I\'m trying to understand a question about grading curves. Let\'s pretend like w
ID: 3247641 • Letter: I
Question
I'm trying to understand a question about grading curves. Let's pretend like we have a class where 30% of the class gets A's, 50% gets B's, 10% get C's and 10% get D/F. In a 300 person class, lets pretend like we have an individual who is the worst student. As in they got the lowest grade in the class on the midterm . This student wants to now know how they can still get a B. From my understanding, they would have to take themselves from the first percentile to the 20th percentile. If the midterms are worth the same, they have to land in the 40th percentile on the next test.Is it really that simple to give someone a percentile rank and then just average to get to 20. or is the process more complicated to know class ranking?
Explanation / Answer
No, simply by saying that getting 40th percentile in the next test will assure a B grade is wrong. This would be possible only if the scores of all other students in the class remains exactly the same in the next test. For example, if the students got A in first test comes last in the second, he might still be having a sum of score more than the student who came last in first test and scored 40 percentile in second. But your assumption will fit the condition if all other students score exactly the same or at least their percentiles remain the same in the second test. But if all the low scoring students of first test improve their score and all the high scoring students score less, then, the perentile cannot be 40 so that the student will get a B