Century World Affairs Essay Example for Free

Century World Affairs Essay The Caribbean Island of Cuba became a republic after its liberation from Spain at the hands of the USA. American presence, both in military, financial and diplomatic terms however continued as a means of providing stability and solvency to the island nation. The Cuban President’s were incompetent and unpopular with the general populace, thus, producing revolt. From 1925 onwards, although technically still a democratic republic, the country became an elite dictatorship with an army officer named Fulgencio Batista, having seized control of the Cuban army, pulling the strings from behind the curtains. The government remained corrupt and incompetent with a rising sense of resentment amongst the general population on their state of affairs. Following 1940, he was the official President of the country until his departure from office in 1944. In 1952, he seized power again and ruled by decree until 1955 when he was elected President in an election with only himself as the candidate. To mark his victory, the new President issued an amnesty for political prisoners and opponents. One of the prisoners was Fidel Castro, who had been jailed for his involvement in the 26th of July incident in 1953, whereby he had led a column of men to ambush the Cuban military installations at the Moncada Barracks. Castro wasted no time in resuming his revolutionary activities and in 1956, accompanied by Argentine Ernesto â€Å"Che’ Guevara, launched an invasion of Cuba, setting sail with his followers from the coast of Mexico. Initially, the rebels were crushed by Batista’s forces but the well organized defense of the guerilla headquarters in the Sierra Maestra Mountains sent the wrong signals to Batista’s forces. Fledging support for the rebels also made matters worse with constant guerilla attacks against Cuban army installations and personnel leading to a fall in moral within the Cuban military ranks. With a demoralized army, Batista panicked as the prospect of a full fledged civil war became imminent and fled the country, allowing Castro to march easily into Havana and form government. America was deeply aligned with Batista’s government all along the way as American businesses had deep rooted interests in the island nation. There is evidence that Castro’s invasion of Cuba in 1956 could have been funded by the CIA, although these claims remain unsubstantiated. However, given the fact that Batista’s increasingly authoritarian actions were a cause of much embarrassment for democratic Washington, it could be believed that there might have been funding with an attempt to â€Å"tame† Batista and soften his dictatorial style. Major American involvement came in 1961, when Cuban exiles trained by the American CIA launched an invasion of Cuba to topple Castro’s government but were defeated at the hands of the Castro’s army within three days. This event came to be known as â€Å"the bay of pigs invasion†. The revolution survives till today having succeeded in the provision of idealistic social development targets, although the economy remains small and largely dependent on sugar cane exports. BOLIVIA After centuries of Spanish colonial rule, Bolivia gained independence and became an autonomous republic in 1825, having had to fight a bloody war with colonial Spain. While great leaps were made in socio economic development, the indigenous population remained poor and following the Chaco War (1932-1935) where the country suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Paraguay, resentment against the traditional ruling class grew further as the loss of life and territory was humungous. Following the Chaco war, The Revolutionary Nationalist Movement (MNR) was created. It represented the middle-class and had a Marxist approach modified for a nationalist and socialist agenda. The party was part of the military civilian regime of Gualberto Villarroel from 1943 to 1946 but was soon expelled from the country by opponent forces. The MNR then staged a brief and bloody civil war in 1949 against the Bolivian government but failed to make any breakthrough. It was in the elections of 1951, that the MNR finally hit jack pot. Having won the elections, it was denied the right to Presidency by the Opposition parties who claimed that the elections were rigged. Following months of protests, agitation and civil unrest, not to mention the various attempts by the MNR leadership to stage a coup, events took a new turn when MNR revolutionaries together with the La Paz police force took control of La Paz, the de facto capital of the country. What followed was a bloody, half hearted battle on the side of the Bolivian army. Mass deflections and poor moral gave the MNR a victory and a chance to form government. During its 12 years in power, the MNR was responsible for bringing universal adult suffrage to Bolivia, put land reforms into practice and promot rural education. The largest tin mines were nationalized in 1952. However, the most remarkable feat of the revolution was the fact that it incorporated the indigeneos population into the normal way of life. US policy remained largely neutral in Bolivia’s case. The US had war in the Korean Penensuila to deal with at that time. However, the overthrow of the MNR by the Bolivian army in 1964 is sometimes refered to as a CIA backed initiative, suggesting that American policy was largely anti MNR, even if neutral from the outset. CHILE Chile gained independence from colonial Spain in 1810, when it was established as an autonomus republic. It was in 1970 that Chile made history of sorts when it elected by a narrow margin a Marxist government under President Salvador Allende. Whereas all previous communist governments in the world had emerged from chaos and upheavel, the population of Chile legally elected their communist government. The government, however, comprised various left wing groups and Allende suffered from his inability to bring stakeholder conflict resolution. Allende’s problems intensified as he went along. His nationalization of major industries scared away private investment and created dissent amonsgt portions of the population. His problems were further aggravated by capitalist plots and US hostility, esp by the CIA. Allende still took matters at the forefront and continued reforms to the economy and the social sector, demanding international aid and recognition to help him implement his plan for the social and economic development of Chile along socialist lines. While he had many supporters, his opposition was also plenty. While Allende struggled to keep the pieces together in the face of internal coalition bickering, resent amongst portions of the population and US hostility, the opposition and the army merely hoped that Allende would lose the 1973 election and allow for a more centrist President to take power. However, this was not to be as Allende’s government survived the 1973 election, with millions amongst the population voting for Allende a second time. Following a constitutional crisis and widespread economic woes and allegations that Allende would soon turn the country towards dictatorship, the military intervened and overthrew his government on September 11, 1973. As a woman Revolutionary As a woman revolutionary in the Cuban revolution, one of the things I would have done differently would have been to secure closer ties with America for economic reasons, instead of becoming a tool in the cold war. Closer relations with America would not imply a compromise on Marxist principles. It would rather imply an act of logical sense as America is geograpgically close to Cuba and its products are in high demand there. Closer ties with the USSR and the East European Communist bloc make less sense as these countries were geographically distant. In a way, closer economic ties with the USSR have a higher opportunity cost. Appeal of Marxist thought in Latin America Marxist thought has had a profound effect on Latin American politics. As early as the 1920’s, Marxist movements were springing up in various countries. The reasons are simple. Rising poverty, deplorable conditions of the indigenous Indian population at the hands of the ruling class (of Spanish descent), economic and social backwardness and corrupt and/or incompetent governments forced people to seek alternative ways at addressing the issues at hand. It was these conditions that fueled Marxist thought in Latin America. For many countries, the concept of equality appealed further then ever as they saw the present system merely as an extension of the colonial system, with the capitalist mindset at play. Equality of income, rights and stature in society was a totally new concept and presented a welcome change from capitalist individualism. Lack of freedom under strict military governments and persecution at the hands of intelligence agencies as a result of political motivations made matters worse. Furthermore, Marxist ideology to seize the opportunity and to fight for ones right further fueled anger amongst an already resentful population. Revolution provided an opportunity for the hard pressed populace to vent their anger at incompetent governments. Another important factor at play was hostility to the USA. The USA was seen as a powerhouse of capitalism and US business interests in Latin America were no secret to the local population. The USA had done little to support the population against their incompetent leaders and the perception of the USA was thus that of a Capitalist agent bent on world dominance. The success of Marxism in the USSR esp. it’s powerful transition from a petty backward country to a world economic and military super power standing eye to eye with the USA provided much food for thought. With the exception of Cuba, communism never really found its deep roots in any country in Latin America. True the Allende Presidency in Chile, the MNR regime of Bolivia from 1952-1964 and the present day regime of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela are near examples, it is worth mentioning that these have been mere off shoots of Marxist theory, aiming to bring changes to the original theory and apply them in a more local context. Thus, generally, Marxist thought has provoked a more centre left approach amongst the population of Latin America. It is also worth mentioning that the impact of Marxist thought on Latin America has been so profound that many of the leading figures that the theory is synonymous with are derived from this region. Fidel Castro became a symbol of defiance for the Capitalist West. Allende is renowned for his foray into democracy through democratic elections, bring communism to a country through peaceful means Similarly, Che Guevara is today not only a symbol of communist ideals of using force to attain their goals but is also recognized as the undisputed founder of modern Guerrilla warfare, a tactic, still utilized by communists and non communists alike to this day in their fight against imperialism, capitalism and injustice. Works Cited Watson, Jack. Success in 20th Century World Affairs. London: John Murray, 1991. Adam Hart -Davis. World History – A visual guide. London: Longman , 2007. Smith, Alison. Mastering 20th Century World Affairs. London: Longman, 1991. Selected Readings from The History Channel Website www. Historychannel. com

No Steroids In Baseball :: Steroids Athletes Drugs Sports Essays Papers

In baseball there has always been a steroid issue. In the years since 2005 the problem has expanded. Many more players are now using these drugs to boost their performance. I think that steroids are products that should be absolutely illegal and no player at any time should be able to use them. Steroids are drugs commonly classified as anabolic, androgenic and corticosteroids. Corticosteroids like cortisone are drugs used to control inflammation, and do not build muscle. Anabolic steroids are used by athletes to bulk up and improve their performance. Anabolic steroids are synthetic hormones that cause the body to produce muscle and prevent muscle breakdown. Some athletes take steroids hoping that it will improve their ability to run faster, hit farther, jump higher, etc. Some people are not aware that anabolic steroids are a form of a drug. In the United States, it is against the law to use these steroids without a prescription. In many sports the issue of steroids has always been huge. Recently, mainly in baseball many players have been tested for steroids, and many are results are positive. These punishments have been mere warnings and suspensions to the players. The first player to ever admit to using any type of anabolic steroid was Ken Caminiti, he admitted to using steroids after he retired in his 14th season. He said that in his 9th season in the majors was when he was first influenced to take performance-enhancing drugs. He was a 3 time All-Star, won the MVP award in ‘96, got 3 gold gloves and 1 silver slugger award. After he retired in 2001 he finally admitted to using steroids. About three years later on October 10th 2004 Caminiti died due to a drug problem because of the use of steroids and cocaine. Caminiti had said that he made tons of mistakes. One being an alcoholic and the other using cocaine, But he did not say using steroids was a mistake. After Caminiti’s death many major league players were highly influenced, and stopped using steroids. But there are 30 major leagues teams and each team has 25 players on the active roster, 40 on the regular roster. So if you multiply 30 by 25 then you get 750 baseball players just on the active roster. So even if Caminiti scared a bunch of players there is a bunch of people who still use steroids. Some of the most recent players that have been convicted are giants slugger Barry Bonds, and New York Yankees 1st baseman Jason Giambi.

Negative Effects on Children Essay

Parents are too busy earning a living so that they can feed, cloth and educate their children. Consequently, they spend much time away from home and from their children. Since their parents are not around, the children have no choice but to spend their time in front of the television. It then goes without saying that children spend a lot of time in front of the television set where they are exposed to sex and violence. The question then is; does the exposure to sex and violence have negative effects on children? There is no simple or obvious answer. Some people may argue that the sex and violence on television does not have negative effects on children. This group of people believe that that the amount of sex and violence on television is not enough to warrant the change in the behavior of the children. More over, that some children are too young to understand the scenes on television, anyway. Others yet may argue that exposure to sex and violence, however limited it may be, does have negative effects on the children. It influences them to commit antisocial and sometimes immoral behavior. Nevertheless, it is important to analyze the issue critically before settling for any one conclusion. SUMMARY OF INFORMATION The media has both positive and negative influences on children. On the one hand, it provides their growing minds with information. On the other hand, it also provides them with negative information in the form of sexual and violent content that corrupts their young minds (Singer & Singer, 2002). According to Josephson, when children watch television, they understand the content in very different ways. How they understand the television content is highly influenced by their ages, their attention spans and also their life experiences (1995). Case in point. Think about children who are less than five years old and the kind of attention span they have. Yes they may take the time to sit in front of the television, but after a few minutes they will have gotten restless and moved on to some other activity, say playing with their toys or just running around. More over, even though these children may appear to be paying close attention to the scenes on television, it is very likely that in their minds, they may fail to register what the exact content of program is. It is only the mature, much older, children and adults who are capable of discerning program content. According to Cameron, this is because most children under that age of seven cannot easily tell fantasy and reality from each other. To them it’s all one and the same thing. At this stage of their development, it is hard for the children to understand the motives and justifications for the violence on television (2009). Children are unaware of whether the characters on television are real or not. Consequently, Bugs Bunny is just as real as the news anchor. Therefore, since the child does not know what is real and what is not, it is then possible then possible that they will also not be able to distinguish whether or not to copy what they see. It is for this reason that it would be incorrect to conclude with certainty that indeed all the sex and violence on television does have negative effects on children. It is only after the age of two that children begin to really pay attention on what is on television. As the children grow older, they learn to differentiate between what they see on television and reality. By the time these children grow into teenagers and adulthoods they shift their focus from television preferring to instead spend their time on other activities such as developing relationships with their peers of the opposite sex. Nevertheless, it is during adolescent that sex and violence on television may have a greater impact on the children. Those without guidance may try out what they see on television. Thus, it is important to note that it is the amount of time that a child spends in front of the television that really matters. According to Huesmann, children who consistently watch violent programs on television are more likely to be negatively affected than their counterparts who do not. Think about it. A child who frequently watches Monday night wrestling, which by all standards may be described as a violent program, is more likely to try wrestling with his friends. What is even more interesting is that the child may also attempt using the same wrestling behaviors, as seen on television, as a way of solving conflicts with others (2001). Thus, children who watch/are exposed to violence on television are more aggressive (Jonassen & Harris, 2003). According to Greenspan, in the process, these children are bound to injure not only themselves but others in the process (2007). Concurrently, children who habitually watched television programs raced with sexual content were much more likely to be involved than their counterparts who were not. According to Stein, frequent watching of sexual content on television was a big influence in teen pregnancy (2008). It is probable that the children may want to try out what they may have watched and the consequences in this case are teenage pregnancy. Nathanson & Cantor (1998), argue that at some point in time children will be exposed to television; it is unavoidable. It may not happen in their homes. Children may go visiting their friends where they may have to watch television meaning they may be exposed to sex and violence. It is therefore up to parents to protect their children from prolonged exposure to sex and violence on television. The simplest way of doing this is by restricting the number of hours that children actually spend in front of the television. Rather than letting children watch television after school, parents may choose to enroll their children in such after school activities such as soccer practice or ballet. Such activities are sure to keep children away from exposure to negative TV programs. Even when children are left under the care of a nanny, parents should leave strict instructions on just how much time their children should be allowed to watch television. It would also be important if the parents themselves were to change their television watching habits. In most instances, toddlers are heavily influenced by their parents (Josephson, 1995). Therefore, if the parents were to stay away from the television but instead partake in other activities, their children would follow suit. This way the parent’s would not have to worry about the television negatively affecting their children. Another way that parents may protect their children is by letting children watch television programs that have PG rating. The idea behind this concept is that parents should watch a television program first before they let their children. The main idea here is for the parents to determine the suitability of the program. PG also means that parents should watch the program with their children so that they may offset any negative effects. By all standards, PG rating is good and workable idea. However, according to Cameron, very few parents may want to do this (2009). SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH STUDY Most of the research that has been carried out has focused on the effects of television violence on children. However, according to Eyal & Kunkel, there has also been research whose aim was to show the association between the watching of sex on television and pregnancy among teenagers. The argument is that there is a relationship between the exposure of children and young adults and their expectations about sex and also their engagement in premarital sex (2008). One such study was published in 2008 in the Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics. According to Chandra, Martino, Collins, Elliot, Berry, Kanouse & Mlu, while there was increasing evidence (from previous studies and research) that the exposure of children/youth to sexual content on television is a big influence on their sexual attitudes and behavior, the studies were yet to establish the king of association that existed between the exposure of children to sexual content and adolescent/teen pregnancy. Accordingly, the study by Chandra et al, sought to establish this relationship (2008). The participants were some 2000 children between the ages of 12 and 17 years. These children were tracked for period of three years; till they were aged 15 and 20 years. The participants by interviewed by telephone. According to Chandra et al, the participants who constituted the sample were drawn from a list of house holds that had been commercially purchased. the researchers were careful to select the households that had a high probability of housing adolescents aged between the ages of 12 and 17 years. The final study sample therefore comprised of 57% males, 665 white, 12% Hispanics and 17% blacks all of them adolescents with an average age 18. 1 years. Survey, was the chosen research design. The survey was meant to measure and collect data on the television viewing habits of the adolescents, their knowledge of sexual matters, In addition, their behaviors and attitudes towards sex plus demographic and psychosocial variable, such as age, sex and education level which are known to predict sexual behavior, were also measured (2008). As a way of encouraging the participants to respond to the survey questions, the survey was conducted in private. From the survey, it was established that to a great extent the exposure of children/teens to sexual content on television was a big predictor of teen pregnancy. From the research, the teens that were exposed to high levels of sexual content on television were found to be twice as likely to experience pregnancy in the subsequent three years. The reverse was true for those who had lower levels of exposure. So, 25% of those who watched frequently watched sexual content on television were involved in a pregnancy. The number was high compared to that of the adolescents who watched the least; which stood at 12% (Chandra et al, 2008). The results of the study go to show that indeed habitual exposure to sexual content on television does have negative effects on children. From the study, most of the children who frequently watched sexual content on television were subsequently involved in a pregnancy compared to their counterparts who did not watch sexual content on the television much. Accordingly, there is a link between the exposure of children to sex and sexual content on television and the negative effects of pregnancy. Thus, it is clearly evident that sex, and even violence, on television has negative effects on children, more so when the exposure is frequent, prolonged and unsupervised. It is for this reason that the exposure of children and violence on television should be restricted. For instance, by watching television with their children and discussions the depictions of sex on television, they may be able to tone down the influence of the sex and the violence (Chandra et al, 2008). CRITICAL ANALYSIS Most of the information contained in internet sites, into the question of whether all the sex and violence on television has negative effects on children, does indeed provide information to the affirmative. Children spend a lot of time in front of the television from an early age. When children are young, say between the ages of two and five, the sex and the violence cannot be said to have influence on them. This is because children are very young and are not able to tell fantasy from reality. More over, they have a limited attention span which makes their concentration and internalization of the content on television impossible. However, it is when children are all grown up, into their teens that the sex and violence can be said to have some kind of effect on children. When children are older, they are also more mature and therefore able to differentiate fantasy from fiction. Furthermore, the fact that they are older means they may try out what they watch on television. There is strong evidence behind this information. For instance, it has been reported that children who watch wrestling duplicate the same aggressive behaviors that they watch on television. They are openly aggressive towards their peers. Sometimes, they even use the same behaviors to solve their conflicts with their peers. However, the internet information goes on to explain that children have to be exposed to prolonged sex and violence on television for there to be negative effects. More over, that the children who are frequently exposed to the sex and violence on television are more susceptible to the negative effects. It is for this reason that parents restrict how much time their children spend in front of the televisions. The research study also goes to provide information on the link between frequent exposure of children to sexual content in television and negative effects, in this case pregnancy. There is strong evident in support of this. Of the 2000 children who were surveyed in the research, 25% of those who had frequent exposure to sexual content were found to be more likely to be involved in a pregnancy in subsequent years. This was as compared to 12% of those who were not as frequently exposed to sex and sexual content on television. Just like the information compared in the internet sources, as soon as children are old enough to differentiate between fantasy and reality it is very likely that with prolonged exposure, they may want to try out what they see in television. Again, it is prolonged exposure that makes all the difference. The best way of mitigating the negative effects of exposure to sex and violence on television, parents should watch and discuss how sex and even violence is portrayed in television. This would also help to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies. CONCLUSION It is evident that television content, sex and violence, has some negative effects on children. It is true that quite a large number of children watch television and are therefore exposed to sex and violence. Nevertheless, it is important to note that not all these children who are exposed are susceptible to the negative effects. Certain groups of children are more prone to acting out what they see on television. It is this group that is likely to aggressive and or immoral. This is the group of children that has prolonged and frequent exposure to sex and violence on television. It is for this reason that exposure to television is limited. Thus, it may be correct to conclude that all the sex and violence on television has negative effects on children. However, it is also important to note that it is only prolonged exposure to the sex and the violence that results in the negative effects. It is the children who frequently watch television programs laced with sex and violence that are more likely to be aggressive and promiscuous as compared to their counterparts who do not. According to the information contained in this report, negative influences of sex and violence on television only become visible when the children are much older. Thus, it remains largely unclear as to why frequent exposure of adolescents to violence and sex on television influences then negatively, After all, are they not at an age where they are capable of differentiating right from wrong; fiction (what is on television and reality (what they should not do); and therefore refrain from engaging in certain activities? More research may be necessary to provide insight into the reasons why children prefer to act out the negativity they view on television rather than on the positive. Is there, for instance, more gratification in doing what is considered negative as compared to doing what is right? Answers to these questions may shed more light on to why sex and violence has negative effects on children at all. REFERENCES Cameron, J. (2009). The view on TV violence. iafrica. com. Retrieved 15 April, 2009 from http://lifestyle.iafrica. com/parenting/fatherhood/274094. htm Chandra, A. , Martino, S. , Collins, R. , Elliot, M. , Berry, S. , Kanouse, D. & Mlu, A. (2008). Does watching sex on television predict teen pregnancy? Findings from a national longitudinal survey of youth. Pediatrics. 122(5): 1047. Eyal, Keren & Kunkel, D. (2008). The effects of television drama shows on emerging adult’s sexual attitudes and moral judgments. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. 52 (2): 161.

What Is Grading on a Curve

Grading on a curve is a term that describes a variety of different methods that a teacher uses to adjust the scores her students received on a test in some way. Most of the time, grading on a curve boosts the students grades by moving their actual scores up a few notches, perhaps increasing the letter grade. Some teachers use curves to adjust the scores received in exams, whereas other teachers prefer to adjust what letter grades are assigned to the actual scores. Whats the Curve? The curve referred to in the term is the bell curve, which is used in statistics to show the normal distribution—what the expected variation is—of any set of data. Its called a bell curve because once the data is plotted on a graph, the line created usually forms the shape of a bell or hill. In a normal distribution, most of the data will be near the middle, or the mean, with very few figures on the outside of the bell, known as outliers. All things being equal, if test scores were normally distributed, 2.1% of the tested students will receive an A on the test, 13.6% will get a B, 68% get Cs, 13.6% get Ds, and 2.1% of the class gets an F.   Why Do Teachers Use a Curve? Teachers use the bell curve to analyze their tests, assuming that a bell curve will be visible if the test is a good one of the material she presented. If, for example, a teacher looks at her class scores and sees that the mean (average) grade of her midterm was approximately a C, and slightly fewer students earned Bs and Ds and even fewer students earned As and Fs, then she could conclude that the test was a good design. If, on the other hand, she plots the test scores and sees that the average grade was a 60%, and no one scored above an 80%, then she could conclude that the test may have been too difficult. At that point, she might use the curve to adjust the scoring so that there is a normal distribution, including A grades. How Do Teachers Grade on a Curve? There are several ways to grade on a curve, many of which are mathematically complex. Here are a few of the most popular ways that teachers curve grades along with each methods most basic explanations: Add Points: A teacher increases each students grade with the same number of points. When Is It Used? After the test, a teacher determines that most of the kids got questions 5 and 9 incorrect. She may decide that the questions were confusingly written or not well taught; if so, she adds the score of those questions to everyones score.Benefits: Everyone gets a better grade.Drawbacks: Students dont learn from the question unless the teacher offers a revision. Bump a Grade to 100%: A teacher moves one students score to 100% and adds the same number of points used to get that student to 100 to everyone elses score. When Is It Used? If no one in the class gets a 100%, and the closest score is an 88%, for example, a teacher could determine that the test overall was too difficult. If so, she could add 12 percentage points to that students score to make it 100% and then add 12 percentage points to everyone elses grade, too.Benefits: Everyone gets a better score.Drawbacks: The kids with the lowest grades benefit the least (a 22% plus 12 points is still a failing grade). Use the Square Root: A teacher takes the square root of the test percentage and makes it the new grade. When Is It Used? The teacher believes everyone needs a little bit of a boost but has a wide distribution of grades—there arent a lot of Cs as you would expect in the normal distribution. So, she takes the square root of everyones percentage grade and uses it as the new grade: √x adjusted grade. Real grade .90 (90%) Adjusted grade √.90 .95 (95%).Benefits: Everyone gets a better score.Drawbacks: Not everyones grade is adjusted equally. Someone who scores a 60% would get a new grade of 77%, which is a 17-point bump. The kid scoring the 90% only gets a 5-point bump. Who Threw Off the Curve? Students in a class often accuse one person of throwing off the curve. So, what does that mean and how did she do it? The theory is that a very sharp student who aces an exam that everyone else has trouble with will throw off the curve. For example, if the majority of testers earned a 70% and only one student in the whole class earned an A, a 98%, then when the teacher goes to adjust the grades, that outlier could make it harder for other students to score higher. Heres an example using the three methods of curved grading from above: If the teacher wants to add points for missed questions to everyones grade, but the highest grade is a 98%, then she cant add more than two points because it would give that kid a number above 100%. Unless the teacher is willing to give extra credit for the test, then she cant adjust the scores enough to count very much.If the teacher wants to bump a grade to 100%, everyone will again only get two points added to their grade, which isnt a significant jump.If the teacher wants to use the square root, it isnt fair to that student with the 98% because the grade would only go up one point. Whats Wrong With Grading on the Curve? Grading on a curve has long been disputed in the academic world, just as weighting scores have. The main benefit to using the curve is that it fights grade inflation: if a teacher doesnt grade on a curve, 40% of her class could get an A, which means that the A doesnt mean very much. An A grade should mean excellent if it means anything, and theoretically, 40% of any given group of students are not excellent.   However, if a teacher strictly bases the grades on the curve, then it restricts the number of students who can excel. Thus, a forced grade is a disincentive to study: students will think no point in studying too hard, Susan and Ted will get the only As available on the curve. And they create an atmosphere thats toxic. Who wants a class full of finger-pointing students blaming the one or two stars? Teacher Adam Grant suggests using the curve only to increase scores and building a collaborative atmosphere, so students help each other to get better scores. The point of a test is not the score, he argues, but to teach your students how to learn new things.   Sources and Further Information Burke, Timothy. Grading on the Curve is Always a Bad Idea. Easily Distracted, Aug. 23, 2012.Grant, Adam. Why We Should Stop Grading Students on a Curve. The New York Times, Sept .10, 2016.  Richert, Kit. Why Grading on the Curve Hurts. Teaching Community, 2018.  Volokh, Eugene. In Praise of Grading on a Curve. Washington Post, Feb. 9, 2015.