Grade inflation
Encyclopedia
Grade inflation is the tendency of academic grades
Grade (education)
Grades are standardized measurements of varying levels of comprehension within a subject area. Grades can be assigned in letters , as a range , as a number out of a possible total , as descriptors , in percentages, or, as is common in some post-secondary...

 for work of comparable quality to increase over time.

It is frequently discussed in relation to U.S. education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

, and to GCSEs and A levels in England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...

. It is also an issue in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and a major issue in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

 and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

.

Causes

Grade inflation is said to occur when higher grades are assigned for work that would have received lower grades in the past.
Whether rising grades are a result of grade inflation or higher achievement can be difficult to discern and often can be determined only with systematic research.

The forces leading to grade inflation can emanate from parents, students, schools, or politicians. Grade inflation may reflect underlying credential inflation
Credential inflation
Credential inflation refers to the devaluation of educational or academic credentials over time and a corresponding decrease in the expected advantage given a degree holder in the job market. Credential inflation is thus similar to monetary inflation, and describes the declining value of earned...

.

If other schools or teachers are inflating grades, any school or teacher that takes a "hold out" stance will place its students at a disadvantage. Some educators may feel pressured to give higher grades for fear of students complaining and receiving bad course evaluations, thereby diminishing their reputation resulting in denial of promotion or tenure, or causing them to face lower enrollment in their classes. Course evaluations produced by the students in a class are often used by committees to help them make decisions about awarding the teacher promotion and tenure. A teacher may improve evaluations by improving their teaching, but the strategy that comes most quickly to mind for achieving better evaluations is to give higher grades for assignments and exams. A comprehensive study by Valen Johnson shows a statistical correlation between high grades and high course evaluations [Grade Inflation: A Crisis in Education, Springer-Verlag, 2003]. In a separate analysis of grades at Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...

, the onset of grade inflation in the 1980s corresponds with the onset of mandatory course evaluations.

Possible problems associated with grade inflation

  • Grade inflation makes it more difficult to identify the truly exceptional students, as more students come to get the highest possible grade.
  • Grade inflation is not uniform between schools. This places students in more stringently graded schools and departments at an inequitable disadvantage.
  • Grade inflation is not uniform among disciplines.


Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

 took a rare stance against grade inflation in 2004, and publicly announced a policy designed to curb it. The policy states that A grades should account for less than 35 percent of the grades for undergraduate courses and less than 55 percent of grades for junior and senior independent work. The standard by which the grading record of each department or program is evaluated is the percentage of A grades given over the previous three years.

Arguments against taking action on grade inflation:
  • Higher grades at some schools may reflect better performance than others (although with no national standard, there can be no way to compare one school to another by grades).
  • Although grade inflation doesn't evenly distribute through departments, it is arguable, due to the subjective nature of grades, that interdepartmental grading practices were not equal in the first place (e.g. how is one supposed to determine the English equivalent of an A's worth of work in Physics?)
  • Grade inflation may motivate less productive students to keep studying whereas countries with no grade inflation may discourage students from studying by demoralizing them.
  • The US system still allows for students to thrive by offering courses with honors options as well as awarding valedictorians. Many companies in the US also look at GPA while selecting candidates.


Similarly, if one believes the purpose of a school is to better oneself and gain an understanding of the subjects, then one might not care too much if people are getting better grades than before, regardless of the cause. Indeed, it could be construed as a positive development since it might lessen the negative effects that some say grades have.

Arguments against its existence:
  • Clifford Adelman, a senior research analyst for the U.S. Department of Education, reviewed student transcripts from more than 3,000 universities and reported that student grades have actually declined slightly over the last 20 years, in 1995.
  • A report issued by the National Center for Education Statistics surveyed all 16.5 million undergraduated from the year 1999-2000. The study concluded that 28.9% of graduated received mostly C grades or lower, while only 14.5% received mostly A grades. These results conform to grading based upon a normal distribution.

Grade Inflation at the Post Secondary Level

A recent study, , collects historical data from 80 schools, in some cases dating back to the 1920s, and conclude clear evidence of nationwide grade inflation over time, and regular differences between classes of schools and departments.

Main historical trends identified include:
  • a divergence in average grades between public and private institutions, starting in the 1950s;
  • a widespread sharp rise in grades from the mid-1960s to mid-1970s;
  • relatively little change in grades from the mid-1970s to mid-1980s;
  • a slow rise in grades from the mid-1980s to present.

The average at private schools is currently 3.3, while at public schools it is 3.0. This difference is partly but not entirely attributed to differences in quality of student body, as measured by standardized test scores or selectivity. After correcting for these factors, private schools grade on average .1 or .2 points higher than comparable public schools, depending on which measure is used.

There is significant variation in grading between different schools, and across disciplines. Between classes of schools, engineering schools grade lower by an average of .15 points, while public flagship schools grade somewhat higher. Across disciplines, science departments grade on average .4 points below humanities and .2 points below social sciences. While engineering schools grade lower on average, engineering departments grade comparably to social sciences departments, about .2 points above science departments. These differences between disciplines have been present for at least 40 years, and sparse earlier data suggests that they date back 70 years or more.

Until recently, the evidence for grade inflation in the US has been sparse, largely anecdotal, and sometimes even contradictory; firm data on this issue was not abundant, nor was it easily attainable or amenable for analysis. National surveys in the 1990s generally showed rising grades at American colleges and universities, but a survey of college transcripts by a senior research analyst in the U.S. Department of Education found that grades declined slightly in the 1970s and 1980s. Data for American
high schools were lacking.

Recent data leave little doubt that grades are rising at American colleges, universities and high schools. An evaluation of grading practices in US colleges and universities written in 2003, shows that since the 1960s, grades in the US have risen at a rate of 0.15 per decade on a 4.0 scale. The study included over 80 institutions with a combined enrollment of over 1,000,000 students. An annual national survey of college freshmen indicates that students are studying less in high school, yet an increasing number report high school grades of A- or better.

Princeton University

In an attempt to combat the grade inflation prevalent at many top US institutions, Princeton began in the autumn of 2004 to employ guidelines for grading distributions across departments. Under the new guidelines, departments have been encouraged to re-evaluate and clarify their grading policies. The administration suggests that, averaged over the course of several years in an individual department, A-range grades should constitute 35% of grades in classroom work, and 55% of grades in independent work such as Senior Theses. These guidelines are enforced by the academic departments. Since the policy's inception, A-range grades have declined significantly in Humanities departments, while remaining nearly constant in the Natural Science departments, which were typically at or near the 35% guideline already.
Success at curbing grade inflation

In 2009, it was confirmed that the policy implemented in 2004 had brought undergraduate grades within the ranges targeted by the initiative. In 2008-09, A grades (A+, A, A-) accounted for 39.7% of grades in undergraduate courses across the University, the first time that A grades have fallen below 40% since the policy was approved. The results were in marked contrast to those from 2002–03, when As accounted for a high of 47.9% of all grades.

Deflation has varied by division, with the social sciences and natural sciences largely holding steady for the last four years. During that period, A grades have ranged from 37.1 to 37.9% in the social sciences and from 35.1 to 35.9% in the natural sciences. In the humanities and engineering, where deflation has been slower, 2008-09 brought significant movement. A's accounted for 42.5% of grades in the humanities last year and 40.6% of grades in engineering, both down two percentage points compared to 2007-08. In the period from fall 2006 through spring 2009, the most recent three-year period under the new grading policy, A's accounted for 40.1% of grades in undergraduate courses, down from 47.0% in 2001-04, the three years before the faculty adopted the policy. The 2006-09 results also mark continued deflation from those reported a year ago, when A's accounted for 40.4% of undergraduate grades in the 2005-08 period. In humanities departments, A's accounted for 44.1% of the grades in undergraduate courses in 2006-09, down from 55.6% in 2001-04. In the social sciences, there were 37.7% A grades in 2006-09, down from 43.3% in 2001-04. In the natural sciences, there were 35.6% A grades in 2006-09, compared to 37.2% in 2001-04. In engineering, the figures were 41.7% A's in 2006-09, down from 50.2% in 2001-04.
Criticism of policy that curbs grade inflation

Many argue that it places students at a disadvantage when they apply for employment after graduating at professional schools because of the comparatively lower marks on students' transcripts. The student body, for the most part, opposes this system of "grade deflation," but the administration stands by it, saying that other schools will soon follow — despite outright statements from other schools that say they have no plans to implement such policies.

Harvard University

Grade inflation is often equated with lax academic standards. For example, the following quote about lax standards from a Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 report in 1894 has been used to claim that grade inflation has been a longstanding issue: "Grades A and B are sometimes given too readily ... insincere students gain passable grades by sham work." Issues of standards in American education
Education in the United States
Education in the United States is mainly provided by the public sector, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. Child education is compulsory.Public education is universally available...

 have been longstanding. However, rising grades did not become a major issue in American education until the 1960s. For example, in 1890 Harvard's average GPA was 2.27. In 1950, its average GPA was 2.55. By 2004, its GPA, as a result of dramatic rises in the 1960s and gradual rises since, had risen to 3.48.

University of Alabama

The University of Alabama
University of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....

 has been cited as a particularly extreme case of grade inflation. In 2003, Robert Witt, president of the university, responded to criticism that his administration encouraged grade inflation on campus by shutting down access to the records of the Office of Institutional Research, which, until that year, had made grade distribution data freely available. It is however, still available on the Greek Affairs website. The Alabama Scholars Organization, and its newspaper, the Alabama Observer, had been instrumental in exposing the situation and recommending that the Witt administration adopt public accountability measures. The paper had revealed that several departments awarded more than 50 percent "A"s in introductory courses and that one department, Women's Studies, handed out 90 percent "A"s (the vast majority of those being "A+"). Grades had grown consistently higher during the period examined, from 1973 to 2003.

The university administration took steps to restrict independent faculty publications on the campus of the University of Alabama, including Alabama Academe, the newspaper of the Alabama chapter of the AAUP
American Association of University Professors
The American Association of University Professors is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States. AAUP membership is about 47,000, with over 500 local campus chapters and 39 state organizations...

. Alabama Academe had been distributed on campus for more than 30 years. Alabama Observer, the publication of the Alabama Scholars Association, was also banned.

UC Campuses

UC Berkeley has a reputation for rigorous grading policies in some science and engineering classes. Departmental guidelines state that no more than 17% of the students in any given class may be awarded A grades, and that the class GPA should be in the range of 2.7 to 2.9 out of a maximum of 4.0 grade points. Most departments, however, are not adhering to such strict guidelines, as data from the University's Office of Student Research indicates that the average overall undergraduate GPA is about 3.25. Most UC campuses have unbalanced grade distributions. For example, at UC Irvine, 38% of grades given were A’s and 39% B's. Other UC campuses had similar distributions.

Saint Anselm College

A small liberal arts college in New Hampshire, Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College is a nationally ranked, private, Benedictine, Catholic liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Founded in 1889 by Abbot Hilary Pfrängle, O.S.B. of Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey, at the request of Bishop Denis M. Bradley of Manchester, New Hampshire, the...

 has received national attention and recognition for attempting to buck the trend of grade inflation seen on the campuses of many American colleges and universities. At Saint Anselm, the top 25% of the class has a 3.1 GPA; the median grade at the college is around a 2.50 GPA. According to a 2006 Fox News article, former Dean of the College
Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College is a nationally ranked, private, Benedictine, Catholic liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Founded in 1889 by Abbot Hilary Pfrängle, O.S.B. of Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey, at the request of Bishop Denis M. Bradley of Manchester, New Hampshire, the...

 Father Peter Guerin is quoted as saying that today's "parents may view universities as a consumer market in which they're in a way paying for the diploma...Students who attend class on a regular basis and are paying tuition feel that they should be receiving that A, even if they have not deserved it." Some professors and administrators believe that inflating grades makes it harder for students to realize their academic strengths and weaknesses and may encourage students to take classes based on grade expectation. The practice also makes it harder for parents and students to determine whether or not the grade was earned. Because of this, at Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College is a nationally ranked, private, Benedictine, Catholic liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Founded in 1889 by Abbot Hilary Pfrängle, O.S.B. of Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey, at the request of Bishop Denis M. Bradley of Manchester, New Hampshire, the...

, a curriculum committee was set up in 1980 to meet with the academic dean and review the grading polices on a monthly basis. This committee fights the practice of inflation by joining the administration and faculty in an effort to mend them into a working force against grade inflation. The current president of the college, Father Jonathan DeFelice
Jonathan DeFelice
Father Jonathan DeFelice, O.S.B. is the President of New England's third oldest Catholic college, Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Growing up in Bristol, Rhode Island, he graduated from Portsmouth Abbey School in 1965, and then attended Saint Anselm College, earning a bachelors...

, is quoted as saying, "I cannot speak for everyone, but if I'm headed for the operating room, I will take the surgeon who earned his or her "A" the honest way," in support of Saint Anselm's
Saint Anselm College
Saint Anselm College is a nationally ranked, private, Benedictine, Catholic liberal arts college in Goffstown, New Hampshire. Founded in 1889 by Abbot Hilary Pfrängle, O.S.B. of Saint Mary's Abbey in Newark, New Jersey, at the request of Bishop Denis M. Bradley of Manchester, New Hampshire, the...

 stringent grading system.

Other post secondary institutions

Other colleges such as , Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University is a private liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States.The classical school from which Washington and Lee descended was established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, about north of its present location. In 1776 it was renamed Liberty Hall in a burst of...

, The College of William and Mary, Fordham University
Fordham University
Fordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...

, Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....

, Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

, the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...

 and Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...

 are also known for their rigorous grading practices. However, data indicate that even schools "known" for rigorous grading have experienced significant grade inflation and these claims are simply myths; for example, a study by Stuart Rojstaczer of Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...

 found that the average GPA at University of Chicago increased from 2.50 in 1965 to 3.26 in 1999, which was about the same GPA as many of its peer institutions. Washington and Lee had an average GPA of 3.27 in 2006 and Swarthmore's graduates had a mean GPA of 3.24 in 1997. "http://gradeinflation.com."At some schools there are concerns about different grading practices in different departments; engineering and science departments at schools such as Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 are reputed to have more rigorous standards than departments in other disciplines. To clarify the grades on its graduates' transcripts, Reed College
Reed College
Reed College is a private, independent, liberal arts college located in southeast Portland, Oregon. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus located in Portland's Eastmoreland neighborhood, featuring architecture based on the Tudor-Gothic style, and a forested canyon wilderness...

 includes a card, the current edition of which reports that "[t]he average GPA for all students in 2005–06 was 3.1 on a 4.0 scale. This figure has scarcely changed in the past 22 years. Reed has experienced little or no grade inflation. During that period, only five students have graduated from Reed with perfect 4.0 grade averages."

Pittsburgh School District

A January 7, 2009 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...

 used the term "grade inflation" to describe how some people viewed a grading policy in the Pittsburgh public school district. According to the article, the policy sets 50% as the minimum score that a student can get on any given school assignment. The article also stated that some students said they would rather get a score of 50% than do the school work.
A March 2, 2009 follow-up article in the same newspaper said that the policy had been amended so that students who refuse to do the work will receive a grade of zero, and that the minimum grade of 50% will only apply to students who make a "good-faith effort." A March 3, 2009 article in the same newspaper quoted Bill Hileman, a Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers staff representative, as saying, "The No. 1 problem with the 50 percent minimum was the negative impact on student behavior." The same article also said that the school district was planning to adopt a new grading scale in at least two schools by the end of the month. The article stated that under the original grading scale, the minimum scores required to earn an A, B, C, D, or E, were, respectively, 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, and 0%. Under the new 5-point grading scale, the minimum scores required to earn an A, B, C, D, or E would be changed, respectively, to 4.0, 3.0, 2.0, 1.0, and 0. Note the use of "E" instead of "F", the latter of which is used to indicate failing grades in most schools in the United States.

Ontario

James Côté and Anton L. Allahar http://www.ivorytowerblues.com/, both professors of sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

 at the University of Western Ontario
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario is a public research university located in London, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus covers of land, with the Thames River cutting through the eastern portion of the main campus. Western administers its programs through 12 different faculties and...

 conducted a rigorous empirical study of grade inflation in Canada, particularly of the province of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. Up until the 1960s, grading in Ontario had been borne out of the British system, in which no more than 5% of students were given As, and 30% given Bs. In the 1960s, average performers in Ontario were C-students, while A-students were considered exceptional. As of 2007, 90% of Ontario students have a B average or above. In Ontario, high school grades began to rise with the abolition of province-wide standardized exams in 1967.

The abolition of province-wide exams meant that student marks were entirely assigned by individual teachers. In 1983, 38% of students registering in universities had an average that was higher than 80%. By 1992, this figure was 44%. According to the Council of Ontario Universities
Council of Ontario Universities
The Council of Ontario Universities builds awareness of the university sector’s contributions to the social, economic and cultural well-being of the province and the country, as well as the issues that impact the sector’s ability to maximize these contributions...

, 52.6 % of high school graduates applying to Ontario universities in 1995 had an A average. In 2004, this figure had risen 61%. In 1995, 9.4 percent of high school graduates reported an A+ average. In 2003, this figure had risen to a high of 14.9%. The average grade of university applicants was 80% in 1997, and this percentage has steadily increased each year since.

In 2004, Quebec's McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...

 admitted that students from Ontario were given a higher cutoff grade than students from other provinces, because of concerns about grade inflation originating from the fact that Ontario does not have standardized provincial testing as a key component of high school graduation requirements.

Atlantic Canada

In 2007, the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies released a report on grade inflation in Atlantic Canada. http://www.aims.ca/library/Gradeinflationvfinal_cc.pdf Mathematics scores in New Brunswick francophone high schools indicate that teacher-assigned marks are inflated in relation to marks achieved on provincial exams. It was found that the average school marks and the average provincial exam were discordant. When looking at marks for school years 2001-2002 to 2003-2004, it was found that school marks in all 21 high schools were higher than the provincial exam marks. The provincial average for school marks is 73.7 % while the average for provincial exams marks is 60.1 % over the three years. School marks in all 21 high schools were higher than the provincial exam marks.

In the context of provincial exams and teacher assigned grades, grade inflation is defined as the difference between the teacher-assigned marks and the results on a provincial exam for that particular course. It was found that higher grade inflation points to lower provincial exam results. Of the 21 high schools, École Marie-Gaëtane had the highest grade inflation, at 24.7 %. With a provincial exam average of 52.3 % this school is also the least achieving school in the province. In contrast, schools Polyvalente Louis-J-Robichaud, Polyvalent Mathieu-Martin, École Grande-Rivière and Polyvalente Roland-Pépin had the lowest grade inflation with values ranging from -0.7 % to 9.3 %. They were the four top performing schools on the grade 11 mathematics provincial exams. Similar results were found for Anglophone New Brunswick high schools, as well as for Newfoundland and Labrador schools. Despite the high marks assigned by teachers, Atlantic Canadian high school students have consistently ranked poorly in pan Canadian and international assessments.

British Columbia

In 2008, in British Columbia, the University of Victoria
University of Victoria
The University of Victoria, often referred to as UVic, is the second oldest public research university in British Columbia, Canada. It is a research intensive university located in Saanich and Oak Bay, about northeast of downtown Victoria. The University's annual enrollment is about 20,000 students...

 (UVic) and the University of British Columbia
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...

 (UBC) reduced the number of Grade 12 provincial exams that high school students were required to write in order to gain admission to those universities. Prior to 2008, high school students applying to UVic and UBC were required to write 4 provincial exams, including Grade 12 English. In 2008, this standard was reduced so that students were only required to write the provincial exam for Grade 12 English. A UVic administrator claimed that the rationale for this reduction in standards is that it allows the university to better compete with central Canadian universities (i.e. Ontario and Québec universities) for students, and prevent enrollment from falling. Universities in central Canada do not require high school students to write provincial exams, and can offer early admission based on class marks alone. A Vancouver high school principal criticized the change in requirements by charging that it would become difficult to detect grade inflation. The president of the University Presidents' Council of British Columbia also criticized the move and said the provincial exams are “the great equalizer”. The British Columbia Teachers Federation supported the change because in the past some students avoided certain subjects for fear that poor marks on provincial exams would bring down their average.

In the fall of 2009, Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...

 (SFU) changed its requirements so that high school students only need to pass the English 12 provincial exam. Previously, students were required to pass 4 provincial exams, including English 12, in order to apply. This change brought SFU into line with UVic and UBC. Administrators claimed that this reduction of standards was necessary so that SFU could better compete with UBC and UVic for students. The change was criticized on the ground that it leads to "a race to the bottom."

Alberta

As of 2007, 40% of Ontario high school graduates leave with A averages – 8 times as many as would be awarded in the traditional British system. In Alberta, as of 2007, just over 20% of high school graduates leave with an A average. This discrepancy may be explained that all Alberta high school students must write province-wide standardized exams, Diploma exams, in core subjects, in order to graduate.

The Alberta Diploma exams are given in grade 12, covering core subjects such as biology, chemistry, English, math, physics and social studies. The exams are worth 50 percent of a grade 12 student’s final mark. Quebec also requires its students to write Diploma Exams for graduating students. Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nova Scotia have similar tests. British Columbia has a mandatory English proficiency test in grade 12, provincial tests in other subjects are optional.

Alberta’s focus on standardized exams keeps grade inflation in check, but can put Albertan high school students at a disadvantage relative to students in other provinces. However, Alberta has the highest standards in Canada, and produces students who are among the best in international comparisons. By preventing grade inflation, Albertan high schools have been able to greatly ameliorate the problem of compressing students with different abilities into the same category (i.e. inflating grades so that a student in the 98th percentile, for example, cannot be distinguished from one in the 82nd percentile).

Grade inflation at the post-secondary level

In relation to grade inflation at the university level, the research of the aforementioned Professors Côté and Allahar concluded that: “We find significant evidence of grade inflation in Canadian universities in both historical and comparative terms, as well as evidence that it is continuing beyond those levels at some universities so as to be comparable with levels found in some American universities. It is also apparent that the inflated grades at Canadian universities are now taken for granted as normal, or as non-inflated, by many people, including professors who never knew the traditional system, have forgotten it, or are in denial”.

A 2000 study of grade patterns over 20 years at seven Ontario universities (Brock, Guelph, McMaster, Ottawa, Trent, Wilfrid Laurier and Windsor) found that grade point averages rose in 11 of 12 arts and sciences courses between 1973–74 and 1993-94. In addition, it was found that a higher percentage of students received As and Bs and fewer got Cs, Ds and Fs.

University of Toronto

A 2006 study by the Canadian Undergraduate Survey Consortium released earlier in 2007 found students at the University of Toronto Scarborough
University of Toronto Scarborough
The University of Toronto Scarborough is a satellite campus of the University of Toronto. Based in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the campus is set upon suburban parkland in the residential neighbourhood of Highland Creek...

 got lower marks on average than their counterparts at Carleton
Carleton University
Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in the capital of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines. Carleton has...

 and Ryerson
Ryerson University
Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...

. Marking, not ability, was determined to be the reason.

University of Waterloo

In 2009, a study was conducted at the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a comprehensive public university in the city of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The school was founded in 1957 by Drs. Gerry Hagey and Ira G. Needles, and has since grown to an institution of more than 30,000 students, faculty, and staff...

 to investigate the phenomenon of grade inflation on its campus. http://cte.uwaterloo.ca/research_on_teaching_and_learning/documents/Mayer401A.pdf
It was determined that grade inflation was occurring there. The study defined grade inflation as: “An increase in grades in one or more academic departments over time”.

From 1988/89 to 2006/07 it was determined that there had been an 11.02% increase in undergraduate A grades, with the rate of increase being 0.656% per year.
In 100 level Math for the year 2006/07, the grade distribution of 11,042 assigned grades was: 31.9% A, 22.0% B, 18%C, 16.3% D, 11.8% F. In 400 level Fine Arts courses for 2006/07, the distribution of 50 assigned grades was: 100% A.
In relation to increased scores in first-year mathematics, there was no evidence of better preparedness of UW students. A possible source of grade inflation may have been pressure from administrators to raise grades. A case was documented in which a math dean adjusted grades without the consent or authorization of the instructor.

When comparing the 1988-1993 school years with that of the years from 2002–2007, it was discovered that the percentage of As assigned in 400 levels in the Faculty of Arts had risen as follows for every department (first figure is percentage of As for 1988–1993 years, second is percentage of As for 2002–2007 years): Music 65%/93%, Fine Art 51%/84%, Sociology 54%/73%, History 66%/71%, Philosophy 63%/69%, Anthropology 63%/68%, Drama 39%/63%, Political Science 46%/57%, English 43%/57%, French 39%/56%, Economics 36%/51%, Business 28%/47%, Psychology 80%/81%. It is important to note that this study examined only 400-level courses and conclusions regarding grade inflation should not be generalized to courses at other levels.

Grade inflation in Britain

It is alleged that grade inflation is occurring in Britain in relation to both GCSE and A-level exams.

GCSE

The GCSE pass rate of five A*-C grades rose from 45 per cent in 1997 to 56 per cent in 2007. In 2009, it was reported that thousands of pupils got a grade C in their chemistry GCSE with a mark of only 18 per cent. The marking was revealed in a report by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Nearly 10,700 pupils took OCR's 21st century science higher-tier exam last year. Ninety-five per cent scored at least grade C, having gained only 10 marks from 55. Pupils could score an A* with only 51 per cent of the marks.

In 2009, it was reported that teenagers' maths skills are no better than 30 years ago despite soaring GCSE passes. Rising scores owe more to grade inflation and 'teaching to the test
Teaching to the test
Teaching to the test is an educational practice where the curriculum is centered primarily around an end assessment or standardized test. The practice is designed to give students a set range of knowledge or skills that will allow them to enhance their performance on tests...

' than real gains in mathematical understanding, it suggests. Youngsters aged 11 to 14 achieved similar results in a standard maths test to youngsters who were set the same questions in 1976. In the early 1980s, just 22 per cent of pupils obtained at least a grade C in maths at O-level. In 2008, 56 per cent gained a C in maths at GCSE. In 2009, it was 57 per cent.

In response to allegations of grade inflation a number of schools have switched to other exams, such as the International GCSE, or the International Baccalaureate middle years programme.

A-levels

As of 2011, the pass rate (A-E grades) for A-levels rose for the 29th year running, and was 97.8%, up from 68.2% in 1982. The share of A-grades rose by 0.8 percentage points in 2009 compared to 2008, and stood at 26.7%. As of 2009, an eighth of all candidates scored three A grades, as opposed to a single A in 1982. As of 2009, if the current rate of grade increase continues, within nine years no one sitting an A-level will actually fail the exam, while over the same period the number of A grades will rise to more than a third of all entries (it is already over a quarter). These are the alleged effects of grade inflation. A study by Durham University last year concluded that an A grade in 2009 is the equivalent of a C grade in the 1980s. According to the Daily Telegraph, this trend goes hand in hand with the "all must have prizes" ethos that has "dominated education in this country for decades, to the detriment of academic excellence".

An educationalist at Buckingham University, thinks grades inflate when examiners check scripts that lie on boundaries between grades. Every year some are pushed up but virtually none down, resulting in a subtle year-on-year shift.

Higher Education

According to the statisticial record from Higher Education Statistics Agency
Higher Education Statistics Agency
The Higher Education Statistics Agency is the official agency for the collection, analysis and dissemination of quantitative information about higher education in the United Kingdom....

, graduates who graduate with First-Class Honours rose from 7.7% of total graduates in year 1996/97 to 14% in year 2008/09. For graduates with a upper-second honour, it rose from 41.1% of total graduates in year 1996/97 to 48% in year 2008/09.

See also

  • Academic inflation
    Academic Inflation
    Academic inflation is the process of inflation of the minimum job requirement, resulting in an excess of college-educated individuals with lower degrees competing for too few jobs that require these degrees and even higher, preferred qualifications...

  • Dumbing down
    Dumbing down
    Dumbing down is a pejorative term for a perceived trend to lower the intellectual content of literature, education, news, and other aspects of culture...

  • Flynn effect
    Flynn effect
    The Flynn effect is the name given to a substantial and long-sustained increase in intelligence test scores measured in many parts of the world. When intelligence quotient tests are initially standardized using a sample of test-takers, by convention the average of the test results is set to 100...

  • Latin honors
    Latin honors
    Latin honors are Latin phrases used to indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned. This system is primarily used in the United States, Canada, and in many countries of continental Europe, though some institutions also use the English translation of these...

  • Class rank
    Class rank
    Class rank is a measure of how a student's performance compares to other students in his or her class. It is commonly also expressed as a percentile. For instance, a student may have a GPA better than 750 of his or her classmates in a graduating class of 800...

  • Valedictorian
    Valedictorian
    Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...

    , the highest ranking graduate
  • Salutatorian
    Salutatorian
    Salutatorian is an academic title given, in the United States and Canada, to the second highest graduate of the entire graduating class of a specific discipline. Only the valedictorian is ranked higher. This honor is traditionally based on grade point average and number of credits taken, but...

    , typically the second highest ranking graduate
  • Self-esteem
    Self-esteem
    Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...


External links




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