Grade Inflation Summary

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Recommended: Analysis on the dangerous myth of grade inflation

A common topic in college and even in high school is GPA. Needing a certain GPA to get a specific program, stressing over exams so one’s GPA does not drop, or retaking classes to bump a GPA. However, what does receiving an A really mean? Was earning an A back in 1995 the same as now? Jordan Ellenberg, an assistant professor of mathematics at Princeton University, addressed the controversy of grade inflation in the article, “Don’t Worry about Grade Inflation.” Grade inflation is when more students are receiving higher grades than they deserve. For example, without grade inflation an A and B+ have different meanings, but with grade inflation both would count as an A. Ellenberg stated that grade inflation does not matter because students who get good grades in one class generally do well in the rest of their courses. He backs up his point by using the statistical concept of sampling and measurement. In his two-grade experiment, he uses two students’ grades using the +/- system as the sample in the experiment. Both of the students perform above average and although in different percentiles, will both perform well. The results remain the same even with differing standard deviations. Ellenberg pointed out that students who perform well …show more content…

A grade of a B+ and B- simply just means a B. OU uses this system because it is a more simple method. Simple is sometimes better right? The grade point system as stated on the OU website, “each hour of A, B, C, D and F carries a grade point value as follows: A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1 and F=0.” If the +/- system were to be used than receiving a grade of B- in a course does not value as a 3 point since this grading system is used to distinguish the “great” from the “good”. A letter grade of B- meaning a received grade of about 80-83%, would count less than 3 points (2.7) towards the student’s GPA. While a B+ could count slightly more than just the average 3 points

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