[Jon Stratis]

I would say that depends on the point of a test. A test designed to evaluate how well someone knows a subject (aka most of the tests we take in school) should be designed to evaluate absolute understanding. One used to evaluate the understanding of the population as a whole in order to better direct resources to problem areas should be designed to evaluate understanding compared to a peer group.

Honestly, I've always wondered how much I really got out of my Honors Calc 3 class freshman year of college (trust me, after that I didn't take any more honors classes!). I just don't feel that a 65% in the class, considered an A after the professor curved the grades, really indicates a deep understanding of the subject matter. Of course, the professor couldn't just fail the entire class. That would be as good as admitting that he doesn't know how to teach the subject. Before that class, I had never scored less than 95% in any math class, going all the way back to 1st grade!