GRADE EXPECTATIONS Last semester I performed a modest and not especially scientific experiment in two sections of WR 201, a second-semester required writing course. The idea arose in some informal discussions, early in the term, in— which students expressed some interest in “self-fulfilling prophecies’—especially with reference to class perfor- mance. Method At the beginning of the semester, each student was asked to write down two grades: the one s/he wanted, and the one s/he expected. Students were pledged not to change these anticipations and expectations during the term. At the last class meeting, students submitted these grades on identified index cards; these were sealed in an envelope by one student in each class, and I pledged not to open the envelopes until my grades were entered and recorded. Results With N = 41, approximately half (20) of the students received precisely the grade they expected; the range was A to C. None of the students in this group received or expected a D or an F. For the rest, the expectancy curve assumed a classic bell shape: one student overestimated his grade by two units, and nine students overes- timated their grades by one unit; ten students underestimated their grades by one unit, and one student un- derestimated his grade by two units. When desired grades were compared to actual grades, the curve skewed as expected, but not as sharply as expected. Sixteen students got precisely the grade they wanted; these students all received either an A or a B. One student desired a grade three units higher than received; six students desired a grade two units higher than received; fifteen students desired a grade one unit higher than received; three students desired a grade one unit lower than received. ‘Comment Comparison of the expected to actual grades indicates that students seem to estimate their abilities fairly well; an alternative explanation is that the “self-fulfilling prophecy” phenomenon does in fact exist and students perform as they have been led to expect to perform. There was almost precisely as much underestimation as the reverse. a! Comparison of the desired to actual grades produced interesting results. Almost as many students received the grade they wanted as received the grade they expected. Only seven students wanted a grade two or more units higher than the one they earned. I am interested in the three students who wanted a grade lower than the one they received: I hope they will not be dissatisfied with the academic process! Summary A small sample of students in this second semester of an English Composition course indicated a good correlation between the grades they expected to receive and the grades they finally_earned; correlation between the desired grade and actual grade was higher than might have been expected. LAS COLLEG i \S COLLEGE Trudy Drucker VES [4 | | f Bergen Community College . For further information, contact the author at Bergen Community College, 400 Paramus Road, Paramus, NJ 07652. Suanne D. Roueche, Editor March 29, 1985, Vol. VII, No. 10 INNOVATION ABSTRACTS is a publication of the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development, EDB 348, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, (512) 471-7545. Subscriptions are available to nonconsortium members for $35 per year. Funding in part by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and Sid W. Richardson Foundation. Issued weekly when classes are in session during fall and spring terms and monthly during the summer. «) The University of Texas at Austin, 1985 Further duplication is permitted only by MEMBER institutions for their own personnel. ISSN O199-106X