May 9, 2008
Dismissed for Flunking Students
Steven Aird, an associate professor of biology at Norfolk State University, is getting the boot at the end of this semester for flunking most of his students and resisting university pressure to dumb down his classes, The Virginian-Pilot reports.
For more than four years, Aird has carried on a running battle in which NSU administrators repeatedly pressed him to raise his pass rate and he steadfastly refused.
Twice, he was denied tenure and issued a one-year terminal contract, meaning he would have to leave at the end of the year. After the first denial, he filed a grievance. A faculty grievance committee found in his favor, ruling that the tenure decision was flawed by procedural violations and retaliatory actions by administrators.
He reapplied and was turned down again, despite a favorable recommendation by a departmental tenure review committee. Citing seven classes in which 83 to 95 percent of his students got a D or F, Sandra DeLoatch, dean of the School of Science and Technology, wrote that Aird’s “core problem” was “the overwhelming failure of the vast majority of the students he teaches.”
His bosses say it’s the teacher’s responsibility to make sure the lessons are getting through.
Aird, on the other hand, says coddling students who don’t pass muster does them a disservice: “I really care about my students,” he told the reporter, Bill Sizemore. “That’s why I refuse to lower the bar. The objective should be competence, not grades.”
Aird isn’t the only professor who’s felt pressure to lower his academic standards, Sizemore writes. He quotes Joseph Hall, a chemistry professor and president of the Faculty Senate, who said that …
“faculty are – I’ll use a nice word – encouraged to try and pass 70 percent of their students.” If the rate drops below 70 percent, [Hall] said, “faculty are called in and asked to explain what they’re going to do about it.”
Sharon Hoggard, a spokeswoman for Norfolk State, denies the assertion that the university is setting the bar lower, Sizemore writes:
By Gabriela Montell | Posted on Friday May 9, 2008 | Permalink“It goes against our very mission, which is to provide an affordable high-quality education for an ethnically and culturally diverse student population,” Hoggard said in an e-mail response to the Pilot. She pointed out that NSU is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, for which it must meet stringent standards.
Comments
Commenting is closed for this article.
I would be interested in seeing what the average high school GPA is of NSU’s freshman class. I’d be willing to bet that Aird’s grades are completely accurate.
— Eric May 9, 11:45 AM #
First of all, the passage “For more than four years, Aird has carried on a running battle in which NSU administrators repeatedly pressed him to raise his pass rate and he steadfastly refused[.]” contains a run-on sentence at the end. In my opinion, academic standards are not a black & white issue. During job interviews, the faces of those interrogating me always seemed to sour when I told them that I pretty much did whatever it took to help students succeed in my course. On the other hand, as an adjunct, I always felt that half the students were not equipped to be in college. Thus, I think, on the faculty level I have encountered people during my job search who think we should flunk students rigorously and focus on the survivors, while certainly as a graduate instructor of a required university course, I was once urged to pass a student after the parents had complained about his failing grade.
— semper idem May 9, 11:52 AM #
As long as universities permit students to punish faculty (with poor evaluations) then these things will happen. Sometimes they sack the professor, other times they just deny them tenure. Either way, the inmates run the asylum.
— DrMink May 9, 12:04 PM #
This is disgraceful and shocking. Looks like the US undergraduate educational system is going the same way as the US K-12 educational system (i.e. complete dysfunction and ineffectiveness). At this point only doctoral programs in this country seem to be maintaining any kind of standards, and that is mostly because they are bolstered by brilliant international students and scholars coming in from countries like China, India, Korea and so on…
— Jean-Baptiste Legrand May 9, 12:49 PM #
Actually you got to have some issues giving up to 95% of the students “D’s” and “F’s”. It says something about his teaching and probably poor test design that does not correlate with lectures well. I don’t know if he has a family, but needs to do what it takes to keep his job, even if it means being a little looser on his “perceived” standards and reality.
— ROM May 9, 01:18 PM #
I am with the dean on this: the overwhelming failure of the vast majority of his students tells me that he has failed as a teacher and should not be teaching. If it is true that 83 – 95% of his students in 7 classes received Ds and Fs, that says a lot about his inability to teach. It doesn’t even make statistical sense to have 80 to 90% of the students get Ds or Fs, unless you are speaking in yidhish and yada yada while your students converse in English.
We in the professoriate like to blame students for not getting it but what about how we teach? Overwhelming student failure says a lot more about our teaching styles rather than our student abilities. A good teacher is one who could take novice student and make him appreciate his subject, even if that students ends up with grade of C. So, to me, this really says more about the instructor’s ability rather than the students failure. If the percents reported are correct, he should have been let hgo long time ago.
— AM May 9, 02:25 PM #
What Dr. Aird and the NSU administrators really need is more information about their students: Did either party give serious thought to administering pre- and post-assessments, or similar instrument? I also wonder why these assessments are not used in deciding and/or quantifying teaching effectiveness, particularly in the sciences.
— AERO May 9, 03:55 PM #
I agree with AM. This faculty member should have sought out assistance for both himself and for any students he felt were unable to complete the course without assistance. As faculty we have a responsibility to continually review and improve our pedagogy and to serve as a resource for students and not as an avenging angel of biology.
We can, at times, become so wrapped up in our work that we sometimes fall into the trap of equating our value as a professor with the number of students we fail, rather than with the number we see through to a successful end.
The dean has a responsibility to ensure the integrity of the academic mission of the institution, to safeguard the rights of the faculty to plan and deliver the curriculum, and to protect students from random abuse that may occur at the hands of instructional personnel.
It’s unfortunate that this is being read as an attempt to ‘dumb-down’ the curriculum, rather than as an attempt to correct a situation that does neither the school, the department, the faculty member, nor the students any good. As I remember it, that’s par for the course for the print media in Norfolk, Va.
— jordan May 9, 03:56 PM #
Something wrong with the professor’s teaching if that many fail. But we don’t know what the GPA the students have before they take his courses. If the GPA is really low, you can’t blame the professor for failing them.
— Bill May 9, 07:09 PM #
What has prior GPA got to do with anything? I am a professor, and if 83-95% of my students are failing my course, I have to find out why. Something must be wrong with the quality of my teaching or the “standards” that I have set. This idea that we need to take into account their incoming GPA is crap!
— Anthony May 9, 08:25 PM #
I agree that if such a high % of students fail, something is wrong with the teaching. In grad schl, I took two stats classes from a genius and learned nothing. His attitude was that he had work to cover and we had to keep up. I finanlly understood the concepts when I took stats in the Ag schl where the prof made the material relevant to, er, something.
Some profs have the “book knowledge” but can’t relate to student-needs. In those cases, they should not be in the classroom; or they should move to a school where they will readily relate to students.
— xol May 9, 08:44 PM #
Complaints about “dumbing down” smack of snobbery.
— xol May 9, 08:46 PM #
A high failure rate may indicate a teacher who doesn’t pay attention to the students current situation, but it may also indicate institutional problems, in encouraging students to take classes for which they aren’t prepared. So maybe the department should introduce some pre-intro subjects to bridge the gap. Many subjects have an broadly agreed set of outcomes; I expect that intro biology is like that; whether at Caltech or Norfolk State, the endpoint should be similar. The teacher should seek to get the students from where they start, to that finish point, but it sometimes isn’t possible.
— Alan Fekete May 9, 11:32 PM #
I agree with AM. His stats show he can’t teach.
— MM May 10, 08:51 AM #
Not so fast. The article said that he took extra time in an outside of class to help students. I wouldn’t be so quick to say that its the teacher’s fault. Further, there was nothing in the article about him spending the majority of his time researching, and the students all gave him good reviews. You have to wonder, then, about the students taking his class. You also need to see what the 15% of students who passed his class did to pass in comparison to those who did not.
— anon May 10, 09:54 AM #
Reading these posts, I am deeply troubled by the repeated confident assertions that a high failure rate is unerringly attributable to ineffective or uninspired teaching. That conclusion reflects a kind of all or nothing fallacy in reasoning that is frightening in CHE posters ,who I assume are mostly (if not all) teachers. What about the range of other blindingly clear possible causes ? Inadequate prior preparation of students, students’ poor or low motivation, students’ disrespect for the values of true learning and the necessity for aiming to achieve average to high standards. What about the fact that too many of our students are working too many hours, often at too many jobs ? What about the fact that too many students are too often absent from class (some routinely 50% of every week’s classes)? What about the fact that some students boast with unabashed and brimming pride that they only study when they have a test, or never at all?
In this debate, I am forced to make a clear distinction: It is the duty of teachers to teach. It is the duty of students to learn. I can teach as well as I know how; I may be as diligent and devoted, caring and committed as the absolutists and idealists posting here desire. If my students do not bring to the classroom an equal measure of interest, motivation, caring, and commitment to learning, or if they are indifferent to my willingness to help them acquire those values, all my best efforts will be in vain.
— Ling Sand May 10, 11:57 AM #
This could be the key for more objective discussion.
I am amazed how many university teachers,do not want to do any search for the facts.
“o support his allegations of grade inflation, Aird performed a statistical analysis of two common exams that were given to all students taking the freshman-level biology course in the fall of 2005. The median grade in all sections on both exams – taught by five different professors – was F.
His final grades were an accurate reflection of students’ performance on those two exams, Aird wrote the dean.
Hoggard said attributing the discrepancy between exam results and final grades to grade inflation is too simplistic.”
— M May 10, 03:21 PM #
I was recently sacked as an adjunct curriculum professor at a major southern university from which I had received my doctorate in education after a number of my students complained that I was drinking wine while teaching on the Youtube component of my class from my home office (mind you, I was teaching a graduate course to master’s students). Their real complaint was that they found the reading too difficult and could not believe that I would not give everyone an A just for turning something in. (I actually gave A’s to about 2/3 of the class—too low for the people who didn’t get them). Several complaints revolved around the ideas presented in class. I wanted my students to consider issues such as the teaching of evolution, gay rights, the role of religion in education, race, gender, and social class. I did not tell them what to think, but I made them read stuff they found way too controversial. Several complained bitterly that I should just accept their opinions in their papers without requiring reason and evidence.
The university, fearful of losing enrollment in my cash-cow class, sacked me summarily midway through the course. Fortunately, I still have my day job as a high-school teacher/administrator where I can actually impose standards when I need to that are far higher than those of the College of Education in the university where I worked!
— Rich May 10, 07:33 PM #
It is unlikely that the Admissions Office at this college made a mistake 90% of the time. When students are admitted, they have the right to expect that with a resaonable amount of effort, they will eventually earn a degree. You have to teach the students you have, not the students you might like to have. If this professor’s students were more capable, they would have enrolled at a more selective university.
— DJW May 10, 09:09 PM #
Rich, you teach on “you tube”? Very unusual!
— Bill May 11, 09:14 AM #
Though I, too, have issues with the tremendous pressure to inflate grades, I am a bit suspicious of anyone who claims that 95% of his students are failing. Why are so many students failing. Do you really believe that only 5% are competent? If I were to have that many failing students in my class, I wouldn’t automatically assume that the students are simply incompetent. I would also reassess my own methods for teaching them the material. If this happens across many classes, I find it hard to believe that teaching effectiveness is NOT an issue.
— Don May 11, 12:28 PM #
The purpose of any teachers’ tenure act is to secure permanence within the teaching profession. (Watson v. Burnett, p. 57) 2. An employee protected by tenure and seniority rights is assured a permanent position unless employment is suspended or terminated in accordance with the provisions established with a teachers’ tenure act. (Bragg v. School District of Swarthmore, p. 64; Munley v. School District of City of Pittston, p. 81) 3. Employees protected by tenure and seniority cannot have their rights violated by the Board in favor of an employee junior in tenure. (Flannery v. Jenkins Township School Directors, p. 96) 4. Consideration must be given to the seniority rights guaranteed to employees when interpreting or applying a teachers’ tenure act to the prevailing situation when making recommendations for termination of contracts. (Watson v. Burnett, p. 57; Munley v. School District of City of Pittston, p. 81)
William Allan Kritsonis, PhD
— William Allan Kritsonis, PhD May 11, 09:11 PM #
Wlliam, what is your point about this specific case? Quoting legal arguments doesn’t help us here.
— Bill May 11, 10:13 PM #
I fear that Dr. William Kritsonis is a numbers man, and he probably looks at students as numerical objects rather than students who are in college to learn.
— Lily May 12, 02:46 AM #
I was in the prfessers class and he was all rong. He was talkin bout the theretical bawlogy — they use algebar fer Xsakes — and we was looking for the practicle, ‘cuz most of us is head for med skoo. Me anyways I’m gwin to the med skoo. So I hope they don’t give him no tanure or whatever. You know what I mean? Hey all you teachers! What can I do bout that EFF! Man it jes eetches.
— Rembrandt Dawkins May 12, 04:05 AM #
Whatever happened to constructing knowledge as a community of learners? Or is that just some platitude we associate with social constructivist principles but don’t deign to put into practice? Sorry, but if this professor truly cared about his students he would have conducted diagnostic testing, adjusted his course goals to his students’ ZPD, and pressed for more stringent admission standards, if that is in fact the root of the problem. Anything less sounds like a weak complaint amounting to little more than a fart in the wind. Professors sometimes adopt a victim mentality, too. Unfortunately, a tendency toward arrogance prevents many in our profession from recognizing their aloof response in these situations.
— Rick May 12, 05:25 AM #
Up to a 95% failure rate? This man is not teaching, he is enforcing a vendetta against “The System.”
Do students continue to take his classes? Why?
— JD May 12, 06:26 AM #
As a department chair, there are two general situations that cause me to take notice — one is when nearly all of the students fail, and the other is when nearly all of the students receive an A. I try not to start with an accusation that there is a problem or with the notion, even, that something needs to be “fixed”. But, if, in four years, he has regularly ended the term with 83-90% of his students receiving a D or F, I would have to say that the situation bears scrutiny. We should not make assumptions regarding the quality of the students or the instruction. But, we must be willing to look at the whole picture.
— M May 12, 08:41 AM #
This is an interesting discussion. My point is directed to those who do not believe that 95% of students are capable of failing a class unless there is some problem with teaching and/or assessment methods. I have been teaching history in universities in the mid-West for the last five years (I am relieved to be returning to the UK). Many of the students that I have had the misfortune to teach have been grossly unprepared for college-level education. I have just finished grading my final set of exam papers in which students could not spell simple words such as politics (“polotics”), Britain (“Britian”) and Florida (“Floridia”). Other students were unable to perform the most simple calculations, e.g. a 500% increase in trade deficit was suggested to be a 25% increase. I have found such weaknesses in basic skills are typical rather than atypical of the hundreds of students that I have taught. If this particular professor is unwilling to dilute his standards to a level that he believes is inappropriate for college then I applaud him for taking a stand against administrators who would compel him to do otherwise.
— Relieved Professor May 12, 10:18 AM #
Relieved Professor,
well-said! American high-schools are turning out students who are practically illiterate. I blame the terrible level of teaching in the high-schools. And having met the education majors in my classes, I am not surprised…
— Ieva May 12, 12:16 PM #
I have to say that I am very offended by several of the recent posts. There are many U.S. high schools that are producing literate, and even amazing, students. I am sorry for those of you who have had poor students, but you should not classify the entire populace of a country based on your limited experience. I have known many fellow scientists from different countries who were “good” or “bad” depending on their training.
The U.S. is just like any other country. We have good schools and poor schools. Students who take different courses do so for various reasons. I have had students who could have cared less about the subject and those that have loved it. You see a correlation in grades due to a student’s interest in the material. However, the fact that this professor failed most of his students does not necessarily correlate with poor American students or standards. You have to remember that the U.S. is made up of many different people from many different countries. Many of these students may have trouble with the English language, have trouble with differing customs, etc. We also have a large population of foreign students attending U.S. colleges. You cannot lump the entire U.S. student population into the “poor” category just because you didn’t/don’t like teaching students in midwestern schools etc.
In my experience teaching at both the high school and college level, there are many college professors who have NO CLUE how to reach their students (especially in the sciences). They are many times brilliant but cannot relate to the younger generation and have trouble communicating the material. Also, they have forgotten what it means to be a student. I think many of the best instructors have been postdocs who are very interested in gaining teaching experience. They are not so pompous as to assume that their research is the end-all be-all of scientific research.
I think we should all remember that all students are different, have different customs and issues, and need a professor to understand what it feels like to be a student.
— J May 12, 12:44 PM #
Having read more of the story – I came across this:
“To support his allegations of grade inflation, Aird performed a statistical analysis of two common exams that were given to all students taking the freshman-level biology course in the fall of 2005. The median grade in all sections on both exams – taught by five different professors – was F.
His final grades were an accurate reflection of students’ performance on those two exams, Aird wrote the dean.”
This gives me some reason to question the effectiveness of the entire department and makes me wonder why any student would want to go there to be a science/pre-med major. I understand that they may not have other options, so I would hope that the division would take a serious look at its program. I do agree that you can’t simply lower the bar. But, you have to be realistic about your expectations. If the preparedness of the incoming students is a problem, then try working with the administration to help the students learn to be successful. Perhaps the institution could look at orientation and try giving a two-week program in the summer on study skills and the like to help the students to be more prepared. Or, contact the high schools where your students come from and try doing a spring term – senior year seminar on how to be a college student? If I were administration at NSU, I would spend some time working with faculty to brainstorm for ways to solve the problems. Somewhere between insisting that 70% of the students pass and failing them all is a solution (or a set of solutions) that will work for everyone.
— M May 12, 03:32 PM #
If 95% of a surgeon’s patients died on the table, would we blame the patients for being too sick? It is a teacher’s job to teach and help raise students to a level of competence. If 95% of my students were failing my course, I would look at my pedagogy and/or the structure of my exams – I wouldn’t blame the students.
— AK May 12, 04:18 PM #
I have read all the comments here and those submitted through other forums and I am baffled at how the real issue is being overlooked. I currently work for Dr. DeLoatch and had the pleasure of being taught by her. Her passion for learning is surpassed only by her love for her “little darlings”. To believe that her quest for funding exceeds her desire to provide a quality education to our students is absurd. Funding + High Standards = Quality Education. I am deeply saddened that she is being depicted in such a light. I realize this debate is not so much about her character as it is about the real issue….and that is teaching. So I will address that.
Dr. Aird is teaching Biology to non-biology majors, which means he has to bridge the gap for those students whose primary goal is to “finish this course”. I realize this can be a daunting task, especially if your passion for teaching doesn’t equate to this feat. A professor in this position has to provide a way to make the subject interesting for those that wouldn’t otherwise. Our school offers one-on-one tutoring, peer mentoring programs, curricula development, research opportunities, faculty development and many other programs to ensure our students get the best out of their education. The real questions are, how many of these programs did Dr. Aird partake? How many study sessions did Dr. Aird provide? Did he do a survey on how his teaching methods changed yet still produced the same results? Did he change or enhance his methods at all? Seems to me his goal here was to prove his methods and standards were validated instead of realizing that “right or wrong” the students are the ones missing out. As a professor, shouldn’t one be validated on how much a student learned?
All students are not created equal and there is an added dynamic when you are teaching a subject that has no value to them, other than a means to a degree. However, teachers are not created equal either. Knowledge of a subject may make you a Master, but passion, added to the ability to disseminate that knowledge and connect with the receiver makes you a Teacher. In my opinion, this job requires a Master Teacher.
— Let's look past the hype May 15, 09:31 AM #
I am a TA who has taught for several years. I generally know what students are in trouble after the first exam/paper, so that I can take corrective actions then. If you don’t have a general idea of how most of yours students are doing, you can’t be paying much attention to your them.
— Newbie May 15, 01:30 PM #
“I am with the dean on this: the overwhelming failure of the vast majority of his students tells me that he has failed as a teacher and should not be teaching.”
This is malarkey. I teach at Livingstone College, where the president says that, “If the students are not learning, then the teachers are not teaching.” THAT SENDS A PRETTY CLEAR MESSAGE. Our modal grade for the fall, 2007 term was “A,” though most of our students barely get into college.
If the professor is not teaching, then why is it that some of the students do manage to get good grades? The professor must have been teaching something—but only a few students bother to come to class or read assignments.
Livingstone is also an HBCU, and draws from a similar student pool as Norfolk State. We are pressured to engage in what the president calls “compassionate grading,” but everyone knows what that means when the same president says that, “If the students are not learning, then the teachers are not teaching.”
Yes, we have our casualties on the faculty, too, but no reason is ever given.
Landrum Kelly, Jr., Ph.D.
Chair, Department of History and Political Science, Livingstone College, Salisbury, NC
— Landrum Kelly May 15, 01:56 PM #
Rereading my own post just above, I realize that I do not show there any regard for the nuances and judgment calls required for teaching disadvantaged students.
What seems to have happened in the Norfolk State case is that both the professor and the administration hardened off their positions, allowing for no middle ground. I like teaching at Livingstone, in spite of the challenges, in spite of the indifference of many students. Sometimes I win them over and get them to work. Sometimes I cannot. I can engage some and bring them into the learning process, but some I cannot reach, and they will flunk. I cannot imagine, however, having to flunk so many. That troubles me, but the attitude of the administration there troubles me, too. This is dicey territory. I have no easy solution.
— Landrum Kelly May 15, 05:12 PM #
When does it ever become the student’s responsibility to learn? Its easy to put food in front of someone but if they don’t eat it, and they starve, do you fire the chef? This is not so much a black or white issue as much as it is an issue of motivation. Yes biology is difficult, but this students are attending a college. Why are they failing rather than getting C’s or low B’s? And why isn’t there a story about a student who refused to let this teacher or subject get the better of him (or her) and master the material anyway?! We hear and see dozens of stories about black athletes who pushed through to defy the odds and prove everyone wrong about their abilities. WHY, does this not happen in academia? Where is the students’ motivation to prove this professor wrong and pass the class?
— Nubia May 15, 08:36 PM #
Nubia: your statement assumes there are no students at NSU that work hard and push themselves despite of personal problems and still EARN A’s in their classes. And I guess the chef should be fired because his/her food did not produce a smell that was enticing enough to lure that “someone” to try to taste it.
— aprofessor May 15, 10:07 PM #
This is a very disturbing incident. Perhaps one could reflect on a few issues that the incident throws up:
1. Is student learning a function of teaching ability alone?
2. What is teaching quality? How should it be measured?
3. Is student evaluation of faculty members a valid measure? Does it tend to reflect popularity of a faculty member rather than teaching ability?
4. Will learning be enhanced if the class is of homogeneous standard?
5. Should a faculty member not expect university to ensure some common minimum set of abilities/competencies/aptitude for a course in a class?
6. Should not universities focus on creating and disseminating knowledge and not behave as evaluation and certification agencies?
7. Would it help if student evaluation were made job/recruiter specific and were conducted by outside agencies appointed by recruiters?
— rs May 16, 12:50 AM #
It is not unique to Norfolk State University. Many universities including HBCUs want professors to pass all students irrespective of their competence and mastery of the subject. Students directly go to the top administrators and most of the times, administrators change the grades. It is a continuing battle with the administration. It is happening both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Professors will be punished by awarding lowest salary increments or none at all and denying promotion and/or tenure. Eventually, professors will be harassed and booted out. In some programs such as counseling and psychology, we need competent and highly skilled counselors who can help their clients. By passing incompetent students, we are doing a disservice to the clients, community and the nation.
— kvc May 16, 09:50 PM #
The Chronicle recently posted an article from the Virginian-Pilot about my firing by Norfolk State University for not passing enough students. A second carefully-researched article, by Scott Jaschik, appeared in the journal, Inside Higher Ed: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2008/05/14/aird It included many details that were not included in the first account. I am gratified by the many frank and incisive comments posted in response to Jaschik’s exposition, and I commend those on either side of the issue who had the courage to post their full names and titles.
Just as I always sign my reviews of professional manuscripts in the interest of academic openness, so I have acted openly in this matter, calling repeatedly for a substantive discussion on the subject of collapsing academic standards. Some critics, like “aprofessor,” have condemned me repeatedly in different academic blogs, but always while hiding behind the veil of anonymity. This tactic should call into question the credibility of the respondents.
When I discovered that the Chronicle had picked up this matter, I anticipated that the caliber and tenor of responses would be similar to those that appeared on the IHE blog. I was therefore surprised by the number of respondents who rushed to condemn me, having completely ignored the data Jaschik provided and having no knowledge whatever about our students or my classroom management, much less the broader situation at Norfolk State. This post is intended to make some of that information available for the benefit of those who are willing to consider it.
This is not a story about an intractable old curmudgeon, selfishly bent on ruining the lives of his students. In student evaluations and letters, the students themselves tell a very different story. Rather, this is a story of academic corruption and public deception.
First, readers should know that I am not the only one to have been denied tenure by Norfolk State University for not passing enough students. This semester, an African American colleague who is extremely bright, capable, and dedicated was also denied tenure by the Dean for the same reason. Her case is still in the balance because in 2007 the Faculty Senate spearheaded the formation of a University Review Committee to reexamine all disputed tenure cases, to curb rampant administrative abuses.
Second, the Dean and her close friend, the Academic VP, have placed the entire institution in an conflict of interest between the academic standards they are sworn to uphold and federal grant money. They wrote a pair of proposals to NSF (STARS http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=0207971 and STARS-Plus http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward.do?AwardNumber=0714930 : ~$5 million) in which they planned to improve student pass rates and graduation rates via a series of interventions. The 70% pass rate target, which has become an unofficial tenure metric at NSU, comes directly from these grants.
The problem faced by the principal investigators is that the interventions have very little impact, because so few of our students are willing to do their part. As a result the Dean and Associate Dean, with the backing of the Academic VP, have resorted beating up professors who have low pass rates. (One such attempt and my response are published on my web site: http://web.mac.com/sdaird/Site_2/Welcome.html) During the STARS grant, the Dean is reported to have unilaterally revoked the contracts of DNIMAS scholarship students and forced them to sign new contracts, obligating them to spend additional time tutoring STEM students, under threat of losing their scholarships. Some parents hired attorneys and considered suing for breach of contract, but in the end, decided it wasn’t worth the effort and expense. For several semesters the Dean gave Powerpoint presentations in school meetings, excoriating course sections with low pass rates. When that didn’t produce the desired results, she published everyone’s grades. Some courses promptly reported improvements as large as 30-50%. I am reminded of a Ford Motor Company ad a number of years ago that proclaimed, “Consumer satisfaction surveys show that the quality of Ford cars has improved more than 50% in just the last two years!” The ad ran for only a couple of weeks before they pulled it. Apparently it finally dawned on the marketing geniuses that there were only two ways to explain such a rapid improvement that large. Either the quality of Ford cars was formerly so bad that this was easily accomplished (incompetence) or else they were lying about the improvement (dishonesty).
Third, the National Science Foundation is also culpable in the deception. It is inconceivable that NSF has accepted these massive “improvements” so uncritically. For decades NSF has been pouring huge sums of taxpayer resources into ill-conceived social engineering projects with no accountability (see Science, 13 Nov 1992). In 16 years, nothing has changed. It is time for this to stop.
Fourth, some readers, quite reasonably, have questioned my teaching methods and standards. Others have prescribed remedies before evaluating the patient. This is as flawed an approach in academia as it is would be in medicine. Therefore let me provide some of the information my critics should have requested before rushing to judgment.
A more thorough description of my course management is provided on my website. I have posted a fairly complete description of my course management techniques and I discuss the types of self-destructive student behaviors I am attempting to offset. I have included a letter given to my students on the first day of class, in which I explain why I teach as I do. I have included a digitized recent class evaluation, in which my students speak for themselves. (I provided Scott Jaschik with all of the evaluations in my possession.) This evaluation instrument is the best defense I could devise against the numerical evaluations that university administrators love to use as weapons against professors in the venal battles of university politics.
In my classes during the last three academic years, mean attendance has been 66.4%, excluding those students who dropped the courses. Their attendance was worse. Based upon the university attendance policy, the expected average grade would be an F. All of my colleagues teaching freshman level courses report poor attendance. One colleague told me that in her junior-level course, 13 of 29 students did not show up to take the last regular exam of the semester. I hasten to add that I have never enforced the attendance policy. That is because students who fail to meet the attendance benchmark generally fail the course for every other reason as well. Any student who can succeed without my help will receive the good grade he earned with my blessing and gratitude.
In a given week, only 40-50% of the students turn in homework. Weekly quizzes focus on main concepts covered by the homework assignments. Quizzes normally comprise 25 multiple choice questions and 3-8 short essay questions selected from the homework questions. Many students do not even attempt to answer the latter. Most multiple choice questions are from the publisher’s test bank, questions deemed appropriate for students of this level by educators from all over the nation. I edit questions that are vague or misleading, and exclude questions on material we did not cover in lecture. Students skip the quizzes with fair regularity.
I give weekly recitations, to review for the next quiz or exam. Almost all students attending them improve, some by 2-3 letter grades, but only 3-5% of the students bother to come Very few of my colleagues offer recitations, but those who do report similar attendance.
My door is always open for my students and I take whatever time they need. Most students do not come for help because it requires effort and commitment on their part. Colleagues report the same. Tutors report that students routinely skip their appointments, and those who come are often unprepared.
Mark Staszkiewicz asked on the IHE blog how many of my grades had been disputed. In six years I have not had a single one. I think that part of the reason is that scientific disciplines involve material that is easy to grade objectively. However, it is also because of my course management. I make it extremely clear on Day 1, how everything will be done in the course and then I do not deviate from it. I write my students a letter explaining my teaching philosophy and why I teach the way I do. When all is said and done, the students may not like their grades, but almost without exception, on the student evaluations, they indicate that they were treated fairly and respectfully. It is interesting that not infrequently, students who have done badly in my classes, return to see me when they have personal problems or need advice. That is because they know I will be compassionate, but I will level with them.
I teach mostly freshman courses. The attrition rate among freshman is very high (~35% if I am not mistaken) campus-wide. My courses are not really hard, compared to many that I took, and in the one senior-level course I taught, of six students, three got grades of A or A-, one got a B, one got a C+, and the last received an Incomplete. Also, all of my research students, save one, have earned grades of A. All of those A’s were credited to another professor who nominally “taught” the research course, while other mentors did all the work. The Dean did not report either of these matters because they would have invalidated her case. Overall, the failure rate in my classes is ~65%, excluding the research students mentioned above. I am not happy with that rate, but I can only do my part.
Four brief anecdotes are instructive. In my first semester at NSU, I was assigned to teach a senior-level biochemistry course, arguably one of the most challenging courses in the chemistry curriculum. On the first exam I gave a number of short essay questions. One of these gave a brief paragraph of explanatory material in non-technical language. Almost no students attempted to answer it. When one of them came to my office, I asked her to help me understand the problem. “Oh, Dr. Aird,” she laughed, “just too many words!” If the students could not cope with a single paragraph in plain English, how could they possibly handle the 1,400-page, extremely technical textbook selected by the department?
In spring, 2005, two young women came to my office with drop slips for me to sign. They were really mad at me! One declared angrily, “In high school we didn’t have to do anything to get As and Bs!” I replied gently, “Well, Amber, you’re not in high school anymore.” Her public school education had taught her that she was entitled to As and Bs without effort.
Last semester, one young man who failed my course, but should have passed it easily, was talking with some of his classmates shortly after midterm. His friends were irritated and astonished that they had actually gotten Fs. He was unsympathetic, saying, “Well, ya idiots, what did ya expect? You’ve been gettin Fs on the quizzes all semester long!” What is important is their expectation. They knew they had flunked all the assessments, but in the past they had always received passing grades anyway. They couldn’t believe it wasn’t going to happen in college as well. Because someone else had always assumed responsibility for their deficiencies, it had never occurred to them that they had any responsibility whatever. This is what public education and many university pedagogues are teaching them.
One of my quiz questions asked, “Explain how each of the following properties of water reflects its dipolar nature: specific heat capacity, high heat of vaporization, unique density behavior, high surface tension, capacity to dissolve salts, sugars, proteins, and other polar materials.” A student responded, “Water reflects its dipolar nature of specific heat capacity is due to the molecules that speeds of the capacity of dipolar nature reations within enzymes portions carries out the excess volume of heat giving off High heat of vaporization which molecules reations increases the rate at which the water density pressure builds up that causes vaporization to appear. Unique density behavior with water has to deal with the way density carries its nature with forming the ways it deals with water itself.” At the risk of sounding like Dave Barry, I am not making this up. If any of my critics would like to explain this response to me, scientifically or grammatically, please do!
I am very fond of many of my students because they are fine young men and women. Indeed, there have been quite a few that I would be pleased to claim as my own because of their decency and rectitude, their poor academic performance notwithstanding. However, I estimate that only about 20% of NSU students are actually ready for college, a percentage, incidentally, supported by national polls. Among that 20% are some who could compete with the best in the nation. However, many have only elementary school language skills. Those cannot understand what they hear, nor what they read, and a much larger percentage are incapable of writing a grammatically correct sentence. I can teach them biology, or chemistry, or even English, but I cannot teach these at a college level and overcome 12 years of defective public education in a single semester. My colleagues who pass substantially larger numbers of students are not better educators, as the university would fain claim; they are merely compensating for their students’ failures, to protect themselves. I cannot fault them entirely.
There is only one remedy for this mess. Teachers and professors need to stick together and to raise the bar. Our students need it. Our country needs it, and it is the only way we educators can maintain self-respect. I am not hopeful.
— Steven D. Aird May 19, 10:49 AM #
Dr Aird: I have been keeping an eye on this discussion thread and thank you for your very full comments, which should help to answer many of the questions that have been raised above. I am a certified teacher and I have taught for twelve years in schools and universities in the UK and the US, including four universities in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana. In my experience the students you describe are typical. The last institution at which I taught was the worst case because it had an ‘open enrolment’ policy. There were no admission requirements, which must explain in large part why the majority of students that I taught were shockingly deficient. Of course there are many reasons why students fail at college but in my opinion you are right to stress that you cannot “overcome 12 years of defective public education in a single semester”.
— Relieved Professor May 20, 07:06 AM #
Perhaps the best educational message that we can offer at the college level is that, yes, you are going to have to work to get credit—and it will be a lot more work than you are used to doing.
Credit will not be given to you. You MUST earn it. If we fail to convey that message, and if the students fail to learn THAT, then we will indeed have failed as teachers.
As I look back at the three years I have spent at Livingstone, I am increasingly struck by the naivete of the students, who have no idea of just how strong an intellectual commitment going to college requires. They are told they must have a college degree, and they really do want that degree, but do they want the education that the degree is supposed to signify? I see little sign of it.
There is indeed a sense of entitlement these days where degrees are concerned. Above all, I hear administrators saying more and more about how we have to graduate more students.
Well, actually, we do NOT have to graduate more and more students. We are only responsible for facilitating their education, but even on that we are going to have to have the cooperation of the students—and the administrators.
As for graduation rates, I am beyond caring. I am not in the diploma business. I teach. The student learns if he or she wants. I bend over backwards to help. No one comes for help. That is the sad reality.
Coming to class would be a good first indication that one wants help. Most of my students simply want to be left alone. They do not want my help, or anything I have to offer. Nor is the situation stable. It is much worse than it was two years ago. We now have a president who brings us more and more students—but weaker and weaker students. His VPAA is the wife of a friend. THE SITUATION IS BEYOND BELIEF, AND, IF YOU DON’T BELIEVE IT, THEN YOU ARE PROBABLY DISPOSED TO BASH PROFESSOR AIRD without first finding out the facts.
I want to be left alone to teach. I will truck no administrative interference. I do not want to be harassed for pointing out unsound practices, as I have been. I do not want any more of my classes canceled arbitrarily because the president cannot control his propensity to speak long and hard about anything and everything. I do not want to hear how he has pulled himself up by his bootstraps. I do not want to have to hear him say ever again, “If the students are not learning, then the teachers are not teaching.”
I do not wish to see him summoning us, the faculty, to two weeks of useless workshops EVER AGAIN. (It has happened twice now, most recently just after finals earlier this month.)
I am tired of it, and I am especially tired of hearing that it is my fault if the students are not learning. It is NOT. I offer my best. Most of them do not want it where I currently teach, and the administrators do not really care about quality teaching. They are concerned about the appearance of academic success, as they are concerned about the APPEARANCE of everything.
Given the choice between the appearance of success and real success, many administrators at some colleges would choose appearances every time. They are public relations and fund-raising types. Reality does not matter. Only image does, and some of them are gifted at building images, and even at building buildings—but they care little about what is actually happening in the realm of the mind.
We have a Livingstone-Norfolk State connection, and it is a strong one. It is also a sickening one. I do not want to talk about it, except to say that it reflects a culture that is not the norm at all HBCUs—nor was it always the culture here at Livingstone. The culture has changed since I got here.
There is a culture out there that is not Morehouse, nor Johnson C. Smith. It is the culture of a kind of academic hucksterism promoted by phonies, and it sells—until the places lose their accreditation and go under, while the students carry away massive debts, with or without degrees.
Something has to be done, and most of the world has no idea just how bad the problem is, because these types of colleges are not at all like the colleges most persons work at. It is not a black-white issue. It is an issue that transcends race, but wherever there are under-prepared students, there is the greatest likelihood of abuse. When under-prepared students are the target of recruitment, then rest assured that there is abuse.
How does one begin to solve the problem? Give every prospective employee or prospective grad or law student from such schools a simple essay on the spot. It will not be difficult to pick out the products from phony outfits when you put the diplomas and the essays side by side.
WHAT IS HAPPENING IS CRIMINAL, AND THE CRIMINALS ARE GETTING AWAY WITH IT! It will not always be so.
I said it before and I will say it again: when the modal grade is “A” for students who think that two lines make an essay, then something is dreadfully wrong.
YES, IT IS THAT BAD. When I say “two lines,” I mean TWO LINES! Incredible, yes, but verifiable. Just ask them to write an essay for YOU, as a prospective employer or admissions committee member, and you will see.
What is going to happen? I am waiting to see myself, before I make my own move, but I better see something soon, because I am tired of being summoned to either the president’s office or the office of this or that vice president—and I AM READY TO LAY MY CARDS DOWN.
I am just waiting to see whether there is going to be any motion “upstairs.”
If there is no motion, then I will move, but I will not leave. I have chosen to make a stand here. If I go down like Aird, then we need congressional investigations of misuse of federal monies. There are a lot of things that can be done. Let’s brainstorm on this. . . .
Do I know my business? I walked into my first college classroom in 1974 as a teaching assistant, and I have taught at quite a range of schools in terms of quality, but I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS.
Landrum Kelly, Ph.D.
Chair, Department of History and Political Science, Livingstone College
— Landrum Kelly May 22, 02:57 AM #