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Grade inflation is an issue in U.S. education and in GCSEs in England and Wales. The term refers to the phenomenon of increasing academic grades over time. Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic - President George W. Bush (R) - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized...
The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) (in Welsh: Tystysgrif Gyffredin Addysg Uwchradd (TGAU) is the name of a set of British examinations, usually taken by secondary school students at age 14–16 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (but not Scotland, where the equivalent is called Standard Grade). ...
It has been suggested that CGPA be merged into this article or section. ...
Occurrence and frequency Grade inflation is the increase in the number of high grades over time. Grade inflation is often conflated with lax academic standards. For example, the following quote about lax standards from a Harvard University report in 1894 has been used to claim that grade inflation has been a longstanding issue: "Grades A and B are sometimes given too readily ... insincere students gain passable grades by sham work." [1]. Issues of standards in American education have been longstanding. However, rising grades did not become a major issue in American education until the 1960s. Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) , is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. One of the eight Ivies, it was founded in 1636. ...
Educational oversight Secretary Deputy Secretary U.S. Department of Education Margaret Spellings Raymond Simon National education budget $1. ...
The evidence for grade inflation in the US was sparse, largely anecdotal and sometimes contradictory until recently. Hard data was not abundant. A Stanford University report in the 1990s showed that grades had been rising since the 1960s; in an effort to stem grade inflation, Stanford changed its grading practices slightly. National surveys in the 1990s generally showed rising grades at American colleges and universities [2], but a survey of college transcripts by a senior research analyst in the US Department of Education found that grades declined slightly in the 1970s and 1980s [3]. Data for American high schools were lacking. The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly known as Stanford University (or simply Stanford), is a private university located approximately 37 miles (60 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco and approximately 20 miles northwest of San José in an unincorporated area of Santa Clara County. ...
However, recent data leave little doubt that grades are rising at American colleges, universities and high schools. Leaders from number of institutions, including Harvard University and Princeton University, have publicly stated that grades have been rising and have made efforts to change grading practices. An evaluation of grading practices in US colleges and universities written in 2003, [1], shows that since the 1960s, grades in the US have risen at a rate of 0.15 per decade on a 4.0 scale. The study included over 80 institutions with a combined enrollment of over 1,000,000 students. An annual national survey of college freshmen [2] indicates that students are studying less in high school, yet an increasing number report high school grades of A- or better. Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) , is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. One of the eight Ivies, it was founded in 1636. ...
Princeton University is a coeducational private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States of America. ...
The debate on grade inflation has moved from assessment to causes. Are grades rising because standards are being lowered or because students are producing better work?
Concerns regarding grade inflation If grades are increasing, but standards have remained the same, then grade inflation should not be a cause for concern, but would be a positive development. Grade inflation would reflect an improvement in students' work. If, on the other hand, grades are rising because standards have been lowered, then grade inflation can be taken as a sign that the quality of students' work is either not improving or decreasing. The noted problems with any possible lowering of academic standards associated with grade inflation include: - Grade inflation makes it more difficult to identify the truly exceptional students, as more students come to get the highest possible grade.
- Grade inflation is not uniform between schools. This places students in more stringently graded schools and departments at an inequitable disadvantage.
- Grade inflation is not uniform among disciplines. In the United States, it is commonly asserted[attribution needed] that grade inflation is more pronounced in the humanities than in the mathematical sciences, leading students to avoid taking classes in the sciences which may prove to be beneficial to them.
Arguments against these points include: The humanities are those academic disciplines which study the human condition using methods that are largely analytic, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural and social sciences. ...
Euclid, Greek mathematician, 3rd century BC, as imagined by by Raphael in this detail from The School of Athens. ...
Part of a scientific laboratory at the University of Cologne. ...
- It is not a school's job to sort students.
- Higher grades at some schools reflect better performance.
- Although grade inflation doesn't evenly distribute through departments, it is arguable, due to the subjective nature of grades, that interdepartmental grading practices were not even in the first place (e.g. how is one supposed to determine the English equivalent of an A's worth of work in Physics?)
Similarly, if one believes the purpose of a school is to better oneself and gain an understanding of the subjects, then one might not care too much if people are getting better grades than before regardless of the cause. Indeed, it could be construed as a positive development since it might lessen the effects that some say grades have (see Punished By Rewards by Alfie Kohn). Alfie Kohn Alfie Kohn is an American lecturer and author in the fields of education, psychology and parenting, residing in Belmont, Massachusetts. ...
For schools that do not modify their letter grade against grade-point reference regarding AP classes often inflate grades by means of an "AP curve" (the formula for which is  ), where x is the true grade and y is the curved result. The effect of this curve increases for lower grades: a grade of 100 is unchanged, whilst a failing grade of 36 is padded by an additional 24 points, thus making it a close pass in most jurisdictions. The AP curve is generally considered a fair retribution for the added difficulty of AP classes. Advanced Placement (AP) is the term used to describe high school classes that are taught at a college level. ...
Furthermore, those who use grades in determining life outcomes for a student must act as if grade inflation has not occurred, taking the grades at their old, pre-inflated values - otherwise they could simply adjust and grade inflation would not be a serious issue. This could happen either due to neglect, or due to constraints of the grading system itself. For example, if the grading system stipulates an absolute maximum grade, then the problem of picking out the "cream of the crop", discussed below, naturally comes into play.
Causes Grade inflation may be caused by decreases in academic standards or increases in student performance or both. The pressure to reduce standards placed on teachers can come from parents, students, and schools. This is especially true since, if other schools or teachers are inflating grades, any school or teacher that takes a "hold out" stance will place its students at a disadvantage. Some educators may feel pressured to give higher grades for fear of students complaining and receiving bad course evaluations, thereby diminishing their reputation resulting in denial of promotion or tenure, or causing them to face lower enrollment in their classes. Indeed, Professor Harvey Mansfield gives two grades to students at Harvard, an official inflated grade, and an unofficial grade that he feels a student deserves [3]. Committees commonly use course evaluations obtained by teachers to help make decisions about awarding them promotion and tenure. A teacher may improve evaluations by improving their teaching, but the strategy that comes most quickly to mind for achieving better evaluations is to give higher grades for assignments and exams. A comprehensive study by Valen Johnson shows a statistical correlation between high grades and high course evaluations [Grade Inflation: A Crisis in Education, Springer-Verlag, 2003]. In a separate analysis of grades at Pennsylvania State University, the onset of grade inflation in the 1980s corresponds with the onset of mandatory course evaluations. Image File history File links Information_icon. ...
A course evaluation is a paper or electronic questionnaire, which requires a written or selected response answer to a series of questions in order to evaluate the instruction of a given course. ...
Harvey C. Mansfield, Jr. ...
The Pennsylvania State University (commonly known as Penn State) is a state-related, land-grant university. ...
Professor Hans Oberdiek of Swarthmore College suggested during an introductory course in philosophy in 2003 that grade inflation began in earnest during the draft for the Vietnam War. Students with high enough grades could be exempted from the draft; so giving a student a C could cause him to be sent to Vietnam. Needless to say, professors gave higher grades more readily so as not to have this dire outcome hanging over their heads. Before the war, "I used to give out Cs like candy," Professor Oberdiek explained. [original research?] Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,450 students. ...
Combatants Republic of Vietnam United States Republic of Korea Thailand Australia New Zealand The Philippines National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam Democratic Republic of Vietnam People’s Republic of China Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Strength US 1,000,000 South Korea 300,000 Australia 48,000...
While pressures to reduce standards do exist, at some colleges and universities part of grade inflation is the result of increases in student performance. Over the last few decades, the quality of incoming students at some schools as measured by SAT scores and high school class rank has increased. But for many institutions with rising grades SAT scores have been stagnant. Even at institutions where SAT scores have risen, the magnitude of the rise in GPA cannot be explained by increases in student SAT scores alone. Other factors are responsible for rising grades.
Many schools exhibit increases in grades that may not be related to a decrease in academic standards. There are alternative theories regarding the increase in student grades over the years, such as:
- More schools offer pass/fail options.
- Students are more focused upon career-preparation today, which means they are more likely to take classes which match their talents.
- Computers have made students more efficient and allowed them to produce better work.
- Cooperative learning approaches allow feedback on assignments which improves student work.
- Students are working harder than ever before.
Countering these claims are the following arguments: Cooperative learning was proposed in response to traditional curriculum-driven education. ...
- Pass/fail options are only taken by a small number of students that isn't not large enough to account for observed rises in GPA.
- Students still have to fulfill distribution requirements so they are still taking classes outside their main interest areas.
- Grade inflation persisted throughout the 1990s, a time when personal computer use had already saturated higher education.
- Cooperative learning approaches are not common enough to account for observed rises in GPA.
- Surveys of high school students and college students show that they are working less and are less engaged in academics.
A related point is that intelligence (at least as measured by the IQ scale) appears to be rising over time - a phenomenon known as the Flynn effect. However, SAT scores of students nationwide have not been rising, but this would be attributed to the fact the the SAT scores are based on percentiles. IQ tests are designed to give approximately this Gaussian distribution. ...
The Flynn effect is the year-on-year rise of IQ test scores, an effect seen in most parts of the world, although at greatly varying rates. ...
Possible solutions - Assigning more challenging coursework.
- Ranked grading, or "grading on a curve", provides a constant distribution of marks over a given range, since a student is only evaluated next to their peers. However, since each student is not marked on individual merit, those receiving high marks in a poorly performing class may well be less qualified than those receiving poor marks in a highly achieving class, thus poorly reflecting on the student's outcomes.
- Report grades on a 100 point scale rather than on a 4.0 point scale.
- Another solution could come from employers which could consider asking candidates, during job interviews, to show samples of their academic work (like test papers, essays, project write-ups etc.).
Recent instances In recent years, Princeton University had earned itself a reputation for awarding some of the highest average marks among the top American universities. In an attempt to combat this grade inflation and reverse this reputation, Princeton began in the fall of 2004 to employ guidelines for grading distributions across departments. Under the new guidelines, departments have been encouraged to re-evaluate and clarify their grading policies. The administration suggests that, averaged over the course of several years in an individual department, A-range grades should constitute 35% of grades in classroom work, and 55% of grades in independent work such as Senior Theses. To date, the administration has not taken steps to strictly enforce these guidelines, instead opting to rely on departments to apply them. Since the policy's inception, A-range grades have declined significantly in Humanities departments, while remaining nearly constant in the Natural Science departments. Princeton University is a coeducational private university located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States of America. ...
2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Many argue that it places students at a disadvantage when they apply for employment after graduating at professional schools because of the comparatively lower marks on students' transcripts. The student body, for the most part, opposes this system of "grade deflation," but the administration stands by it, saying that other schools will soon follow - despite outright statements from other schools that say they have no plans to implement such policies.
UC Berkeley has a reputation for rigorous grading policies. In some science and engineering classes, departmental guidelines state that no more than 17% of the students in any given class may be awarded A grades, and that the class GPA should be in the range of 2.7 to 2.9 out of a maximum of 4.0 grade points [4]. Other departments, however, may not be adhering to such strict guidelines, as data from the University's Office of Student Research indicate that the average overall undergraduate GPA is about 3.25 (UC Berkeley Undergraduate Fact Sheet – Fall 2004). The University of California, Berkeley (also known as Cal, UC Berkeley, UCB, or simply Berkeley) is a prestigious, public, coeducational university situated in the foothills of Berkeley, California to the east of San Francisco Bay, overlooking the Golden Gate and its bridge. ...
Other colleges such as Cornell University and the University of Chicago are also known for their rigorous grading practices. However, data indicate that even schools known for rigorous grading have experienced grade inflation; for example, a study by Stuart Rojstaczer of Duke University found that the average GPA at University of Chicago increased from 2.50 in 1965 to 3.26 in 1999, which was still below the average of most peer institutions (Meredith Meyer, "GPAs get a .76 boost from grade inflation," Chicago Maroon, January 18, 2005). Cornell redirects here. ...
The University of Chicago is a private university located principally in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. ...
Duke University is a private coeducational research university located in Durham, North Carolina, USA. Duke was founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day town of Trinity in 1838, moved to Durham in 1892. ...
References - ^ ("Report of the Committee on Raising the Standard")
- ^ Levine and Cureton, 1998; Kuh and Hu, 1999
- ^ http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/nytimes/115860887.html?did=115860887&FMT=ABS
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