Circulating a report urging uniform grade distribution produced little or no change in instructors' grading practices¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study (2 entries) · associationalr1·q2
Currency · newest study 1917 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? After the report was circulated, variation between individual instructors' day and night grade distributions remained marked, indicating no conscientious effort to systematize distribution. → J. L. Zerbe 1917
q2 i? The author judged from Plate IV that there was no conscious attempt to assume a normal curve of distribution in the two final gradings after the report. → 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
Analysis of second-semester grades after the report was circulated to the faculty. Although the combined distribution shifted somewhat toward normal, individual instructors' day and night grade variation remained "marked."
"yet the variation of distribu- tion of the day grades with that of the night grades by the indi- vidual instructors is marked and seems to indicate that no conscientious effort was made to systematize the distribution."
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
Author's interpretation of Plate IV covering day-course semesters 1912-13 through 1914-15 and night-course distributions. He concludes "Personal opinion seems to be the only standard they were willing to use," noting the Dean was on sabbatical leave so the report had no official sanction.
"From a careful study of Plate IV, I am led to believe that there has been no conscious attempt made to assume a normal curve of distribution for the two final gradings after this report was made known."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- 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
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
grading-report-little-effect-on-practice |
title |
Circulating a report urging uniform grade distribution produced little or no change in instructors' grading practices |
description |
Circulating a report urging uniform grade distribution produced little or no change in instructors' grading practices |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
1917 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-24 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
2 — j-l-zerbe-1917, j-l-zerbe-1917-2 |
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