The myth and dangers of “Grade inflation” are bigger and more prominent that many people realize. The idea that someone can get a grade comparable to mine, knowing that I achieved a better paper, upsets and interests me at the same time. I personally do not believe in giving a grade unless it is deserved, but that there could be under-lining issues that could affect the situation hence creating one of uniqueness. A situation of an excused “tardiness” is an example of an exemption from the penalty of deducted points that might separate one student’s grades from another. There are many different arguments whether there have been cases of inflated grades or not and through this paper we will cover some.
This dilemma or question has been investigated and looked through for more than a century. The fact that this investigating has gone on so long and there still is no definitive proof of “Grade Inflation” or that there is not, is a testament of how well both sides can provide persuasive objections.
The inflation in the amount of higher grades cannot be associated solely with negative conclusions. Grades could be on the rise for many reasons having nothing to do with teachers showing favoritism to particular students. A lot of information regarding what grades students get largely comes from the students themselves. When a survey was done in 1993, “one out of every three students failed to return the questionnaire about their grades.” (The dangerous myth of grade inflation, Alfie Kohn, Nov. 8, 2002—volume. 49, no. 11, p. B7)
When Clifford Adelman reviewed transcripts in 1995, he found there was no significant evidence supporting grades that have inflated; Adelman even looked at colleges that were highly rated and highly selective in their acceptance process.
Critics have a very hard time supporting their claims of “inflated grades” because they cannot prove students were cheating, teachers did not care enough, or that students were shown favoritism for their athletic abilities. Long story short, they could not prove the students did not just study and put forth the effort that would represent better grades than previous classes did on the same work. This is also hard to prove because there was no reports kept on previous grades from year to year as well.
Another thing that could affect the statistics of grades inflating is the fact that not all grades reach the students transcripts. Students today now have the option to withdraw from a class and retake it to improve their previous grade. This obviously allows the students to have a major influence on whether or not the statistics show an increase in A’s, a decrease in C’s, and exact number of DNF’S.
The SAT’s are another example of something that plays a pivotal role and influences the outcome of reports on “inflated grades”. If a person scores high on their SAT’S, it is only logical to assume they will get into a more selective college, perform better, and become more successful in life after college; that sounds like a lot of “if’s” to me. There are so many things that can happen to someone that could change their path in life in a split second. A few examples could be, a student could be involved in an accident making him or her unable to attend school, there could be a family business with promising hopes for them if they worked and didn’t go to school. I personally have worked for a family business and it was very tempting to accept the leader ship role over attending college out of high school. Just because someone scores high on a test does not mean they will be successful and continue having a strong will to succeed.
There are students out there that have taken the idea that the point of school is to just get good grades; learning seems to come second after this. This mind process could lead to students focusing on ways to cheat or something to get better grades other than learn; hence affecting the investigation of “inflated grades.” So it is left to be said that,