Yeah, I think improvement is really important too. I just mean that I don't like it when people who just "try really hard" (or at least, that's what they cry to the professor) but clearly reach no deeper fortress of the mind (or whatever) or attempt to actually listen to what the professor wants... get good grades.

Well, yeah exactly (a B would be a C, etc.). But you're right, I guess the point is that students need to feel like they did better than a bunch of other people, even when those other people don't exist.