Meritocracy
Political ideology
Meritocracy is a political system in which economic goods and/or political power are vested in individual people on the basis of talent, effort, and achievement, rather than wealth or social class. Advancement in such a system is based on performance, as measured through examination or demonstrated achievement. Wikipedia
American teachers often are required to give their students grades. I have a degree in "measurement", meaning determining grades. As far as I am concerned, it is an interesting and useful subject but the bottom line is that there is no "right" way to "measure" students or grade them. The chart above is meant to represent a typical way of charting grades. You can see that additional criteria could be added, maybe "attitude" or "enthusiasm" or "effort".
Here is a link to the book I used to teach a course in educational testing and grading:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i-6Bca1EoOydB9co0pvNCH4HQI9PNeyDZ25WkAEFxkk/edit?usp=sharing
The second chapter is called "Ways of Grading". I recognize six:
Intuitive - I, the teacher, think you deserve this grade
Effort - I judge your effort to be worth this grade
Improvement - You improved this much
% of Peers - You outscored this fraction of the class
% of Test items - You answered well this fraction of the test
Contract - You completed the requirements for this grade
You can see that what we base the grades on matters very much. In the 1800's, some statisticians thought that the normal curve, also known as the Gaussian or bell distribution, represented God's will. Thinking that way, we might give those scoring average the highest grade and lower the grades by the distance, above or below the average you score. Might not be popular or acceptable but it is another idea.
When I go and sit on Santa's lap, he asks me if I have been a good boy. I actually have but I am grateful that he doesn't ask for how long. I have actually been a good boy for the last 15 minutes. Way back yesterday, I took my little brother's candy cane and ate it. As a good Protestant kid, I can recite other questionable actions but I don't.
