By Lia Bergin
According to researchers at GradeInflation.com, at Yale, 62 percent of grades were in the A range in the spring of 2012. That figure was only 10 percent in 1963. This statistic highlights the growing issue of grade inflation within the academic world. Grade inflation is when teachers assign higher letter grades toward academic work whose quality would have received a lower letter grade in previous years. This means that students get progressively better GPAs and letter grades throughout each decade in the American education system, despite not improving the quality of work.
Pioneer does not currently use a normal distribution curve (also known as a bell curve) for grading students. Within a bell curve, A is given to 10% of students, B to 10%, C to 30-40%, and D and E is given to the remaining 10-20%. This means that a letter grade of C is the most commonly given grade. To Steven Boyce, a Pioneer High School World History teacher, the normal distribution curve of letter grades is not applicable for a current AAPS teachers’ grading strategies. “If I were to structure my course so that I replicate the normal distribution curve, I would get sued and fired,” he said. “A whole lot of kids would get Cs and then they would scream bloody murder.”
In the US News article “Average High School GPAs Increased since 1990,” studies from ACT and College Board show GPAs increased while scores on the standardized ACT and SAT did not.” Boyce attributes the rise of grade inflation to high schools becoming more college preparatory. “As the U.S. started moving towards the vast majority of people going to college…then all of a sudden grades get really important. And the assumption is, I need to get above average grades otherwise I’m not going to college,” he said.
Shelly Zhang, a Pioneer freshmen, describes the attitude students have towards perfect grades. “The mindset now is that you have to get an A. There are mottos like ‘A is for average, B is for bad,’ and this shows that the goal has shifted from passing to being perfect,” she said.
Boyce says Pioneer has, in the past, contributed to expanding grade inflation. “No one [at Pioneer] gets in trouble for giving out too many A’s and B’s. Teachers do get in trouble for giving out too many D’s and E’s. At one time, this school kept a list about how many D’s and E’s [teachers] gave out. You can get in trouble for that,” he said.
Advanced Placement grades are also majorly affected by grade inflation. According to a survey by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, around 70 percent of U.S. high schools award students with bonus points for taking an AP class. This bonus-point system is essentially equivalent to grade inflation, where a higher grade is earned for work that might not have deserved it.
Some colleges have taken steps towards ending grade inflation. Princeton adopted a policy in 2004 where, on average, no more than 35 percent of grades given in undergraduate courses should be in the A range. This was not a rigid guideline, yet it allowed teachers some perspective on what a reasonable grading quota should look like. Some districts have little concern over grade inflation. Instead, they are worried about kids in the bottom grade percentile. “Within a place like Ann Arbor, the spectrum between the lowest and the highest students is so vast that we got kids cruising with all A’s and B’s on this end, with no effort, and we have kids who are struggling with multiple D’s and E’s and they can’t even keep up with that middle,” Boyce says. “The AAPS is not worried about grade inflation. What they’re worried about is that persistent bottom 30 percent that can’t get up to a C.”
Many say that the basis of issues relating to grade inflation is that students who are receiving the top letter grades are giving minimal effort and students who are in lower percentiles cannot rise to an average letter grade. Omolara Clay, a Pioneer freshman, sees two sides to grade inflation. “I feel like [grade inflation] is a double-edged sword,” said Clay. “It can allow students who are participating and getting their work done to get good grades, but if you don’t understand what you’re doing, it will hurt you in the end.”
Instructors point out that schools are focused on improving the grades of the bottom percentile and they disregard the rising numbers at the top. To end an issue like grade inflation, schools would need to reestablish the average letter grade, typically C, and focus on closing the widening gap between students who excel and students who fail.
Pioneer does not currently use a normal distribution curve (also known as a bell curve) for grading students. Within a bell curve, A is given to 10% of students, B to 10%, C to 30-40%, and D and E is given to the remaining 10-20%. This means that a letter grade of C is the most commonly given grade. To Steven Boyce, a Pioneer High School World History teacher, the normal distribution curve of letter grades is not applicable for a current AAPS teachers’ grading strategies. “If I were to structure my course so that I replicate the normal distribution curve, I would get sued and fired,” he said. “A whole lot of kids would get Cs and then they would scream bloody murder.”
In the US News article “Average High School GPAs Increased since 1990,” studies from ACT and College Board show GPAs increased while scores on the standardized ACT and SAT did not.” Boyce attributes the rise of grade inflation to high schools becoming more college preparatory. “As the U.S. started moving towards the vast majority of people going to college…then all of a sudden grades get really important. And the assumption is, I need to get above average grades otherwise I’m not going to college,” he said.
Shelly Zhang, a Pioneer freshmen, describes the attitude students have towards perfect grades. “The mindset now is that you have to get an A. There are mottos like ‘A is for average, B is for bad,’ and this shows that the goal has shifted from passing to being perfect,” she said.
Boyce says Pioneer has, in the past, contributed to expanding grade inflation. “No one [at Pioneer] gets in trouble for giving out too many A’s and B’s. Teachers do get in trouble for giving out too many D’s and E’s. At one time, this school kept a list about how many D’s and E’s [teachers] gave out. You can get in trouble for that,” he said.
Advanced Placement grades are also majorly affected by grade inflation. According to a survey by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, around 70 percent of U.S. high schools award students with bonus points for taking an AP class. This bonus-point system is essentially equivalent to grade inflation, where a higher grade is earned for work that might not have deserved it.
Some colleges have taken steps towards ending grade inflation. Princeton adopted a policy in 2004 where, on average, no more than 35 percent of grades given in undergraduate courses should be in the A range. This was not a rigid guideline, yet it allowed teachers some perspective on what a reasonable grading quota should look like. Some districts have little concern over grade inflation. Instead, they are worried about kids in the bottom grade percentile. “Within a place like Ann Arbor, the spectrum between the lowest and the highest students is so vast that we got kids cruising with all A’s and B’s on this end, with no effort, and we have kids who are struggling with multiple D’s and E’s and they can’t even keep up with that middle,” Boyce says. “The AAPS is not worried about grade inflation. What they’re worried about is that persistent bottom 30 percent that can’t get up to a C.”
Many say that the basis of issues relating to grade inflation is that students who are receiving the top letter grades are giving minimal effort and students who are in lower percentiles cannot rise to an average letter grade. Omolara Clay, a Pioneer freshman, sees two sides to grade inflation. “I feel like [grade inflation] is a double-edged sword,” said Clay. “It can allow students who are participating and getting their work done to get good grades, but if you don’t understand what you’re doing, it will hurt you in the end.”
Instructors point out that schools are focused on improving the grades of the bottom percentile and they disregard the rising numbers at the top. To end an issue like grade inflation, schools would need to reestablish the average letter grade, typically C, and focus on closing the widening gap between students who excel and students who fail.