Explain grade inflation to me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Highly competitive colleges recalculate GPAs, so ya’ll are just spinning yarns for the heck of it.

No, they re-weight GPAs, but they don't change the letter grades. So an A in an AP class has the same GPA value for all the students a college looks at, but the difficulty of earning that A and the level of competency it represents can vary wildly from school to school.

And you think you know the difference between those schools and the AOs who are assigned to those regions don't?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I graduated in the late 80s and there used to be final tests worth a good percentage of your grade. There were no "do overs" or late work allowed. Late work was counted as zero. I went to a state college and it was pretty much the same except courses moved much more quickly and there was a ton of reading. My kid, also at a state university, reports the same expectations today.

Why are high schools doing this other than to graduate more people? All my kids learn is that they have another chance and may not try hard enough the first time.

It’s wonderful that schools have evolved In their practices since the 1980s (when I was in high school too). Things are so much better now.

Ha. The educational system is certainly not better.

I agree with the pp and found a high school which has the same standards of turning work on time and being prepared the FIRST and ONLY time a student takes an exam.

You know how we learned the material? We went through and looked at the material we missed on the exam and if we didn't understand we asked and got help after class or went to the teacher's office hours before or after school.

I was at the gym today with some awful 20-something who would take FORRREEVVVERRR to load his barbell and walk around with his head up his *ss changing racks, etc. while the rest of the 9 members of the class waited on him to get his sh*t together and miss part of the class. Prime example of 'executive function disorder' and coddling in school.

You are claiming the educational system of today is worse because of what some d-bag at your gym does with his weights?

And you sh*tting me grandpa?

Tell me how you walks 5 miles though the snow to school, uphill both ways, and had your math lessons in latin, and how your horse was much more reliable than the horseless carriages that whippersnappers have today. And 23-skiddoo to you too!

[Anonymous]

OMFG. They should be required to report this to colleges. It's really not right.

Anonymous wrote:In MCPS during covid, you automatically earned one grade higher than your grade pre-covid. So if you got a B previously you earned an A. This led to inflated GPAs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation is an increase in average grades for a specified grouping over time. Based on this relatively straightforward calculation, there has been grade inflation at both the high school and the college level for decades.

Let’s say, for the sake of this discussion, everything you’ve typed above is true.

Where is the evidence that this is causing any problems at all?

Since you are quoting data to illustrate the condition, you will need to quote data to illustrate the problem.

https://gradeinflation.com/

https://ira.virginia.edu/university-stats-facts/undergraduate-gpa

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/pace-of-grade-inflation-picked-up-during-the-pandemic-study-says/2022/05

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/09/24/new-study-shows-widespread-grade-inflation-high-schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation is an increase in average grades for a specified grouping over time. Based on this relatively straightforward calculation, there has been grade inflation at both the high school and the college level for decades.

Let’s say, for the sake of this discussion, everything you’ve typed above is true.

Where is the evidence that this is causing any problems at all?

Since you are quoting data to illustrate the condition, you will need to quote data to illustrate the problem.

https://gradeinflation.com/

https://ira.virginia.edu/university-stats-facts/undergraduate-gpa

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/pace-of-grade-inflation-picked-up-during-the-pandemic-study-says/2022/05

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/09/24/new-study-shows-widespread-grade-inflation-high-schools

You've simply posted more evidence that it is true. That was granted to you without debate.

What was asked was evidence that it is a problem. Do you have any?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If more than half the kids in a class get an A, there is grade inflation. And yes, I understand that there is grade inflation everywhere. Everyone gets a trophy.

But if the grades are inflated for everyone, there are still students that stand out because of superior work. If everyone get an a then the top students will get more than an A.

So how to the students that stand out get that reflection in the report card? An A is and A. There is no "11"

[Anonymous]

NP- I would venture to say the AOs don't really know. If they started to have a bunch of students who couldn't keep up in their college from a particular high school, they would look more closely, but I think the truth is that they have no idea. Higher GPAs look good for the colleges and they will prefer kids from the schools with grade inflation!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Highly competitive colleges recalculate GPAs, so ya’ll are just spinning yarns for the heck of it.

No, they re-weight GPAs, but they don't change the letter grades. So an A in an AP class has the same GPA value for all the students a college looks at, but the difficulty of earning that A and the level of competency it represents can vary wildly from school to school.

And you think you know the difference between those schools and the AOs who are assigned to those regions don't?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If more than half the kids in a class get an A, there is grade inflation. And yes, I understand that there is grade inflation everywhere. Everyone gets a trophy.

But one could infer from such a cynical remark that you don’t believe those As are earned.

The purpose of primary and secondary education is to teach mastery of material. It’s not to generate a bell curve where top grades are rationed. Thinking about top grades as a commodity in this way is bizarre and antiquated. It’s literally Ok if half the class gets and A, even if they get to have retakes the like — because it demonstrates they learned the material. Which is the purpose of education. It’s not a race to learn the material “first” and it’s not like someone had to be “best” at it.

But when do students learn that college doesn't give them these accommodations? Are students just supposed to adjust to midterms and finals in college when they've never had them in HS? There are no retakes in college so how do they adjust when that's all they've ever known in school?

There is a reason many parents try to send their kids to independent schools that offer exams and a more rigorous experience that prepares students for colleges.

[Anonymous]

NP- I would venture to say the AOs don't really know. If they started to have a bunch of students who couldn't keep up in their college from a particular high school, they would look more closely, but I think the truth is that they have no idea. Higher GPAs look good for the colleges and they will prefer kids from the schools with grade inflation!

Well you would be wrong with your venture. They know the schools, especially the high performing ones, and they have the data on performance from schools. It's their job.

Don't take my word for it, speak to any admissions officer at any top school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation is an increase in average grades for a specified grouping over time. Based on this relatively straightforward calculation, there has been grade inflation at both the high school and the college level for decades.

Let’s say, for the sake of this discussion, everything you’ve typed above is true.

Where is the evidence that this is causing any problems at all?

Since you are quoting data to illustrate the condition, you will need to quote data to illustrate the problem.

DP - you have 100,000 kids applying to Harvard and they think they have a shot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If more than half the kids in a class get an A, there is grade inflation. And yes, I understand that there is grade inflation everywhere. Everyone gets a trophy.

But one could infer from such a cynical remark that you don’t believe those As are earned.

The purpose of primary and secondary education is to teach mastery of material. It’s not to generate a bell curve where top grades are rationed. Thinking about top grades as a commodity in this way is bizarre and antiquated. It’s literally Ok if half the class gets and A, even if they get to have retakes the like — because it demonstrates they learned the material. Which is the purpose of education. It’s not a race to learn the material “first” and it’s not like someone had to be “best” at it.

But when do students learn that college doesn't give them these accommodations? Are students just supposed to adjust to midterms and finals in college when they've never had them in HS? There are no retakes in college so how do they adjust when that's all they've ever known in school?

There is a reason many parents try to send their kids to independent schools that offer exams and a more rigorous experience that prepares students for colleges.

That reason is to get away from the darkies and the poors. Everyone knows this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here is what we saw in HS. Example below for illustrative purposes for 1 course and 2 students.

Student 1 who is very bright and excels in the course:
MP 1 99% = A
MP 2 98.2% = A

Semester 1 grade which appears on the transcript = A

MP3 98.9% = A
MP 4 99.1% = A

Semester 2 grade which appears on the transcript = A

Now, let's review a 2nd student, who is in the same exact class, yet this person is not exceling in the course and so their parents intervene with help, paid tutoring, and extra work...to get their college bound student into the B+ and even A- range.

MP 1 84.5% = B
MP 2 90.1% = A

Take the higher of the two marking period grades and award an A for Semester 1 on the transcript

MP 3 91.2% = A
MP 4 83% = B

Take the higher of the two marking period grades and award an A for Semester 2.

So, we have 2 students applying to the same college. They look very similar, with Semester grades of As for the course.
Yet, in reality, one is a very high earning A student and the second is a solid B student, with a sprinkle of A-.

And, if these is an Honors Course, it's scored the same as an AP grade! Think about the difference between the AP student who got all A's and student#2. Now multiply this calc. over years and years of courses. Your strong, even low, B student just has to break the 90% threshold for 2 marking periods a year to capture the A.

In my opinion, this is grade inflation.

What school is this? This is not at all how our LCPS was. Your final grade was the average of all four quarters (as it should be) and honors classes were only bumped .5 compared to 1.0 for AP. Also kids could only retake if a grade was under 80 and the best they could do is an 80 if they got a 100 on the retake.

Your student B would have a B or a B+ compared to an A+ for student A.

My student was the high A student. We were in MCPS at the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation is an increase in average grades for a specified grouping over time. Based on this relatively straightforward calculation, there has been grade inflation at both the high school and the college level for decades.

Let’s say, for the sake of this discussion, everything you’ve typed above is true.

Where is the evidence that this is causing any problems at all?

Since you are quoting data to illustrate the condition, you will need to quote data to illustrate the problem.

DP - you have 100,000 kids applying to Harvard and they think they have a shot.

And that is a problem how?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If more than half the kids in a class get an A, there is grade inflation. And yes, I understand that there is grade inflation everywhere. Everyone gets a trophy.

But if the grades are inflated for everyone, there are still students that stand out because of superior work. If everyone get an a then the top students will get more than an A.

Nope that’s the problem with grade inflation, it masks the truly superior students.

Truly superior students shouldn't be trying to stick out via grades in the first place. The place for them is academic olympiads, etc.

All of those places ground to a halt during Covid. And testing was not existant and very very test optional. So, what were the 2021 grads left with?

Grades. All A's for so many students.
Volunteer work. Essays. In person performance at academic events as 9,10, and fall 11th graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Grade inflation is an increase in average grades for a specified grouping over time. Based on this relatively straightforward calculation, there has been grade inflation at both the high school and the college level for decades.

Let’s say, for the sake of this discussion, everything you’ve typed above is true.

Where is the evidence that this is causing any problems at all?

Since you are quoting data to illustrate the condition, you will need to quote data to illustrate the problem.

https://gradeinflation.com/

https://ira.virginia.edu/university-stats-facts/undergraduate-gpa

https://www.edweek.org/leadership/pace-of-grade-inflation-picked-up-during-the-pandemic-study-says/2022/05

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2018/09/24/new-study-shows-widespread-grade-inflation-high-schools

You've simply posted more evidence that it is true. That was granted to you without debate.

What was asked was evidence that it is a problem. Do you have any?

Was the original thread about explaning evidence to you that there is a problem related to grade inflation? If you actually read the threads, you will see a study that shows grade inflation is occurring similtaneously with a decline in mastery of the subjects studied. That sounds problematic.