Recent trends show that American students appear to be getting smarter. Stuart Rojstaczer, author of “Grade Inflation Gone Wild” followed GPA trends in 230 colleges and more than 2 million students nationwide. He found that of the 230 college institutions all have experienced a rapid increase in GPA over the last 15-20 years (Rojstaczer, 1). Many believe that the recent focus on education as well as the decrease in the availability of gainful employment is the reason for the rapid increase in students’ grades. Generally, a higher GPA is believed to translate into better job opportunities, therefore a greater chance of overall success in life. Although there is a definitive correlation between higher grades and level of success, several studies suggest that grade inflation is the element behind the universal increase in GPA. According to my research, grade inflation is a universal problem among most academic institutions causing a decline in the quality of education and an inaccurate representation of students’ performance.
Traditional letter grades (A-F) have been the determinant in assessing students’ abilities. An “A” letter grade represents exceptional performance and achievement, the epitome of hard work and discipline. A “C” letter grade represents on average, a student who is performing at grade level and satisfactory among their peers. An “F” letter grade indicates the student has failed to meet the requirements and is performing below grade level. However in recent decades, the classification of letter grades among students has changed. Students now consider a “B” letter grade to be unworthy of favorable recognition. For higher learning institutions, a higher overall GPA translates to more prestige and economic advantages...
... middle of paper ...
...tablish the credibility of the first-rate education in the United States. Grade inflation cannot go unnoticed, and administrators must examine their role in this disservice to their students and faculty as well as education in general.
Generally speaking, grade inflation undermines the efforts put forward by extraordinary educators and dedicated students who are willing to put forth the effort to learn. As a nation, this epidemic negatively affects our intellectual progress as a nation. The once prized Bachelor’s degree has been devalued despite the rapid rise in the cost of education. Modern technological, scientific, and medical advances depend on intelligent and well-educated scholars for their continued discovery and development. Ultimately, to resolve grade inflation it will take a tremendous amount of effort and acceptance by students, faculty, and parents.
An F is a grade that many students fear of obtaining in their school career, unless the student does not care about his or her education. In Carl Singleton’s article, What Our Education Needs is More F’s, Singleton expresses his belief that if students begin to receive more F’s, students would be working harder to earn good grades, parents would become more considerate of their child’s education, and teachers would be stricter and harsher when grading. Therefore, education systems requiring teachers to frequently give more F’s will fix the “inadequacies of American education,” or so Singleton believes. (Singleton). Unfortunately, Singleton’s plan if enforced, would have several negative effects to it, such as; students’ motivation would instead diminish rather than accelerate, students would not
In his essay, "Why Colleges Shower Their Students With A’s,” Staples claims that student grades are increasing for the wrong reasons, causing college degrees to become meaningless. Staples provides evidence that average grades have increased significantly over the last several decades, but claims that it is not because students are working harder. The real explanation for grade inflation, he argues, is the effect of grades on both students and their professors. Teachers give more A’s to receive better evaluations and increase job security. Students give more importance to their grades as a result of the rapidly increasing cost of a college education. Staples argues that modern
In “Grades and Money,” Steven Vogel makes it clear that he is disappointed and frustrated with what grades have become. He believes that grades have become commoditized and that students’ grades suffer because of their relation with money. Vogel also believes that students no longer take any risk with their education. I agree with Vogel that grades are being equated to money by students, that students’ work suffers because of grades, and that students no longer take risks in their educational process.
Being a professor himself, Rojstaczer admits that he is also guilty of grade inflation. Rojstaczer describes, “If I sprinkle my classroom with the C’s some students deserve, my class will suffer from declining enrollment in future years. Low enrollment is taken as a sign of poor-quality instruction.” The author describes the challenge that he has as a professor to students and dealing with the grade inflation. According to Rojstaczer, Grade inflation is everywhere and most everyone has experienced or had done it themselves. Even though Rojstaczer is guilty of committing grade inflation, he correspondingly realizes the problems that the system and the students will have in the
Former professor of geophysics, Stuart Rojstaczer, in his informative op-ed piece, “Grade Inflation Gone Wild,” featured in “Christian Science Monitior(2009),” investigates grade inflation among universities today. Rojstaczer’s purpose is to inform and educate universities on the inflation of grades, and how an A has become the average grade among those schools. He adopts a dismissive tone when generalizing and addressing the students on their behaviors and actions. Rojstaczer found over 80 universities with data on they’re grades, using this he was able to better understand the inflation and also analyze possible solutions. His logos based writing portrays a negative connotation on todays students and their ability to achieve within the classroom. There is no hiding that the standard for grades has been on the rise sense the 1960’s, and is now at an average GPA of a 3.0, but rojstaczer may have lost his audience with his arrogant approach.
Goode, Stephen and Maier, Timothy W. “ Inflating the Grades” Dissent Fall 1997: 102-04 in Mary Lynch Kennedy and Haley M. Smith. Reading and writing in the Academic Community. 2nd ed, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall 2001. 345-350.
In the articles “The Sanctuary of School” and “Why College Shower Their Students with A’s”, Barry and Staples talk about their experience with economics affecting the education system. Staples, argues that in the past couple years, the university’s grading policy has been extremely lenient to the point that the schools are giving students free A’s even though they do not deserve it. Also, Barry talking about the impotence of funding classes that can help students find peace in a chaotic world. Therefore, Barry and Staples, show readers the importance of student’s education are starting to fade away.
Our education system is failing and in his essay “What Our Education System Needs Is More F’s” Carl Singleton writes that nothing else will right the ship or fix this issue except for his proposed solution which is to simply fail more students. As a matter of fact “by the dozens, hundreds, thousands, even millions” (Singleton 1) is how he describes the failing grades should be distributed. He claims that illegitimately passing students has existed for the past two decades and even implies that it stems further back than that with many teachers in the school system today “who never should have been certified in the first place.”(Singleton 1).
America is quickly changing to be a nation of inflation. Grade point averages have risen from 2.93 during the ‘91-’92 school year to 3.07 nearly a decade later (Harding 21). This is mostly due to the change in grading scales from a traditional seven point grade scale, which a student could only earn an A if obtaining a 93 percent or higher and doesn’t award students with any “minus” grades, giving a student a B if he gets a 92 percent, and a 10 point scale which adds “minus” grades, so it is possible to have a 91 percent and only have an A- rather than a B. Some states, such as North Carolina, are now requiring all of the high school to grade on a 10 point scale (Lee 1). This is supposed to aid students not only in getting into college, but getting a job as well, because that is the ultimate goal in everyone’s life, right? One is supposed to get into college to get a degree so they can make money for the rest of their life. But the problem arises because the importance of getting a job has surpassed the importance of getting an honest education. John Harding even made the point that grading has changed from a measure and motivator for students to perform and learn to an external evaluation
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, college tuition and relevant fees have increased by 893 percent (“College costs and the CPI”). 893 percent is a very daunting percentage considering that it has surpassed the rise in the costs of Medicare, food, and housing. As America is trying to pull out of a recession, many students are looking for higher education so they can attain a gratified job. However, their vision is being stained by the dreadful rise in college costs. College tuition is rising beyond inflation. Such an immense rise in tuition has many serious implications for students; for example, fewer students are attending private colleges, fewer students are staying enrolled in college, and fewer students are working in the fields in which they majored in.
This article discusses ineffective grading, the high stakes of grading, and the steps in could take to change those practices. There were three areas that were discussed about ineffective grading that involved the concept of giving zeros, averaging all scores throughout the semester, and using the semester kill project, paper, test, or lab. All of these things do not prove what students have learned but rather show what they learned right now or are trying to make one thing more important than everything else. With the giving of zeros in a gradebook you are just validating that the student does need the knowledge. The high stakes of grading were about the cost of failure and the positive impact that grading change can have on a school system. Finally, the author outlines a 4 steps that can lead to better grading practices which are creating a sense of urgency, identifying teacher leaders who are improving grading policies, getting the facts, and reassuring stakeholders that certain
The Consequences of Grade Inflation When students arrive at university, professors expect them to understand the material to an exceptional standard. The problem is that grade inflation is occurring more regularly in secondary schools and universities across the country and when these students’ marks are sent to universities or colleges, the student may be given multiple scholarships for something that he/she should not have earned. Grade inflation is conceived between both students and teachers, meaning that the students are given higher grades when they have inadequate learning, reading, and verbal skills, while the teachers do not have to grade as many papers as they should in the real curriculum. There have been multiple examinations that have confirmed that grade inflation is very real and still occurs today. Students seem to think that they do not need to put forth much effort in school to do well, and grade inflation encourages this thought.
In “Life Is Not Measured by Grade-Point Averages,” H. Bruce Miller asserts that college students should enjoy and appreciate their education rather than worrying about grades. The article commences with a story about a student was accused of plagiarism. Miller then states that the purpose of college is to increase one’s knowledge so that they are able to obtain their degree and move higher towards their education. According to Miller, students are more focused on getting into the best universities rather than receiving a better education. Miller wants students to enjoy college and to not worry much about grades. Instead, students should focus more on the material that they are learning. Finally, he finishes off with the idea that we should take more courses that will be beneficiary instead of
The public high schools began a grading system as a way of telling an individual how they were performing. There was no interest by the public in reporting the school’s progress at teaching. Teachers, in an effort to recognize outstanding performers, looked for a way of rewarding hard-working students for their efforts The grading structure changed from superior and excellent to A’s and B’s. This placed much of the burden of recognizing academic talent on the high schools.
By nature, most students are brought up in an academic environment motivated to get A’s and B’s on their report cards. Those grades sometimes don’t thoroughly report how much a student has learned or gained knowledge in each topic. Some instructors throw in factors totally unrelated to learning, when the main objective of academic institutions is to learn. In order to clearly demonstrate how much a student has learned in the classroom, schools should change their current grading system and teach students how to learn.