One of the most commonly practiced and widely agreed upon beliefs in education is the idea of a proper bell-curve when delivering final grades. This practice allows some students to thrive, give many more a chance to pass and support the notion that some must fail for a class to operate correctly. As a teacher I heard many times that, before finalizing grades, it was important to make sure there was a bell-curve because it showed that a class was appropriately rigorous and that a bell-curve would also be a microcosm of the real world in which these three categories are clearly delineated. However, it is the antiquated belief in the bell curve that reinforces the lines between the haves and have nots in the public education system and for students who are already disenfranchised it is time to eliminate the bell-curve culture that too often is just a microcosm of the greater society. Marginalized students and their families live in social environments that are maintained by a b...
