Grade Inflation Discussion

In class on Tuesday November 2^nd, we discussed the article Grade Inflation in American Education. We had to come up with an INQ question based on this article and my question was: Do you think that grade inflation in American education is “fair”? And even though that question may be broad it has a higher meaning. Some questions that stood out within the class were…

-Why do students feel as if they deserve a higher grade when the effort is not there?

- Does the term “above average” still have the same higher meaning if America is beginning to inflate student’s grades?

These two questions seemed to be up for a bit of discussion within the classroom. Many students agreed that is it not right for students to feel as if they deserve a higher grade when the effort is not there. Teachers have been telling us since we were in elementary school that they do give grade, we earn our grades and have to work for them. So it is not fair for schools, colleges, and universities to start tacking on a .333 to every students GPA so they can look like more of an “attractive student” than they truly are. This question then ties into the second question, does the term above average still have the same higher meaning? I would say no. If the American education system is going to start inflating student’s grades then no one is really going to be able to define above average anymore. Students cannot feel if they just do what is expected of them (homework, attending every class, and participating in class discussions) you need to take it a step further to truly become that “above average student”! So I believe if all schools throughout the United States do start inflating students grades the term above average will no longer have it’s true meaning. How will you be able to tell the difference between the student who earned that 4.0 GPA or the one that it was given to? You can’t.

This article really did catch my attention which is why I previously blogged about it two weeks ago in my blog post titled Weekly Reading & Article Controversies. There you will find an even more elaborate opinion and problem I have with grade inflating in America. My issue stand clear: overall it is blatantly not fair!