Essay Example on Grade Inflation: A Growing Phenomenon in Education Systems

Everywhere in the world, learning institutions use marks or grades as basic signaling and sorting mechanism for learners. Students are supposed to be awarded grades that reflect their learning outcomes. Unfortunately, many grades awarded to students today do not accurately indicate their achievement in academic work. Over the last five decades, grade inflation has grown to be a rampant phenomenon characterizing education systems from primary to university (Lindsay, 2019). Although administrators of academic institutions are aware of this problem, many of them prefer to ignore it, as some even support the practice (Primack, 2012). Since it violates student trust, grade inflation is fundamentally an injustice and scandal of magnanimous proportion.

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Grade inflation involves awarding students higher grades that do not correspond to their academic achievement (Primack, 2012). There has been a tendency to compress grades towards the top points. Research on grade inflation has shown that the grading system of most institutions is broken. The significant rise in the percentage of students graduating with top degrees has been strongly associated with irresponsibility and unethical conduct of instructors and school administrators. Learning institutions give teachers and professors favorable reviews and promotions if they consistently produce "high quality" grades in the classes they take (Kxan, 2013). Therefore, class instructors have fallen to the trap of putting a larger proportion of students in their classes in grades A and B to get the rewards that come with producing more top grades.

Grade inflation is now the norm, especially in universities and colleges where it has increased considerably over the years. Rojstaczer (2008) studied the history grades attained by students in several institutions across the nation over 30 years and noted that grades began to rise in the 1960s, and plateaued in the 1970s before shooting up again in the 1980s. Private institutions registered much more top grades than public schools but the inflation was evident in both of them.

The vice has attracted great condemnation from the public, researchers, and educators as it is eroding the value of university training in the eyes of potential students and employers. In a fair and honest system, outstanding students would get grade A while the good ones would be awarded a B. According to Kxan (2013), a class instructor who finds it more convenient to inflate grades will award both students the same grade, making it difficult to determine their abilities based on their academic records. For this reason, college grade point averages no longer give graduates an upper hand in job interviews but having a college diploma still does (Lindsay, 2019).

Moreover, Selingo (2018) observed that academic excellence does not predict career success anymore. He adds that the assertion should mean a great relief for parents, who have always expressed great concern for their children’s engagement in an endless race for top grades, driving most of them into anxiety. Dale (1997) argues that although grades may no longer be as important in securing a job, they still matter a lot in college admissions, which is an equally important selection in life. High school teachers know that admission officers in colleges give greater weight to high school grades than any other thing when choosing applicants. Many college officials still believe that high school GPAs consistently predict how students are likely to perform in college better than other factors.

Selingo (2018) further notes that according to research, good high school grades also predict higher college completion rates and good performance at the end. At least this should be the reality in an honest academic system. Therefore, grade inflation contributes to leaving college with a diploma, and if that is what employers look for, then it certainly matters in getting a job.

However, Lindsay (2019) does not believe that high school grades still predict college completion rates. He explains grade inflation has eliminated all the schooling pressure that would make the student admitted under false pretense get dismissals for failure. Today, the lack of merit is hidden under good grades. Since students have learned that no instructor wants to give their students a C grade anymore, they no longer struggle to get good grades. Instead, they spend their time in college drinking and partying (Rojstacze, 2008). Completing college has never been easier than it is today. There is virtually no pressure in schooling in today's world anymore. It is unfortunate that most learning institutions know about the problem of grade inflation, but they continue to overlook it because of the controversy surrounding it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, grade inflation has been associated with the recent increase in grade point averages and the percentage of students completing school with high grades. Since instructors frivolously award high grades to their students for sinister motives, the rising grades are not anything to celebrate as they do not represent an increase in hard work and learning at school. Similarly, they do not translate to an increase in skills and knowledge of graduates. Grades are considered as the academic currency, and the problem of grade inflation causes its devaluation. Because of grade inflation, the entire academic evaluation system, including the degrees and diplomas which they lead to are losing credibility.

References

Dale, M. (1997, August 31). When Student’s A Is Not an A. Philadelphia Inquirer .Kxan. (2013, December 4). Study: Grade inflation on rise at US colleges [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIbXYy2Ptro

Lindsay, T. (2019, March 30). The 'Other' college scandal: Grade inflation has turned transcripts into monopoly money. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomlindsay/2019/03/30/the-other-college-scandal-grade-inflation-has-turned-transcripts-into-monopoly-money/#22093cc74182

Primack, P. (2012). Doesn’t Anyone Get a C Anymore. In From Inquiry to Academic Writing (4th ed., pp. 110-112). Bedford Books.

Rojstacze, S. (2008). Grade Inflation Gone Wild. In From Inquiry to Academic Writing (4th ed., pp. 108-110). Bedford Books.

Selingo, J. J. (2018, December 15). Making the grade still matters — at least in college admissions. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/12/15/making-grade-still-matters-least-college-admissions/