James E. Prather

A Longitudinal Study of Grades in 144 Undergraduate Courses.

This paper describes the trends in course-by-course grading at a large public urban university over a recent six-year period. To determine if systematic grade inflation was occurring, the study analyzed 144 individual undergraduate courses. Multiple linear regressions were fitted to more than 125,000 final course grades by courses. Most course grading patterns showed little evidence of systematic and homogeneous change over time. Hence, the increasing cumulative GPA for undergraduates at the institution studied was not caused by a general relaxing of grading standards. Rather, the supposition is that more students are moving away from traditional curricula into courses and degree programs which they find have grading standards reflecting their abilities and/or interests.

A study of the relationships between faculty characteristics, subject field, and course grading patterns

This paper describes an analysis of faculty grading patterns at a large public university. It introduces a methodology to both normalize and stabilize grade data by courses. Using this method, we report on grading patterns for over 1,000 teachers, giving more than 40,000 grades in approximately 2,000 courses. The findings indicate that the academic field of the course is strongly related to the types of grades assigned. Courses emphasizing quantitative and factual learning tend to have assigned lower grades. The higher grades are found in career-oriented courses, such as teacher training. This was shown in separate analyses for undergraduate and graduate courses. For undergraduate courses, lower grades were found in freshman and sophomore courses as compared with junior and senior courses. The academic credentials and personal characteristics of the teachers were only moderately related to grades. Temporary teachers had higher grades in their courses, but such personal characteristics as sex, marital, and minority status were not systematically related to grades given. There was a tendency in undergraduate courses that as class size increased, the proportion of higher grades decreased.

Program Evaluation Using a Follow-Up Telephone Survey The Effects of a Prior Letter

Program evaluation requiring postprogram follow-up with clients is often complicated by systematic inability to contact certain types of clients. In-person contact can be extremely expensive and mail follow-up is prone to error attributable to nonresponse. Problems in contacting and obtaining the cooperation of former clients often bring evaluation results into question. Employing a split-half design, this research examines the effects of prior letters, in conjunction with a follow-up telephone survey, on three factors affecting evaluation results: contact rates, response rates, and respondent cooperation. Contrary to what would be expected based upon the results of experimentation with general population surveys, the prior letter did not increase contact, improve cooperation, or decrease refusals. Discussion focuses on the reasons for the differences between the findings of this experiment and previous research and suggests that additional procedures for increasing contact in postprogram follow-up surveys be examined.

Economy of Scale or Bureaucratic Entropy? Implications for Metropolitan Governmental Reorganization

This article examines the relationship between number of city employees and city popu lation in order to assess arguments advanced by proponents of metropolitan governmental reform. It is found that bureaucracy size increases faster than population, implying dis economies of scale. Bureaucratic entropy is suggested as an explanation for the relation ship between bureaucracy size and city population, and several alternative explanations are examined. Variations in the mix of city services, demands for services, and the quality of services provided do not seem to be satisfactory alternatives to the entropy thesis. The analysis indicates that wholesale consolidation or enlarging of local governments would not increase economy and efficiency in service delivery. Reforms aimed at decentralizing labor-intensive functions and services while retaining or increasing centralization of capital-intensive functions and services are suggested.