For the researchers who brought grade inflation to light, it was a long, hard slog to get any co-operation from the institutes, writes GRAINNE FALLER
FOR THREE RESEARCHERS From IT Tralee – Simon Quinn, Brendan Guilfoyle and Martin O’Grady – the investigation into grade inflation at third level is welcome vindication of their fight to bring this issue to public attention. It has been a long journey for the Network for Irish Educational Standards, during which their research work was obstructed and frustrated.
“We’d talk about the falling standards of students over coffee,” says Quinn, “but there was no research that existed to back up our suspicions. We decided to look into it and see what we could find.”
In 2007, after six months of chasing figures, some basic research seemed to bear out what they were witnessing in the lecture halls. “When the figures were collated they were quite startling,” says Quinn. “We had expected to see grade inflation. We didn’t think that it would be so extreme.”
When the researchers tried to obtain fuller information the following year, they came up against some significant opposition. “Initially we wrote letters simply asking for the information,” says Quinn. “You would expect . . . that academic institutions would facilitate us in this kind of academic research.”
The universities and ITs were “less than enthusiastic”, according to Quinn. IT Blanchardstown and IT Tallaght claimed they did not have the resources to supply the information.
Dr Joseph Ryan, registrar of Athlone IT wrote: “I’m open to supporting a . . . study into the matter but would not wish to see a series of public pronouncements that can serve only to undermine confidence in a system of education that, whatever its faults, has served this country well.”
Dún Laoghaire Institute, Limerick IT and Dundalk IT all stated that the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (Hetac) was the place to go for the information.
When the researchers contacted Hetac they were told: “To facilitate your request and process this data for a different purpose, Hetac must secure the permission of the registrars .”
When Hetac sought permission of the registrars, 10 IT registrars refused permission, two did not respond, and just one of the 13 institutions – IT Tralee – gave permission for the researchers to access the figures.
“We did eventually get the information, but there was an awful lot of back and forth, particularly with some of the institutes of technology,” says Quinn. “We went down the freedom of information process and appealed decisions. It was a long process.”
More baffling for the researchers was the complete lack of acknowledgement or response to their published research from the universities and ITs.
“It was extremely frustrating,” Quinn says. “This information about grade inflation wasn’t anecdotal. The study was extensive and based in facts and figures. There was almost an attitude of, ‘How dare you be negative?’ We were quite exasperated by the attitude to our research.”
One academic sent the network a response that indicated considerable pressure to inflate grades.
“I have just read your paper on grade inflation. It has made me resolve to stand firm at Examination Boards not to cave in to pressures to increase students marks . . .
“In my experience as a lecturer I have seen considerable pressure to inflate grades . . . The focus from institutes is to offer a ‘pass degree’ rather than to fail . . . borderline . . . students.”
“The problem is that many educators cannot be seen to publicly enter this debate, as they may get into hot water with their employers.”
Grade inflation wasn’t a problem that was being raised by the researchers alone. As far back as 2004, employers had expressed concerns.
A submission by Forfás to the Department of Education’s Your Education System review stated that “there is a significant body of opinion, both in the enterprise community and among academics, that standards have declined in the Irish education system over the past decade . . . This trend must be strongly countered.”
It seems strange that research such as this had not been done before, even within individual institutions. Academic institutions have teaching and learning units, whose job it is to undertake educational research. “Obviously they aren’t doing this sort of thing,” says Quinn.
