Students everywhere are fighting for high marks that may no longer reflect their performance, and colleges are instituting new policies to solve the problem
Grade inflation has watered down the value of an A in higher education. However, attempted solutions to this problem have also rendered blows to grading accuracy. Some schools have begun to use deflationary policy, like quotas that limit the number of As, in order to deter grade inflation. Colleges who maintain or institute rigorous grading policies can be seen as disadvantaging their students due to the higher standards that accompany grade inflation.
Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences will be voting in May on a recent grading policy proposal that would cap the amount of top grades.
With an increase in the competitiveness of college admissions, the average grade received in high schools was raised. Cs used to be the average; as of late, As and Bs are the new norm, according to the United States Department of Education. This effect has carried on in higher education. Now admissions to Ph.D. programs and medical schools have become incredibly competitive, with the expectation of a near perfect GPA.
Associate Professor, Ciprian Radavoi, from the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, believes the main cause of grade inflation within universities is the importance put on Student Evaluation of Teaching forms (SETs).
“Based on my research, but also on personal experience and on informal conversations with colleagues and peers in Australia and overseas, the main cause of grade inflation appears to be the weight given by universities to student feedback (Student Evaluation of Teaching forms, SETs) in decisions impacting a teacher’s career, such as promotion and tenure,” said Radavoi.
Radavoi believes grade inflation causes teachers to be punished for more selective grading.
“The effects of grade inflation are toxic on multiple planes,” said Radavoi. “I saw cases of teachers who tried to uphold the integrity of assessment and resist grade inflation being subtly punished by management with criticism and even promotion denials, while teachers who do not have a problem artificially rising grades are being praised as ‘good teachers.’”
He also believes grade inflation in the long run is damaging to students, despite the temporary positivity of higher marks.
“They may perceive an immediate gain from an undeserved mark, but in the long term they are harmed by being disincentivized from studying, shielded from the educative experience of failure, and instilled with a false sense of success,” said Radavoi. “When these students reach the job market unprepared professionally and emotionally, they will realize their inflated grades were a poisoned chalice.”
Radavoi noticed a contrast in the reasoning for grade inflation in America versus Australia, due to historical pressure and America’s earlier introduction to grade inflation. He explained that grade inflation research was published in the early 197os, “and the causes reported were completely different to the causes we have today,” said Radavoi. “At that time, teachers were giving higher-than-deserved grades to avoid the risk for the student to lose their draft deferments and be conscripted for Vietnam. It could also have been an intention to compensate for past racial and class injustice.”
Australia, however, did not exhibit grade inflation until later, he said, nor does it have the added consumer pressure, such as high-priced, elite universities, America has.
Kim Polin, the Dean of Academics at Williston, says grade inflation is prevalent in high schools, similarly to colleges and universities.
“It’s a phenomenon at nearly every school I’ve talked to and is widely written about in colleges,” said Polin.
She sees grade deflation as problematic, however, as it waters down the accuracy of student engagement.
“I see grades as a very basic language we use to convey the quality of a student’s engagement with course material,” Polin said. “The main problem I see with grade inflation is that it shrinks the number of “words” (numbers) we tend to use and, therefore, our language is less nuanced.”
Polin says that grade inflation is too big to solve without widespread action, and also noted that direct grade deflationary policy is discouraged, at least at Williston.
Leannah Hicks, a Science teacher at Williston who recently graduated with a doctorate in plant biology from UMass Amherst, believes deflationary policy is damaging, primarily to students who do not delve as deeply into content.
“In practice, this has a small impact on students who put in the effort,” said Hicks. “Students who are not engaging with the material take a significantly larger hit.”
However, she does not believe additional competition in the classroom is necessary in contrast to grade inflation, and doesn’t feel teachers should limit the amount of top grades they give.
“The standards should remain high and meaningful with grades reflecting the students understanding of the material, not completion or effort alone,” she said.
Hicks is currently teaching Honors Biology while Kirsten Blaesing is out on maternity leave.
Grading should remain independent of other factors, and solely focused on demonstrating student understanding, postulated Hicks.
“Grading should be supportive in student’s learning (not something that adds detrimental stress) while also providing an honest reflection of their level of understanding” she said.
