Bad Grading System Essay

Grade inflation is the arbitrary assignment of higher grades for work that would have received lower grades in the past. The higher grades do not reflect a genuine improvement in student achievement. Only with systematic research can it be determined whether rising grades are a result of grade inflation or higher achievement. The pressure to inflate grades, and thereby reduce standards, which is placed on teachers can come from parents, students, schools and politicians, and is evidence of underlying credential inflation.

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. Course evaluations produced by the students in a class are often used by committees to help them make decisions about awarding the teacher 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. Possible problems associated with grade inflation

•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.

Princeton University took a rare stance against grade inflation in 2004, and publicly announced a policy designed to curb it. The policy states that A’s should account for less than 35 percent of the grades for undergraduate courses and less than 55 percent of grades for junior and senior independent work. The standard by which the grading record of each department or program is evaluated is the percentage of A’s given over the previous three years. Arguments against taking action on grade inflation:

•Higher grades at some schools may reflect better performance than others (although with no national standard, there can be no way to compare one school to another by grades). •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?) •Grade inflation may motivate less productive students to keep studying whereas countries with no grade inflation may discourage students from studying by demoralizing them.

•The US system still allows for students to thrive by offering courses with honors options as well as awarding valedictorians. Many companies in the US also look at GPA while selecting candidates. 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 negative effects that some say grades have (see Punished By RewardsbyAlfie Kohn). Arguments against its existence:

•Clifford Adelman, a senior research analyst for the U.S. Department of Education, reviewed student transcripts from more than 3,000 universities and reported that student grades have actually declined slightly over the last 20 years, in 1995. •A report issued by the National Center for Education Statistics surveyed all 16.5 million graduated from the year 1999-2000. The study concluded that 28.9% of graduated received mostly C’s or lower, while only 14.5% received mostly A’s. These results conform to grading based upon a normal distribution. Grade Inflation in the United States

GRADE INFLATION AT THE POST SECONDARY LEVEL

A recent study, , collects historical data from 80 schools, in some cases dating back to the 1920s, and conclude clear evidence of nationwide grade inflation over time, and regular differences between classes of schools and departments. Main historical trends identified include:

•a divergence in average grades between public and private institutions, starting in the 1950s; •a widespread sharp rise in grades from the mid-1960s to mid-1970s; •relatively little change in grades from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s; •a slow rise in grades from the mid-1980s to present.

The average at private schools is currently 3.3, while at public schools it is 3.0. This difference is partly but not entirely attributed to differences in quality of student body, as measured by standardized test scores or selectivity. After correcting for these factors, private schools grade on average .1 or .2 points higher than comparable public schools, depending on which measure is used. There is significant variation in grading between different schools, and across disciplines.

Between classes of schools, engineering schools grade lower by an average of .15 points, while public flagship schools grade somewhat higher. Across disciplines, science departments grade on average .4 points below humanities and .2 points below social sciences. While engineering schools grade lower on average, engineering departments grade comparably to social sciences departments, about .

2 points above science departments. These differences between disciplines have been present for at least 40 years, and sparse earlier data suggests that they date back 70 years or more. Until recently, the evidence for grade inflation in the US has been sparse, largely anecdotal, and sometimes even contradictory; firm data on this issue was not abundant, nor was it easily attainable or amenable for analysis.