Grade Inflation
Introduction
Grade inflation is a burning issue in colleges and universities. The Institutional leaders and professors are showing a lot of concern on this issue, as students wants change in grade pattern so that they can achieve a high level of GPA. Shepard, Slavov and Coplin are authors who revisits this issue and assert that many students are focusing on achieving ‘A’ despite the fact that their performance do not deserve it. According to the article by Slavov, grade inflation is a problem in many colleges following that a research on grade inflation was done and 200 colleges were involved. The finding showed that 40% of grades were ‘A’. Coplin’s article also asserts that the issue has affected many colleges and Princeton University’s is finding policies which can eradicate the grade inflation. Shepard’s article also contributes to this issue and asserts that in many colleges, professor is being challenged with students for posting grades below than ‘A’ in the electronic bulletin board. Generally, the articles assert that grade inflation in colleges is associated with many negative issues and to eradicate the problem, there is possible solution which should be applied.
The issue on grade inflation, nature of grades and method of grading has been discussed by various authors with an aim of providing solution to eradicate the problem. In Slavov’s article, though some people belief that grade inflation will help students to find a better position in job market, grade inflation can cause a huge destruction in the society and so, there should possible solution to control this issue (Slavov, 2013). The author relates the issue of grade inflation with price inflation in the market and asserts that if the price inflation is not regulated, then the money will lose its value. Similarly, the article assert that grade inflation (a state in which all students gets ‘A’ or ‘A+’) will lead to greater concentration on top grades. This means that there will be no value on students’ ability and there is a possibility that they many end up experiencing unemployment problems since the employers cannot different between capable students and incompetent (Slavov, 2013). The article assert that if grade inflation is eliminated, students will increase their effort and there will be difference in grading pattern following that outstanding student will receive an ‘A’ and the next high grade will be A or B+.
According to Slavov article, many universities have searched for the best ways which can be used to eradicate grade inflation and they have come up with the idea that professors should distribute grades online or on students’ transcripts. The grade should be based on each course which the student is pursuing and this strategy is effective in that everybody understands that majority had a high grade on a certain course and so in the employment environment, the employers will not put much concern on the grades (Slavov, 2013). This also indicates that students will be interested in pursuing hard courses and will seek help and motivation from professors. This strategy will eradicate grade inflation given that students will try to pursue unique course and strive to achieve excellence in order to get a position in the employment field rather than depending on grade inflation and concentration of upper grades (Slavov, 2013).
Slavov’s article asserts that in 2004, Princeton University proved an effective way of eradicating grade inflation. The instituted recommended that when doing evaluation on average grade, professors should make sure that ‘A’ grades on undergraduate courses should not exceed 35% (Slavov, 2013). This policy will help professor to lower grades and award students higher grades if they deserve. On the same article, other alternative on eradicating the grade inflation is based on the idea that professors shook uncap the higher grades. This means that the high grades should be made to shift upwards after a while. This will indicate that if higher grades are shifted upwards, the top grades will be decompressed-meaning that B will shift to A+ then A++ then A+++ and the shift upward will follow this trend (Slavov, 2013). This strategy makes the grade inflation to appear less problematic in that professor will understand the game and follow true grade inflation.
Coplin’s article contributes to possible solutions and asserts that in all courses, ‘A’ grade should not exceed 35% and the total number of students graduating with honors should not exceed 60%. In addition, the article asserts that ‘normal curves’ is a strategic way of eradicating this problem following that the grades are normalized and data is distorted (Coplin Bill, 2004). In normal curve, the midpoint should be ‘C’ and this indicates that there will be no failing grades in low end curve or in the high end curve.The article point out that in grade inflation, students just focus on grade but the important thing to note is that grade is not important than skills and character. Therefore, students have a role in eradicating grade inflation. In order to succeed in career development and create outstanding life, they should strive to improve character and gain skills which they will apply in their life (Coplin Bill, 2004). Other important point which the students should note is that the reports from employers stated that in the process of hiring college students, employers considers 20 factors and GPA is ranked as the 17th factor. Thus, students should not concentrate much on GPA, but rather, they should create a strong vision and goal on achieving skills and quality character (Coplin Bill, 2004). The article puts emphasis on the issue of skills and asserts that ‘soft skills’ such as oral communication and skills from personal experiences are very important in career development.
Shepard’s article raises an important point on ways of eliminating grade inflation and asserts that when grading, professors should use numerical grading system (Shepard, 2005). This method is transparent in that students understand the grade level and performance measurement. In numerical grading, professor may use letter grades such as N for In Progress and which means that the student will receive a final grade after completion. I for Incomplete, S for Satisfactory grade NS for Not-Satisfactory grade and more (Shepard, 2005).
Conclusion
According to the articles, grade inflation is a hot issue in many colleges and researchers are trying to figure out the best ways which can be applied in grading process to ensure that the issue of grade inflation is dealt with. The articles share common ideas and asserts that grade inflation is not associated with benefits but rather it disrupts the education system as student are unable to put much effort on their courses thereby making the education to lose value. The article provides the best ways to curb the issue and also they point out that students should not concentrate on grades but also on skill as and character.
Reference
Shepard C. Alicia (2005). “A's for Everyone!”
Coplin Bill (2004). “Grade Inflation Works for Today’s Students”
Slavov Sita (2013). “How to Fix Grade Inflation”
