Schutz, Drake & Lessner (2013) explore a question that few others have attempted to answer in previous studies. The researchers focused their research on academic rigor and grade inflation as they relate to the differences between full-time and adjunct faculty. A handful of studies have shown that full-time faculty assign lower grades than adjunct faculty however, there has been little research into whether adjunct faculty are less rigorous in their grading practices. The phenomenon of grade inflation is of concern to the higher education community and is the focus of numerous studies. These studies cannot differentiate the contributing factors, increased student mastery of learning or leniency as a measure of rigor, to significantly higher percentages of “A’s” in the past 50 years and the substantially lower percentage of “D” and “F” grades.
Research question: This study asks if there is a “difference between community college full-time and adjunct faculties’ own perceptions of rigor as an influencing factor in their grade assignment” (Schutz, Drake & Lessner, 2013, p. 61). The researchers go on to question perceptions of rigor and the grading during the course, when assigning the final grade and what the student actually earned.
Methodology: The study collected and examined data from 1,559 full-time and adjunct faculty from Midwest community colleges. The data collection instrument passed two institutional review boards and met reliability and validity standards. The instrument was then field and pilot tested for analysis error. The survey had an impressive 22% return rate and invited faculty represented the full-time and adjunct populations of the institutions surveyed. Several data collection and analysis tools were utilized. After a data quality and validation checklist was applied no issues arose to invalidate the responses. The survey distributed was as 3-point Likert-type scale. The study utilized multiple dependent variables. Therefore, multivariate analysis of variance was conducted prior to conducting individual analysis of variance. The ANOVA tested “for the explanatory variable, faculty group, on each of the dependent variable” (Schutz, Drake & Lessner, 2013, p. 65). The researchers also checked for internal consistency for rigor questions which was verified with a moderately strong Pearson r coefficients of correlation between two questions.
Results: Validity was once again established by contrasting group analysis in the results and the correlations among the responses was consistently high. There is significant faith in the results with two limitations. The first limitation is that there is no evidence that faculties’ perception of rigor influences grades and the study was not tied to outcome data such as actual grades or artifact analysis. The other limitation is the demographic makeup of the sample size combined with regional, cultural differences. Although the sample size was large enough to generalize to the faculty populations who serve within the institution population drawn from; respondent demographics are not representative of all other American community colleges. The sample was 90% European American, 6% African American, 1% Asian, 2% Hispanic, and 1% other.
Commentary: This question becomes more important as the ratio of full-time to adjunct faculty changes. Students benefit in a myriad of ways from academic rigor and receiving a grade that accurately reflects their mastery of a subject. If grades are inflated by adjunct faculty at community colleges and more sections are taught by adjuncts the problem of grade inflation is compounded. Additional research to explore the connection between perceived, or stated rigor, and standardized rigor could add valuable evidence to this area of study. Adjunct faculty spend little time interacting with colleagues to compare classroom practices, rigor and grading policies. Also, lack of standardized departmental policy and communication of departmental policy regarding grading is an area to research to determine the influence on classroom practice by both full-time and adjunct faculty. An interesting research question is: what is the academic rigor expectation from long-term vs. short-term adjuncts? Long-term vs. new full-time faculty? What about adjuncts who actively participate in departmental decisions and culture?
Thoughts from a casual observer of faculty “From the Reference Desk.”
Schutz, K. R., Drake, B. M., & Lessner, J. (2013). Do community college full-time and adjunct faculties differ in their perceptions of rigor in assigning grades? American Journal of Educational Studies, 6(2), 59-77.