Grades are lower in classes with higher-achieving peers, consistent with teachers adjusting expectations rather than grading on a curve¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associational r3 · q3
Currency · newest study 2016 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? Each standard deviation increase in classroom peers' average prior achievement is associated with grades lower by 0.173 points, controlling for subject and Honors/AP status. → Elaine M. Allensworth and Stuart Luppescu 2016 q3 i? Frogpond (relative-position) effects are tiny: students with exceptional skills relative to peers get grades higher by 0.011 points, and those much lower-skilled get grades lower by 0.010 points. → Elaine M. Allensworth and Stuart Luppescu 2016 (2)

Evidence¶

Elaine M. Allensworth and Stuart Luppescu 2016¶

Elaine M. Allensworth and Stuart Luppescu. (2016). Why do students get good grades, or bad ones? The influence of the teacher, class, school, and student. University of Chicago Consortium on School Research working paper. https://consortium.uchicago.edu

q3 · i? · associational · r3

Model 5a coefficients (Table 2b) show the negative peer-achievement relationship persists controlling for subject and Honors/AP status, and grows stronger when attendance is controlled (Model 5c), which the authors read as consistent with teachers increasing rigor for higher-achieving classes.

"Students tend to receive lower grades when they are in classes with peers who have higher levels of prior achievement, compared to the peer achievement levels in their other classes (lower by 0.173 points for each standard deviation increase in peer achievement)."

Elaine M. Allensworth and Stuart Luppescu 2016 (2)¶

Elaine M. Allensworth and Stuart Luppescu. (2016). Why do students get good grades, or bad ones? The influence of the teacher, class, school, and student. University of Chicago Consortium on School Research working paper. https://consortium.uchicago.edu

q3 · i? · associational · r3

The same models show relative-position effects are much smaller than the overall class achievement effect: even students with the highest incoming skills get lower grades in classes with high-achieving peers than in their classes with low-achieving peers.

"There is only slight evidence for frogpond effects, or “grading on a curve,” in that students get higher grades when they have exceptional incoming skills relative to their classroom peers (by 0.011 points), and lower grades when they have much lower skills (by 0.010 points)."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

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