DFW Rates and Instruction
“DFW” in the world of higher education stands for grades of D, F, and Withdrawal. Savannah State University is apparently taking “DFW” rates—that is, the total percentage of students in a class who get a D, or an F, or who withdraw—above 25 percent “as prima facie evidence of poor performance by the instructor,” as reported by Matt Reed, in Inside Higher Ed.
Dr. Reed is a community college dean in New Jersey. “In a more perfect world,” he writes, “it would go without saying that this is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad idea. But we have the world we have, so I’ll say it, publicly, in writing, with my real name.” Please read the piece.
Of course we knew it was coming to this, with all the pressure placed upon instructors to pass more students. It will be interesting to see if SSU’s explicit endorsement of grade quotas will catch on as a new normal. Many community college leaders in Texas and elsewhere have indicated that poor grades mean poor instruction—what else could it be?—but they generally find other ways to phrase it. We should probably be thankful that the idea is out there someplace as official policy. Transparency makes discussion more focused.
Grades on transcripts are the coin of our realm. If currency is perceived as counterfeit, it becomes worthless. All you have to do is look at the level of academic preparation in average high school graduates to see the abandonment of meaningful standards in operation. It’s not the teachers’ fault. We are led down this particular rabbit hole by top leadership, all with the best of intentions.
If your grades in summer sessions are higher than in the fall and spring, is there something about the warmth of summertime making you teach better? No, it’s because your summer students include a lot of kids who are home from selective universities. It’s a whole other profile.
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