<p>Just wondering- How should grading be curved in high school classes? </p>
<li>+x points, to everyone, regardless of performance</li>
<li>+ x% of raw score … preference to high-scorers</li>
<li>scaling that gives more extra points to low-scorers than to high-scorers</li>
</ol>
<p>Because in my calculus class, my teacher used method 3. As a result, some people got a 35 point curve, and I got a 3 point curve (95 to a 98).</p>
<p>You're whining about 'only' a 3 point curve, when you already had a 95? Get a life!</p>
<p>To answer your question though, most teachers I have had use a bell curve (top 15% get As, following 25% gets Bs, etc.).</p>
<p>we don't really curve much, a point here, a point there, that's about it (with the exception of exams). Teachers usually curve to get a 75 exam average. there are 2 methods. One the mathematic, bell curve-ish way (not exactly a bell curve, but same idea) second is the you add x number of points to the top grade to give them a perfect score and everyone gets the number of points. The first way is used by mostly science/math teachers and social studies/english teachers tend to use the second way</p>
<p>the only classes that are curved at my school are AP bio and AP physics. mostly because the tests are insanely hard, including stuff we didn't necessarily cover in class, but that he hoped we might infer, a lot of questions that are very difficult, and a lot of essays or problems that are long and complicated. so the average score on our test is usually around 60%. so that not everyone is failing, the teacher uses method # 1, and i think its pretty fair. the students that study and work hard usually end up with higher grades, etc.</p>
<p>No curving at my school. You get what you get.</p>
<p>neither at mine</p>
<p>Most of my teachers do not curve at all. My freshman biology teacher once who used a variation of method 1. </p>
<p>Let x=the median test score of the class.
Let y=her desired median score (usually 75, I think)</p>
<p>If x<y, add (y-x) points to every test grade.</p>
<p>Also, if you did all of your class work she would let you retake and average the two grades.</p>
<p>It worked out great until I figured out the class could strategically fail to ensure every person passed.</p>
<p>Excerpt from my blog:
[quote]
Quivey's policy is to add points to everyone's grade until the median score is a 75. So, consider the following situation:</p>
<pre><code>We have a class meeting and decide which of us will purposefully make a zero on the test (we will all have a turn, but never fear.) All the details are worked out, everyone agrees.
Test day. We all sit down for the test, and everyone does as planned. Group A (Half the class + 1 person) has agreed to make 0s by either leaving blank or answering every question incorrectly, but there is no stress and no studying. The other half of the class (Group B) do the best they can on the test, but, again, this is a no stress situation.
She grades them, passes them back. The median score is 0 so EVERYONE automatically makes at least a 75C and those in Group B get their score plus the 75 points added on. This makes the maximum test score a 175.
This may sound alarming at first [especially if you're in the half that agrees to fail the test first], but it works perfectly. Keep reading...
Next week. New test. This time the roles are reversed. The people in Group B make 0s on purpose and the people in Group A try to do as well as they can.
We continue this all year, for the remaining 8 tests.
</code></pre>
<p>The only problem with the plan is that for the median to remain 0 each time, some people with the very high averages would have to volunteer to make a 0 once more than most of the class. Smart people would rotate through this position. Sounds like a bummer, yes, but its all good... this person can still make over a 110 average.</p>
<p>Also, people in the group making a 0 for the given week would have the option to retake the test and average that with their 75 if they did their classwork. This makes the highest score on that test for a person in the 0 group an 87.5, which rounds to an 88/B.</p>
<p>So, this is an excellent plan. Why does it work? When you agree to make a 0, you automatically forfeit 25 points you could have gotten on that test. But the next week, when it's your turn to do your best, you get 75 back. So... lose 25, gain 75 nets you 50 points you couldn't have otherwise had at all. This raises your overall test average by 25 points.</p>
<p>Maximum possible semester average: 125
Minimum possible semester average: 75</p>
<p>So: Better grades and less work for all, and NOBODY fails.</p>
<p>Isn't math great?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>our ap bio exam was curved a lot since it was meant as a "practice ap test" so it was super hard, the highest grade w/o curve was an 82, so it was a 16 pt. curve</p>
<p>Yeah, hamster, that would work. Except for the fact that schools (well, mine at least) have the best teachers teach AP courses. They are not stupid. They WILL realize that half the class got zeroes-especially if the tests were left blank!<br>
But, what if....</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yeah, hamster, that would work. Except for the fact that schools (well, mine at least) have the best teachers teach AP courses. They are not stupid. They WILL realize that half the class got zeroes-especially if the tests were left blank!
But, what if....
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Usually we only got a few points, if any.</p>
<p>My math was just a theory for people to laugh about. In reality, the theory would fall apart because it assumes (1) the instructor would not change the policy in reaction to this abuse and (2) that everyone plays his or her role properly every time. If one person got confused about what they were supposed to do they could stick half the class with 0's.</p>