When A means F

Grade spread statistics for last semester have just come out, and it turns out that I give more A's than anyone else in our department--but I also give more F's. My overall grade average is on par with the departmental average, but it appears that I'm more willing to give high grades than the rest of my colleagues. I've been trying to figure out what this means.

The most optimistic interpretation is that I'm such a terrific teacher that more of my students learn the material and thereby earn higher grades, but that argument cuts both ways: if A's indicate good teaching, then what does that high number of F's indicate? Let's not go there.

I'm sure that my emphasis on writing as a process and my concomitant willingness to respond to multiple drafts is part of the reason. If students have many opportunities to improve their work, some of them will do so, and the improved work may well result in an improved grade--or a whole bunch of improved grades. However, I'm not the only one in my department who responds to multiple drafts, so that can't be the only reason.

Maybe I'm not demanding enough, or maybe I'm just a pushover. That's not what my students tell me, but what do they know? Maybe I need to adjust my expectations and grading rubrics to make an A more elusive. Of course, I'm reluctant to make a change based on one semester's data, especially since I taught two literature courses and only one section of composition last semester, which could have skewed the results slightly. I tend to give fewer A's in composition than in other courses, which raises a completely different set of questions. This semester I'm teaching two sections of composition and one literature course, so perhaps the spread will be different. Or not. And if it is (or isn't), what will that mean?

The final question is this: If A's indicate success, why do I see a high number of A's as some sort of failure?