*****************
80%+ correct = A
75-79% = B
65-74% = C
48-64% = D
Less than 48% = F
*****************
97%+ correct = A
92-96% = B
80-91% = C
72-79% = D
Less than 72% = F
*****************
I still tend to be in the B to C range because I don't want to work as hard as the top students! HA!
