Grade Inflation Today\'s Education Straight

Grade Inflation

Today's education

Straight talking on straight as: Alfie Kohn's essay on "The dangerous myth of grade inflation"

Straight talking on straight as: Alfie Kohn's essay on "The dangerous myth of grade inflation"

Every student is familiar with the chant: 'it was so much harder when I was a boy or a girl.' Not only did said grandparent have to trudge through five feet of snow -- school was harder, too. However, it is not only irritating but loveable relatives who are 'harrumphing' about the fact that 'back in my day, an A was an A.' Many well-respected publications similarly endorse the idea that grade inflation is epidemic in the hallowed halls of American academia. According to Alfie Kohn, in 2001 the Boston Globe published an article that stated in breathless horror that grade inflation was epidemic at Harvard. This was proven by that fact "that a lot of students at Harvard were receiving A's and being graduated with honors" (Kohn 2002, p.B7). Yet Kohn's essay demonstrates that much of the data regarding grade inflation is self-reported, anecdotal and unreliable -- just as when such hand-wringing occurred back in the 1960s -- and the 1860s. Kohn implies that whenever there is anxiety about social change in the demographics of students attending institutions of higher learning, charges of grade inflation emerge. By questioning the validity of student grades, critics of multiculturalism critique the right of students of diverse backgrounds to be in college at all.

That is why Kohn calls her 2002 essay from The Chronicle of Higher Education: "The dangerous myth of grade inflation." No data supports the myth: grades in American institutions of higher learning actually declined slightly in 1995, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The most frequently-substantiated 'proof' of grade inflation is that SATs have dropped while grades have not. However, the fallacy that the SAT is a perfect barometer of student performance is demonstrated by the frequent changes to that standardized test. If the SAT is so 'perfect' a measure of student excellence that it can be used as proof of grade inflation, why has an essay section been added, why have analogy questions in the verbal section been eliminated, why are students now allowed to use calculators -- in short, why is this perfect test so different than it was in previous years? If the SAT has had to change to meet the needs of the times, why not standards for student performance in the classroom? The implication of the charges of grade inflation is that there is one, single, unyielding 'correct' way of judging students for all time and we have deviated from it as a society.

Moreover, as Kohn points out, more people are taking the SAT. The population taking the exam is more academically diverse and consists of many people who would never have dreamed of going to college at all, years ago, and who do not have the money for expensive test preparatory courses. The similar complaint that remedial classes have grown more common in colleges also reflects the more diverse population of students attending institutions of higher learning. Moreover, it is not the students of the Harvards, Yales, and Princetons of the world who are taking remedial classes in greater numbers, but rather the new influx of students attending community colleges -- the types of students who would never have dreamed of attending college at all, once upon a time. The presence of these students is what makes critics of modern universities so uncomfortable, and there is a suggestion that they are getting As because of lower standards, not because they are meeting the previous standards of the schools they are attending. Of course, an A at a community college is not likely 'the same' as an A at Harvard, so it is conceivable that both the community college student and the Harvard student are earning their As, not that professors are lowering their standards.

The charges of grade inflation raise the question: what is exactly meant by 'grade inflation'? Does it mean that students are getting As for work that would once qualify as B-level work, presumably at the same institution? Does it mean that students are working less hard? The rhetoric of grade inflation is often a mask for complains about 'political correctness' in the schools, namely that students' self-esteem is being unduly protected by teachers, and that students who were once thought not to 'belong' in the schools are now gaining university degrees. The assumption is that diversity and higher grades do not 'mix,' suggests Kohn.

The assumption is also that professors have a duty to 'sort' students, competition for scarce rewards is a universal good, and harder grades are inherently motivational to do higher-quality work. Kohn argues that there is no empirical data that substantiates this claim: moreover it could just as easily be argued that rewarding excellence gives students confidence. Also, shouldn't the delights of learning be the motivation, not grades? And what if students are better-prepared and doing higher-quality work at institutions such as Harvard -- should they not be rewarded?

Kohn's arguments are persuasive. However, there is one slight flaw in her essay, not in her central contentions, but in the way that she grapples with her opponents' points-of-view. She seems to accept their blanket, generalized reference to 'grades' as a given, without considering different grading standards within the disciplines. Because, given the increasing complexity of fields like computer science and engineering, it is very difficult to argue that such fields are getting easier to study. Most of these majors have grim jokes about 'weeding-out' courses, given the level of difficulty. If all of the institutions of America were substantially easier in these subjects than they had been ten or twenty years before, America would not have some of the premier research universities in the world, foreign nationals would not vie for scarce places to study technology at American schools, and America would not be a competitive power in these subjects. While it is possible to argue that American high schools are not rigorous enough in scientific subjects, it is unlikely that the nation that spawned Microsoft, Apple, and Google and staffed these companies with many American graduates has entirely 'dumbed down' these areas of study. Anecdotally, I must confess that of my friends who are science and engineering majors, even the smartest must work hard to stay afloat, and the letters 'C, D, and F' are willingly given to students who fail to perform.

Grade inflation in the humanities may be a more valid charge, given that subjectivity is inevitable in some subjects, such as English and history. But rigor is likely to vary between classes, and it is unlikely that an English major can graduate without taking some highly challenging courses. Moreover, at a remedial level, the basics of grammar and mechanics are often not subjective at all, and it would be difficult for a student to 'fake it' through a composition course without knowing how to read and write. Some classes may be easy 'As' in some humanities and social science 'guts' but that does not mean that the disciplines overall practice consistent grade inflation.

Additionally, regarding the humanities, arguments about grade inflation are frequently paired with complaints about students studying popular and modern culture. Every now and then, I hear a story about a school in California giving a class on something like the semiotics of video games, and this is used as proof that academics are getting easier, overall. However, a hundred years ago, educators mocked any type of education as second-rate that did not include Greek, Latin, and the ancient classics of history and literature. Few people would say that learning about Plutarch is necessary for every single student today -- rather, because students need to specialize so soon in their careers, they are often given greater freedom in directing their own education than was customary years before. Also, the value of critiquing popular culture should not be underestimated. Simply because a course's title sounds politically correct does not mean it is 'easy.'