Honor and recognition societies

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 400.

Professional fraternities

Professional fraternities are similar to general fraternities in many ways. But professional fraternities are made up of persons with a common academic or occupational interest. Some professional groups require higher academic standing than do general fraternities. Members may not pledge other fraternities in the same profession, but they may pledge a general fraternity. There are over 75 intercollegiate professional fraternities for men and women, with more than 3,100 chapters and about 1,700,000 members. Most of these fraternities belong to the Professional Fraternity Association.

Honor societies are either departmental or general. A departmental honor society selects men and women who have excellent academic records in a specific area of study. A general honor society selects members from all fields of study. A recognition society selects those who have done outstanding work in an area such as retailing or community service.

Contributor: Critically reviewed by the National Interfraternity Conference

Sororityis a society of women or girls. In most sororities, the members are college or university students and graduates. Sororities, like fraternities, are often called Greek-letter societies. Most form their names by combining two or three Greek letters. The word sorority comes from the Latin word soror, which means sister.

There are four kinds of sororities: (1) general, or social, (2) professional, (3) honor societies, and (4) recognition societies. General sororities, the most common, encourage high academic standards, carry on charitable and educational programs, and sponsor social activities for members. On many campuses, they also provide room and board for members in sorority houses. Professional societies consist of persons with the same academic interest, such as education or journalism. Honor societies are for persons with exceptional academic records. Members of recognition societies have done outstanding work in a specific area. Some groups admit men. General sororities in the United States are listed in this article. For the largest professional, honor, and recognition societies, see FRATERNITY.

There are about 40 national general sororities in the United States. They have about 6,000 collegiate chapters (local units), about 10,300 alumnae chapters, and about 3,200,000 members. Twenty-six members belong to the National Panhellenic Conference, which has national headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind. This conference and similar groups promote cooperation among national sororities. Most university and college campuses have an intersorority council to regulate general sororities. Some general sororities have no college or alumnae chapters but are instead organized into local chapters.

There are 35 U.S. professional sororities and honor societies. They have more than 3,300 chapters and about 540,000 members. Some groups admit men.

Many school clubs, the forerunners of sororities, were formed during the 1800's. Adelphean began as a literary society at Wesleyan College, in Macon, Ga., in 1851. It adopted the name Alpha Delta Pi in 1905. Pi Beta Phi was organized as I. C. Sorosis at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Ill., in 1867. It was the first organization of college women established on a national basis.

Kappa Alpha Theta was the first group founded as a women's Greek-letter society. It began at DePauw University in 1870. Gamma Phi Beta, founded at Syracuse University in 1874, was the first to use the name sorority.

Contributor: Critically reviewed by National Panhellenic Conference

Grading is a method used by teachers to evaluate, record, and report student achievement. Most grades are given in the form of a number or letter. The most common numerical system uses percentages, with 100 as the highest mark and 65 or 70 as the lowest passing grade. The most widely used system of letter grades consists of the letters A, B, C, D, and E or F. The grade of A represents the highest achievement, and E or F means failure. Some schools use the numbers 4 for A, 3 for B, 2 for C, 1 for D, and O for E or F. Another system consists of the letters P (for pass) and F (for fail). Some schools use the letters O (outstanding), S (satisfactory), and NI (needs improvement).

Grades serve a number of purposes. They help teachers determine how well students have learned from their instruction. They help students learn about their strengths and weaknesses. Grades also inform parents about their children's progress and alert them to problems. Colleges use transcripts of grades to help decide whether to admit a student. Some employers use transcripts to help determine which applicants to hire.

A teacher may grade a student in comparison with perfect achievement, in relation to the student's ability, or in comparison with other members of the class. A common method of grading in relation to other students is called grading on the curve. Statistically, most students in a class that has a normal distribution of ability will do about average work. A smaller number will do very well or very poorly. One system of grading on the curve gives the top 7 per cent of the students an A. The next 24 per cent receive a B, the middle 38 per cent a C, and the next 24 per cent a D. The lowest 7 per cent get an E or F. The curve method of grading gets its name from a bell-shaped curve that represents normal distribution in statistics (see STATISTICS [Probability]). Educators do not recommend curve grading for groups of fewer than 100 students or groups with an unusual distribution of ability.

Other factors besides achievement also influence grades. They include neatness in written work, willingness to work, and effort put forth. Some schools give separate grades for achievement and for effort.

Some schools supplement grades with other forms of reporting. Many elementary schools provide conferences at which parents discuss their child's progress with the teacher. Few high schools have such conferences because no teacher knows about a student's work in all subjects. However, most schools provide opportunities for parents to discuss their child's work with individual instructors. The teachers at some institutions write comments on report cards or send detailed letters to the parents. A few schools give no grades at all but use other methods to report student achievement.

Many educators and others believe grades are stressed too much, and some propose that grades be abolished. Many people object to grading because it forces a teacher to summarize many achievements with a single symbol. Other critics argue that grades result from personal judgment and vary from teacher to teacher. People who favor grading point out that grades are the quickest and most efficient way to report student progress. They also argue that many students want such evaluations of their achievement. Most educators accept the necessity for grading and urge that present systems be improved.

Contributor: Richard M. Wolf, Ph.D., Prof. of Psychology and Education, Teachers College, Columbia Univ.

Testing, in education and psychology, is an attempt to measure a person's knowledge, intelligence, or other characteristics in a systematic way. There are many types of tests. Teachers give tests to discover the learning abilities of their students. They also give tests to see how well students have learned a particular subject. Some tests help people choose a vocation, and other tests help them understand their own personality.