Contextualized transcripts? A counter to grade inflation?

Parents Forum
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<p>UNC-Chapel Hill has been working on a plan (since 2009) to “contextualize transcripts”.</p>

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<p><a href=“Folt postpones contextualized transcripts over student concerns -”>Folt postpones contextualized transcripts over student concerns -;

<p>So, if you earn an A, but the class average was an A, it wouldn’t be as impressive as earning an A when the class average was a B or C. </p>

<p>A good idea?</p>

<p>EDIT: A link in the above article shows an example transcript:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.dailytarheel.com/multimedia/6609”>http://www.dailytarheel.com/multimedia/6609&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Not exactly a new concept; Cornell and Columbia have been doing something similar for years. Whether it is good ot not, of course, is up for debate.</p>

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<p>The schedule point component is new to me, and a great idea for classes like an advanced math class where the average grade may be high, but the students are very strong.</p>

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<p>Medical schools have been providing this kind of information for a long time, to help residency programs understand what “honors” “high pass” etc means in each particular class or rotation at a particular school. These reports are incredibly helpful for interpreting the transcript.</p>

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<p>I live in Canada. High schools and universities have been putting class averages or class medians on transcripts forever. On dd’s last report card, she got the same grade in a couple of courses, both A’s. In one course, she was 15 percentage points above the class average. In another class, 10 percentage points below the class average. Big difference. </p>

<p>I’m surprised that it’s not commonly placed on transcripts in the US. Don’t university admissions people work with the grade distribution data from a prospective student’s high school? </p>