Maths! (was Re: What would Snape have to do.... / Snape as teacher

[potioncat]

No: HPFGUIDX 138624


> Lupinlore said:
snip
> 
> >>This I think pretty much definitively ends the discussion of 
whether 
> Snape is a good teacher.  He is a miserable, poor, absolute failure 
> as a potions teacher, hands down, end of discussion.

Potioncat:
"End of discussion"? On this list? Are you kidding? There is never an 
end of discussion. A pause, perhaps...from time to time. 
 
> CathyD:
> Actually, there were 12 kids in that class.
snip  
> There are, by JKR's own words, 40 students in Harry's year. 
snip 
> And we still have, as I said, an unknown number of O's and E's who 
did not go on to NEWT level potions for whatever reason. Plus those 
who achieved an A (passing grade) but could not advance to NEWT level 
Potions.  I still say Snape did pretty well as a teacher.

Potioncat:
We spent a great deal of time after OoP discussing the outcome of 
Potions OWLs. We had lots of ideas of what Snape's reported high pass 
rate revealed; how the grades would be expected to come out; and who 
we expected to see in the class. 

It wasn't as important to JKR, or at least to plot, for us to get the 
actual numbers. Oh wait, did I say "actual numbers" and "JKR" in the 
same sentence? (I'm laughing with JKR, not at her.)

If we do want to nitpick, and most of us do, I would say we'd have to 
do the numbers based on the 40 students she writes about in order to 
get the ratio. Certainly we have over a quarter of known students who 
earned E or better. I have no idea how that stacks up in standardized 
testing, but it looks pretty good to me. 

I want to echo CathyD in saying we don't know how many more made E or 
O but chose to drop Potions. Remember, they are taking courses based 
on career needs. Even I would think no one would take Potions for the 
heck of it.

My point, if I have one, is this: We haven't been told how well his 
class did, or how well any other classes did. It just isn't that 
important to the plot. 

However, even if all 40 or all 140 students passed with an O, I'm not 
sure the method is worth it. Except to an "any means to the end" 
Slytherin.