Measurement and Desert: Why Grades Cannot Be Deserved

One of the ubiquitous and uncontroversial concepts regarding desert—each in strange discourse and within the philosophical literature on desert—is the concept that college students can, and infrequently do, deserve some grade or different. And moreover (sometimes), their grade is deserved on the idea of their efficiency within the class, broadly talking. A scholar that performs effectively on their exams, completes all of their assignments, is energetic at school dialogue, and many others., deserves a greater grade than a scholar who performs poorly within the class, for instance. Or so the thought goes.

Now, one can think about numerous moral arguments towards this concept. Maybe, as an illustration, college students don’t deserve grades as a result of the observe of grading, itself, is dangerous, or as a result of they battle with the correct goals of an excellent instructional system. However the case I wish to make right here is that, whether or not or not these moral arguments succeed or not, there’s a extra fundamental, metaphysical downside with the concept that college students deserve grades. And so, what I wish to argue is that grades can’t be deserved, no matter whether or not the observe of grading, in the end, is justifiable. (And so, if the argument is nice, then when a scholar insists that they deserve a greater grade, lecturers have a really obnoxious, however correct, response obtainable to them: “I’m sorry however that’s inconceivable.” At this level, the scholar can merely reply that they ought to get a greater grade, during which case, I’ve nothing to supply.)

The essential downside stems from what I name the “Measurement Constraint” on desert, which is, roughly, the concept that a factor can’t be each what’s deserved, and a measure of how a lot one deserves it:

Measurement Constraint: If M is a measurement of a desert foundation B, M can’t be

deserved on the idea of B.

I’ll argue for the Measurement Constraint shortly, however for now, let me merely clarify and illustrate the thought. A “desert foundation” is a few truth about, or property of, somebody that explains why they deserve one thing. So, as an illustration, if Walter (my cat) deserves a deal with for being such an excellent boy, his being such an excellent boy is the desert foundation for his deserving the deal with. What the measurement constraint entails is that if I had some machine which may measure simply how good a boy Walter is—let’s say the machine reads “100% good boy”—then Walter couldn’t deserve the studying of “100% good boy” on the idea of his being such an excellent boy. He deserves the deal with, however not the studying. 

Or contemplate one other context the place we measure so as to decide what one deserves. Suppose you’re competing in a dash, and also you end the race in 10.5 seconds, which finally ends up being the quickest time. In that case, we’ll say that you just deserve the highest prize. The Measurement Constraint doesn’t battle with this concept. However the query shouldn’t be whether or not you deserve the prize, however whether or not you deserve that the clock learn “10.5” on the idea of the pace of your run. Intuitively, this appears unusual to me. You would possibly fail to get what you deserve if the clock is inaccurate, and the occasion managers might need skilled obligations to attempt to measure your time precisely, however none of this is able to present that you just deserve that the clock learn “10.5 seconds.”

Intuitions apart, the Measurement Constraint entails that you don’t deserve that the clock present your time on the idea of your run—it measures the pace of your run, which is the idea on which you would possibly deserve a prize. Now, the purpose right here is that the analog to grades shouldn’t be the prize, however the clock. In spite of everything, grades are, basically, measures of efficiency (the place “efficiency” will be understood as broadly as one likes, to incorporate no matter we’d wish to measure with a grade). However grades are taken to be deserved on the idea of scholar efficiency, which is exactly what they’re a measure of. Plug this into the Measurement Constraint, and we get the outcome that grades can’t be deserved on the idea of scholar efficiency, as a result of they’re a measure of scholar efficiency.

To date, I’ve simply been illustrating the Measurement Constraint. Let me now really give an argument for it. There are two essential observations the argument requires. First, desert bases have an explanatory and evidentiary perform. If somebody asks, “Why ought to I feel that Walter deserves the deal with?” I’ll instantly reply by interesting to the desert foundation: “As a result of he’s such an excellent boy!” The desert foundation each explains, and is our greatest proof that somebody deserves one thing. Subsequent, we have to contemplate the evidentiary function of measurement in circumstances the place we’re measuring a desert foundation. Within the context of a dash, for instance, we use a clock as a result of it’s our greatest proof regarding the pace with which somebody’s dash. Equally, we measure a scholar’s efficiency with a grade as a result of as soon as we grade, that’s our greatest proof for the standard of the scholar’s efficiency (whether or not or not it’s on one thing like an examination, or a complete course). 

Now, suppose, for reductio, {that a} scholar deserves an A in a course. She deserves this, in fact, on the idea of her glorious efficiency within the class. However how do we all know that her efficiency was so glorious? We glance to her course grade—in any case, that’s our measurement of the standard of her efficiency within the class. However then, provided that her glorious efficiency is our greatest proof that she deserves an A, and her grades are our greatest proof that her efficiency is superb, we arrive at the concept that our greatest proof for considering that the scholar deserves an A is that she obtained an A. However this doesn’t seem to be an excellent justification in any respect. The truth that the scholar will get an A would solely be good proof that she deserves an A, it might appear, if we already assume that she obtained what she deserves. However we will’t make that assumption right here, as a result of we are attempting to determine if she obtained what she deserves. Thus, we’ve got a contradiction: the truth that a scholar obtained an A each is and isn’t good proof for considering that she deserves an A. I suggest, then, that we should always reject the concept that grades are deserved, and settle for the measurement constraint, which we will get by generalizing from the above argument.

Supposing this argument is appropriate, and college students can’t deserve grades, two questions stay: First, if college students can’t deserve grades, then why is it so pure to suppose that they will? Second, does it matter if college students can’t deserve grades?

As to the primary query, I feel the reason is solely that, given the stakes which are concerned with grades, grades can fairly naturally really feel like a reward or a punishment, that are paradigm objects of desert. When a instructor provides a scholar a nasty grade, they’re, fairly often a minimum of, fairly actually harming a scholar each within the lengthy and quick time period, whereas an excellent grade is a profit to a scholar within the quick and long run. Even worse, the goodness or badness of the grade (and thus the magnitude of the obvious reward or punishment) is proportional to the goodness or badness of the standard of the scholar’s efficiency. This type of proportionality is a characteristic that we frequently see in different contexts the place a reward or punishment is regarded as deserved, as with legal punishment, or the desert of earnings. It’s fairly pure, then, that getting a nasty grade ought to really feel like a punishment, and getting an excellent grade ought to really feel like a reward.

Now, if college students can’t deserve grades, does this matter for the observe of grading, itself? Strictly, no. All that follows is that we should always chorus from saying {that a} scholar deserves some grade or different. It might probably (and plausibly is) nonetheless the case that college students must be given grades which precisely mirror their efficiency.

Alternatively—and right here I’m speculating—I’d prefer to hope that eradicating desert-talk from the context of grading would subtly encourage a extra sane and wholesome view of grades. Being deserving of one thing is, in fact, an ethical property, and thus, it’s pure to suppose that deserving some grade or different is a mirrored image of some deep a part of one’s character. And so it is perhaps that desert-talk within the context of grading contributes to a scholar’s internalizing that they’re good or unhealthy or distinctive or poor at some topic space (or at college typically), the place these judgments are supposed to mirror some static facet of their mental or ethical character. I take it as a right that these sorts of judgments are usually unhealthy, each for individuals who get good grades, however particularly for individuals who don’t. However in truth, grades are usually not rewards or punishments, however are merely measures of efficiency, the place one’s efficiency will be affected by any variety of variables, most of which aren’t mounted information about one’s character or mental skills.