Shouldn't We All Be Certified?

As an educator, I have long been concerned with the process of grading. Not the least of which was my concern for grade inflation. I have seen some creative approaches to this problem. One I would mention is an approach by an institution to evaluate faculty by the grades they give. The standard is that the grade point average of all students in the class must be no greater than 3.2. This pretty well forces the instructor to grade on the curve. While that might not be a bad thing, society has pretty well told academic institutions that we should not fail our students.. We have a tough time with failure.

In an opinion piece date May 6, 2009, Walter Williams of George Mason University stated that due to grade inflation, possessing a college degree often does not mean much in terms of basic skills. College graduates, although gaining ever rising grade point averages, cannot pass basic skill tests. He recommended that employers deflate grades of applicants by one letter and interpret a C grade as an F. (Williams)

I would make another suggestion. There should be a certification for the basic skills needed to perform as an entry level employee. Who cares what the GPA is if the person can’t form a complete sentence, solve a basic math problem, or interpret data? For some reason, educational institutions want us to believe that a degree means something, but they seem to want to give one to anyone that can pay the tuition.

In order to get my Ph.D. I was required to take a battery of tests on educational theory and practice and then compose and defend a dissertation. My grade point average mattered for nothing if I couldn’t pass the comprehensive exams and convince five committee members of the validity of my research and conclusions. That to me is certification to the max.

Shouldn’t we all be certified?