Grade inflation can be caused by a drop in academic standards, a rise in student achievement, or a combination of the two. Parents, students, and institutions can all put pressure on teachers to lower their standards. This is especially true because any school or teacher who takes a “hold out” position will put its students at a disadvantage if other schools or teachers are inflating grades. Some professors may feel compelled to give higher grades in order to avoid students complaining and earning poor course ratings, which could damage their reputation and lead to decreasing class enrollment. Professor Harvey Mansfield, for example, assigns two marks to Harvard students: an official inflated grade and an unofficial grade that he believes the student merits. Teachers’ course evaluations are frequently used by committees in making judgments concerning promotion and tenure. A teacher’s subpar reviews can be improved by enhancing their teaching, but the most obvious way to enhance evaluations is to provide higher grades on assignments and tests. According to Valen Johnson’s research, there is a statistical link between good grades and high course assessments. In a second study of grades at Penn State, grade inflation began in the 1980s, coinciding with the introduction of mandated course assessments.
During a 2003 introductory philosophy seminar at Swarthmore College, Professor Hans Oberdiek explained that grade inflation began in earnest during the Vietnam War draft. Students who have high enough marks may be excused from the draft; therefore, giving a student a C may result in his being sent to Vietnam. Professors, understandably, offered higher scores more freely in order to avoid having this disastrous outcome hanging over their heads. Professor Oberdiek recalled that before the war, “I used to give out Cs like candy.”
While there are pressures to lower standards, part of grade inflation at some schools and universities is due to gains in student performance. The quality of incoming students at some schools has improved over the last few decades, as assessed by SAT scores and high school class rank. However, SAT scores have remained stable at many colleges with growing grades. Even at colleges where SAT scores have improved, the extent of the GPA gain cannot be explained only by student SAT scores. Other factors are to blame for the rise in grades.
Increases in grades have been observed in several schools, which may or may not be related to a drop in academic standards.
There are different explanations for the rise in student grades through time, such as:
Today’s students are more concerned with career preparation, which means they are more likely to enroll in classes that match their skills.
Students have become more productive as a result of the use of computers.
Cooperative learning methods allow for feedback on assignments, which helps students improve their work.
Pass/fail choices are only used by a tiny percentage of students, which is insufficient to explain for reported increases in GPA.
Students must still complete distribution requirements, which means they must take coursework outside of their primary areas of interest.
Throughout the 1990s, when personal computers had already saturated higher education, grade inflation remained.
Cooperative learning methods aren’t widely used enough to account for reported GPA increases.
According to surveys of high school and college students, they are working less and are less involved in their studies.
A related point is that intelligence appears to be increasing over time (at least as assessed by the IQ scale), a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect. Students’ SAT results, on the other hand, have not been improving across the country.
What effects does grade inflation have?
Higher grades may bolster some students’ confidence and encourage them into rigorous disciplines where they might succeed, but they may also weaken some students’ incentive to study and frustrate colleges’ ability to identify well-prepared applicants.
What factors contribute to grade inflation?
Grade inflation (also known as grading leniency) occurs when students are awarded greater grades than they deserve, resulting in a higher average grade.
The word is also used to explain the trend of awarding ever higher academic grades for work that previously obtained lower grades.
Higher average grades, on the other hand, are not proof of grade inflation.
It must be demonstrated that the work quality does not merit the high grade for this to be grade inflation.
In the United States, as well as in England and Wales, grade inflation is commonly debated in regard to education, particularly GCSEs and A levels. Many other countries, including Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, South Korea, and India, have similar problems.
What exactly is grade inflation, and why is it important?
Prices can rise indefinitely with normal inflation. Grade inflation, on the other hand, occurs when grades are capped at A or A+, resulting in a higher concentration of pupils at the top of the distribution. Grades lose their validity as indicators of student talents as a result of this compression.
What are your options for dealing with an inflated grade?
Grade inflation is a significant issue that has mostly gone unnoticed for far too long. Grade inflation can be caused by pressure on teachers as well as “grade grubbing” by parents and students. Reporting both absolute and relative grades on report cards and transcripts is one strategy to combat grade inflation.
What are the reasons why students and professors should be concerned about grade inflation?
For decades, educators have been researching grade inflation. However, recent news indicates that significant challenges of justice may become a recurring aspect of our educational system. It raises the possibility that some students, presumably from more lenient high schools, have an inflated perception of their academic aptitude, which could lead to a harsh surprise in university.
An inflated feeling of academic performance is problematic, and it will only get worse if the system is not corrected. Starting university is stressful enough without having to deal with anxiety and frustration caused by significant declines in first-year grades.
Even more alarming is the possibility that a kid who had the misfortune of attending a high school with more stringent grading systems lost out on a coveted university program to a peer with slightly higher, inflated grades.
In Ontario, where education is mostly supported by the government, schools should provide equitable learning opportunities with grades that accurately represent student achievement. Growing Success, Ontario’s government assessment and evaluation policy statement from 2010, begins with this “basic idea.”
Almost every province and territory has a similar policy statement. Clearly, the inclusion of adjustment variables indicates that Ontario, and most likely all Canadian provinces, still have work to do in terms of supporting school grading and evaluation.
Is there grade inflation in the Ivy Leagues?
RippleMatch discovered that Ivy League schools are the worst culprits of grade inflation, with typical student GPAs in the A/A- range. While there’s no denying that students at these schools work hard, it’s worth considering how skewed these averages are due to grade inflation, and whether comparing a 3.7 from Brown University to a 3.7 from Baylor University is fair.
In 2021, will there be grade inflation?
After two years of extremely significant grade inflation, the results from next summer will be wound back to a “mid-point” between 2019 and 2021. Exams will take place, according to ministers, but the option of teacher-assessed grades will be kept in reserve.
Where did the phrase “No Child Left Behind” originate?
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act hasn’t been changed since President George W. Bush renamed it “No Child Left Behind” in 2001. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the measure in 1965 to assist states in leveling the playing field for pupils living and learning in poverty. AP Photo/Matt Rourke caption to be hidden
Why is there grade inflation at Harvard?
Grade inflation was well-known, and graduate schools and companies were well aware of the problem. Employers were able to be informed by institutions that used more stringent criteria, and suitable translations were generally made.