The top two percent

I had dinner tonight with a friend of mine. I will call her Ellen. Ellen holds a Ph.D., and is a professor at a local university. Her problem, at the beginning of the night, was that she was frustrated. It seems that her class of 25 students was unable to step up and perform at the level she expects, which is to say, they're all typically lazy college students willing to do the very least amount of work in order to get the grade they want. Ellen's issue, therefore, is that she wants to validate her existance through the performance of her students.

After some back and forth bantering, I had what I consider to be one of my 5 strokes of brilliance in this life. Perhaps, I explained, it's not about what those students in the classroom learn. Perhaps it is the role of the professor to think those thoughts that the majority of students simply cannot comprehend, due to either inability or sheer laziness. Most students, whether at the high school or college level, will only do what is necessary to get the grade they want. No more, no less.

And isn't this really one of the biggest problems with the American education system? The grade is all important. It's not about what you've learned, or what you understand about your chosen field. The only thing that matters is the almighty grade. To most students, this is the case. Even to the "A" students, this is often the case. It is very rare that a student is truly posessed of that all-encompassing hunger for knowlege and understanding. It's actually quite easy to see in a standard distribution.

The old saying used to be that "not everyone goes to college". That's no longer the case. Everyone has the potential to go to college. The question is whether they capitalize on that opportunity and experience. Statistically speaking, only two percent of them will do so. And what a sad, sad statement that is.

In a standard distribution, 68.2% of the population is within a single standard deviation of the mean, either positively or negatively. However, teachers desparately want students to be better than they are, and so the students are given the benefit of the doubt. This leads to grade inflation, and students who really are not in that top 2% are awarded grades as though they were.

The truth is, 68.2% of any given population should simply be the C students - average, and not performing above or below the expectation. 17 out of every 25 students should be receiving a grade of C - because they deserve it. Along the same vein, 13.6%, or 3.4 students out of 25, should receive a D, with a similar number of students receiving a B. At the end of the day, only 1 student should receive an A...this represents the top 2.11%. This carries over to our hypothetical discussion of performance in general.

In any given semester, only two percent of the class is going to be truly outstanding. The rest are going to put in the effort needed to get their desired grade and move along as if nothing happened. It does not matter how invested the instructor is, or how hard the instructor pushes - the student will learn only what he/she wants to learn. And the truly invested teacher will be driven mad by this fact alone: not everyone in your class actually cares.

Perhaps, I reasoned over a series of Long Island iced teas, it's not a question of how to get all students to grow and expand their thought processes - but perhaps it's a question of how do you as the professor grow and expand your intellect and understanding, and allow your students to witness your brilliance.

So instead of focusing on how to make all students achieve this lofty goal of actually caring about the subject, perhaps the role of the teacher is to truly be an expert in their field, ever growing in their own understanding of the topic - and then allowing that top two percent to study at the feet of the master. Those who want to learn will seek you out, and all others are truly just there for the letter grade.

I have the utmost respect for my friend Ellen. She is witty, fun to be around, and significantly more than "moderately attractive". But aside from all of that she is passionate about her field, and about her chosen role in life. She is a professor, and she is in a field where she can challenge students to think more, to comprehend more, and to in essence, be more. I envy her, with all of those fresh and maleable minds flocking to the feet of the master.

The challenge is in identifying the top two percent, and guiding them to be the next generation...regardless of the field.