Academic subjects were graded to a markedly higher standard than shop subjects, with far larger shares of grades below passing¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 1917 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? In 1913-14, fifty-one per cent of academic grades were passing or below, versus twenty-six per cent for practical or shop courses. → J. L. Zerbe 1917 q2 i? In individual subjects, forty-five per cent of grades in one academic subject were below passing while only two per cent were in one shop subject. → J. L. Zerbe 1917 (2)

Evidence¶

J. L. Zerbe 1917¶

J. L. Zerbe. (1917). Distribution of Grades. The Journal of Educational Psychology, VIII(10), 575-588. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0074694

q2 · i? · associational · r1

Tabulation of 1913-14 grades by course type: practical or shop courses summarized as 25 H/M, 49 C, 26 below; theoretical or academic as 19, 30, 51. The author infers the academic "standard is too high for the class of students taking the work."

"If fifty-one per cent, of all grades assigned is valued as passing or below, as is indicated for the academic subjects, is it not to be inferred that the standard is too high for the class of students taking the work?"

J. L. Zerbe 1917 (2)¶

J. L. Zerbe. (1917). Distribution of Grades. The Journal of Educational Psychology, VIII(10), 575-588. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0074694

q2 · i? · associational · r1

Course-level comparison from Plate II analysis of grades by subject, day and night 1913-14. Academic subjects showed thirty-five to forty-five per cent below passing while one shop subject had "only two per cent, fall below tnat grade."

"In two very fundamental subjects forty per cent, of all grades given are below passing, while in another subject forty-five per cent, of all grades are below passing. In one academic subject thirty-five per cent, are below passing, while in one of the shop subjects only two per cent, fall below tnat grade."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• University scholarship ratings ran about 16 per cent below high-school ratings for the same students, ranking them only two-thirds as high per hour of study, a gap the authors link to discouragement and withdrawal — related
• Day and night course grade distributions differ consistently from year to year, suggesting the two groups should be graded on different standards — related
• Instructor grading practices vary extremely, with some instructors awarding no honor grades and others awarding honor grades to over half their students — related