Does Duke do grade deflation?

SBR
Sat, 03 Apr 2010 11:56:35 +0000

In most of my classes, curving leads to lower grade cutoffs and perhaps a left skewed distribution in that a majority of the grades are in the upper half. One reason for this is that many students who are in danger of failing will withdraw. Frequently, rather than punish the students who are left, these students’ grades will be prorated and factored into curve calculations by the professor, leading to the majority of grades ending up higher than the median and many “phantom grades” populating the lower half.