The term grade inflation is borrowed from economics, denoting a situation in which grades rise separately from the real value of work being produced by students. The term grade inflation carries a lot of baggage and negative connotations. It is used in two different ways: one being grading leniency and the other describing the tendency to award continuously higher grades for work that would have received lower grades in the past. In order to address the ethics of grade inflation, it is important to contextualize the role that grading plays in our educational institutions and the lives of teachers and students.
Grading in school
Contrary to the mindset of the average high school student or parent, the purpose of grades is to provide a benchmark for educational growth. An 80% on a test means that you have mastered 80% of the subject material that you were taught in class, as opposed the stress inducing mark of B- at the top of the page.
The idea of assigning a higher grade to lower quality work does not fulfill the purpose of the grading system. However, I am by no means suggesting that grading as practice is inherently virtuous. In fact, it has been largely perverted to signify a students purpose in school, rather than promote intellectual growth. As a general concept, grade inflation is largely characterized as a negative phenomenon. When teachers tend towards leniency with their grading, students tend to lose motivation to produce their best work. A continuing cycle of this behavior results in the systematic degeneration of student progress and development.
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Moreover, grade inflation discredits the efforts of hard working students who put hours of work into their assignments only to receive the same grade as a peer who put in little to no time. As students become accustomed to a routine of reward for minimal accomplishment, they become incentivized to study less, a practice that becomes incredibly debilitating once that student reaches a college level learning environment.
Nonetheless, grading can be cited as the principle source of stress and anxiety for many high schoolers. The process of preparing for a test, quiz, essay, etc. is very deeply rooted in subject mastery. Not to say that is all bad, but once the exam is over and the results are in many students tend to shove old concepts to the back of their minds to make way for new material. Moreover, receiving a less than optimal grade infrequently inspires students to see teachers for extra help in order to understand what they missed. This engrained motivation to “get the grade” has adverse effects on the student’s desire to learn.
High school GPAs
The nationwide rise in high school GPAs would not necessarily be a bad thing if it was demonstrative of legitimate progression in learning. However, studies from the College Board and ACT provide evidence on the contrary, suggesting that the higher GPAs simply reflect a subjective and lenient educational system. It is also important to note that grading is not an objective process. Aside from some disciplines such as parts of math or science, the humanities are largely focused on the teacher’s interpretation of student work. Grades will change depending on the student, the teacher, the school, the state, the country. It is impossible to eliminate grade inflation entirely by virtue of the inherent difference in educational standards and circumstances of each respective student and teacher. One data point from a 2017 College Board study indicated that the increase in GPA for students at private, independent, and non-religious high schools rose far more significantly than their public counterparts. The idea is that private schools are among the upper echelon of high achieving students, most of whom will likely attend elite and selective colleges. These schools are therefore less likely to give students a grade that will hinder their chances of getting accepted into, say, one of the Ivy League universities.
The process of grade inflation also affects the opportunities of students looking to study of pursue a career outside of the United States. Highly aware to the augmented grading in U.S. schools, universities in the U.K., for example, do not place stock in high school GPAs, but rather rely on standardized forms of assessment such as the SAT, ACT, or AP exams. Inflation also affects the way U.S. colleges evaluate a students intellectual merit. Due to the extensive variety of grading systems, including honors and AP classes, grade point averages encompass a wide range. When looking at a student application, colleges must evaluate the difficulty of the courses, recalibrate the GPA, all within the context of the school’s caliber and rigor. The system of inflation eliminates any baseline upon which students might be more objectively considered as candidates.
While it is simple to champion the idea that grade inflation decreases student motivation to work and study hard, minimized pressure to earn high marks could result in a greater emphasis on learning for learning’s sake. The inflation of grades places less weight on the individual score, which, if employed properly in a classroom setting, could transform the class into an environment striving for knowledge retention and understanding. The grading system at present, however, tends to create an unhealthy connection between parents, students, and teachers and point based values to determine progress and achievement, while ignoring the importance of character, teamwork, and relationships with peers.
The dilemma of grade inflation requires a long term educational makeover. If new systems were to be put in place, it would rest on the cooperation of educational institutions nationwide and a centralized standard on which to evaluate student progress. In the meantime, however, it is essential to acknowledge the role that it plays within our CA community and adjust accordingly.
Grade Inflation in Education. (2022, Mar 13). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/school-grading/
