[jimhefferon]

I think the article's contention is that on-the-ground teachers expect that two people coming out of a high school Algebra II with C+'s are similar. (Certainly that is my working hypothesis.) The article argues that it ain't so.

[sanderjd]

That's interesting that it's your working hypothesis! I have never thought grades correlated very well with anything at all. It's interesting to hear from someone who does not intuitively view it that way.

[jjaredsimpson]

The sets of dice which have equal sums will often have different constituent values.

[jimhefferon]

The article's contention is that on-the-ground teachers expect that two people coming out of a high school Algebra II with C+'s are similar.

[arjun810]

This is exactly what we think is a fairly common attitude -- thanks for stating it so clearly! It has ramifications both within a single class and when you think about how prerequisite and dependent classes are structured.

[jimhefferon]

How do you think it could be done differently? Student need to be judged for who moves ahead. That is, I have people in Calc I and I have to decide who moves on to Calc II. I can't send the next instructor a poset of their competence. I cannot require that everyone be competent at everything. I wonder what is your proposal?