Grade Inflation                                            Source #1

"Grade Inflation occurs when there is an upward trend over a period of time in grades awarded to successive cohorts of students taking a given examination or set of examinations in the absence of a matching improvement in learning or achievement"

Grade Inflation                                          Source #1

 "In 1994, approximately 7% of degree 

graduates across all seven Irish universities obtained a first. By 2004, this 

proportion had doubled to 14%."

Grade Inflation                                           Source #1

"An unavoidable consequence of grade inflation is that increasingly the distribution of grades is pressed up against the ceiling."

Grade Inflation                                         Source #1

"In 2006, rdinary Level Mathematics as compared with a failure rate of 7% in English, 8% in French, 5% in Geography, 5% in Business and 4% in History. Science subjects share with Mathematics a high level of objectivity when it comes to standards and grading"

Grade Inflation                                          Source #1

While grade inflation does not immediately eliminate grade differentiation, it causes a progressive shift in that direction with, ultimately, a similar impact on student motivation to achieve. 

Grade Inflation                                           Source #2

Thus, when a student makes a high “B,” such as a 89.5 (the grade that he earned) and a teacher rounds the grade to a low “A,” such as a 90 (a grade the student did not earn), grade inflation has been utilized to improve the student’s self-esteem

Grade Inflation                                          Source #2

"One major cultural problem that obstructs the advances to

eliminate grade inflation is the fact that self-esteem has been

thrust into the curriculum of schools. According to Edwards,

“[o]ne of the most publicized reasons for inflating grades is to

build self-esteem” (541). Theoretically, if a student feels better

about himself, then he will make better grades."

Grade Inflation                                             Source #2

According to Coleman, an adolescent scoring in the middle

intelligence range. will probably rank near the top of the class in

a low status school where the competition is lean, and near the

bottom in a high status school where the competition is intense.

Grade Inflation                                         Source #2

"In the same way a snowball begins as a single snowflake,

grade inflation begins with a single undeserved increase in a

grade. While this single increase in a grade seems harmless, it

can have drastic effects on the future of a student. Because of

grade inflation, the student may begin to rely on the cushion that

it gives and forego studying. Since the student is no longer

studying, the amount and quality of the knowledge that should

be acquired are lessened. Consequently, the student will not be

able to reach his potential"

Grade Inflation                                              Source #2

According to a study commissioned by the Georgia General

Assembly, students who have an average GPA of at least a 3.0

(a “B” average) in core-curriculum high school courses will be

awarded the HOPE (“Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally”)

College Scholarship (McCrary et al. 1).

Grade Inflation                                          Source #3

"An inherent problem with inflated grades is that they give very little information about the level of mastery in the subject. Grade inflation enables students to complete classes and obtain diplomas and enter into jobs for which they are not adequately qualified."

Grade Inflation                                         Source #3

"Although such students may consider themselves fortunate, society as whole

will pay the price—for example, when a poorly qualified teacher enters into the

education system for perhaps 40 years of teaching. Of course, inflated grades make

it relatively easier to identify extremely poor performers because C, D, and F

grades are relatively sparse; but such determinations are often of much lesser

importance.3"

Grade Inflation                                              Source #4

"Low grading standards in university education departments are part of a larger culture of low standards for educators, and they precede the low evaluation standards by which teachers are judged in K-12 schools."

Grade Inflation                                              Source #4

"...undergraduate students taking education classes were twice as likely to receive an A compared with students taking classes in business or liberal arts departments"

This is still true today

Grade Inflation                                            Source #4

In the 2007-2008 school year, multiple universities followed the same type of grade distribution, except for the education department. They consistently have higher GPA's and more A's are given out as well.

Grade Inflation                                              Source #5

We Are Training Teachers Who Know Less. Grade inflation is associated with reduced student effort in college–put simply, students in classes where it is easier to get an A do not work as hard. This is not surprising, and a recent study by Philip Babcock quantifies the effect

Grade Inflation                                         Source#5 

"To illustrate, consider an example from outside education: suppose that engineering professors at University X greatly lowered their grading standards and began producing low-quality engineers. Engineering firms that hire the fresh engineering graduates are forced by the competitive nature of the market to pay workers commensurate with their skills. These firms would observe the decline in the quality of graduates from University X and respond by hiring fewer engineering students from University X or offering them lower wages. In turn, this would lower student demand for the program, which would put pressure on the professors to improve quality. The professors would respond by retightening standards."

Grade Inflation                                           Source #6

"In classes where the expected grade rises by one point, students respond by reducing effort, as measured by study time, by at least 20 percent.9 It is straightforward to apply this result to the data from the two schools depicted in figures 1 and 2. If the grading standards in each education department were moved to align with the average grading standards at their respective universities, student effort would rise by at least 11-14 percent."

Grade Inflation                                           Source #6

"The fundamental problem is simple: there is no pressure from competitive markets in education. The solution, as with any market failure, is external intervention. Two external forces with the potential to meaningfully intervene are university administrators and external accountability measures in K-12 schools."

Grade Inflation                                           Source #6

Consequence 2: Education Departments Are Contributing to the Culture of Low Standards for Educators. A superintendent asked a school principal to tell him how many of her teachers were performing well. The principal replied that they were all performing well. Puzzled, the superintendent reminded her that the vast majority of the children at the school were not reading even within a year of grade level, and he asked the question again. The principal’s response was unchanged. He then asked the principal which of the teachers at her school would be suitable to teach her own granddaughter. She replied, “Well, if that’s the bar, then none of them.”10