Letter to the Critic: “Have you seen your grades lately”

4/24/08

To the Critic:

I read with interest the article entitled “Have you seen your grades lately?” in the April 18, 2008, edition of the Critic. Managing Editor Ben Holbrook reported that SGA President Jonathan Maciel had petitioned the Student Government Association to support mandatory mid-term progress reports (“mid-term grades”). He did so at the request of anonymous LSC faculty members who “wanted to get SGA’s opinion on the matter.” Mr. Maciel stated that “faculty members and I thought it would pass fine,” but instead the proposal generated a heated debate and two overwhelmingly negative votes.

These anonymous faculty members must know that most of their colleagues support the voluntary procedure that is in place: I do. They must know that a few more of their colleagues believe that mid-term reporting in any form infantilizes college students and discourages meaningful student-faculty discussions. (My personal feelings aren’t that strong.) And of course they must know that those who support a mandatory procedure are in the minority.

So I suspect that this strange episode was not an attempt to poll student opinion; it was an attempt to manipulate student opinion to influence faculty policy. Had the SGA voted to support the proposal, majority support for a voluntary procedure could then be portrayed as “anti student.”

Evaluating student learning is one of the most difficult and deeply personal aspects of a teacher’s work. Reporting on it is one of the most delicate. I applaud the SGA for understanding this and for voting accordingly.

Sincerely,

Timothy Miles Sturm, Ph. D.
Professor of Special Education