Grade Inflation & Deflation

1. Grade Inflation & Deflation Troy, Hōʻea & Brandon

2. What is the situation? • Grade inflation and deflation are taking place in high schools and higher level schools across the nation, which is having falsely reflecting a students true grade. This can adversely affect not only a students grade, but their entire life.

3. Why is this a problem? • Grade inflation is a problem because you are getting a grade you do not really deserve. This could have consequences. For example: Say you get an inflated grade in high school, so, when you get to a higher level school, you get placed in an honored college course. This is a problem, because you are not ready for this class, therefore you will not do well.

4. Why is this a problem? (cont.) • Grade Deflation is a problem as well because if you worked hard for a grade, and the grade is lowered, this could affect your whole college/high school career. For example: say your grade was deflated, you deserved an A but for whatever reason, you were given a C. This would affect your G.P.A which then would affect whether or not you pass the class, which then could affect if you graduate. This could be a problem when it comes to getting the career you wanted.

5. What are some factors? • Some factors that can lead to or cause grade inflation or deflation are: • Schools- For example: Say there was a student who is very good at athletics, but was not doing very well academically, but the team needed him to play. The school may inflate his grade so that he can play and represent the school well. • Courses- For example: An example of this could be that only 10 “A”s are allowed to be given out, but 14 people actually earned “A”s, the teacher would decide which of the students should get the “A”. This could then deflate a students grade and he/she might get a lower grade than what they earned/deserved.

6. Factors (continued) • Teacher: For example: If the teacher had a long day at school, and was home grading papers, the teacher could get lazy and make careless mistakes while grading. This could cause both deflation/inflation. • Favoritism- An example is: If a teacher has a student that he/she favors, that teacher may inflate that persons grade, even when they don’t deserve the grade. • Bias- An example is: If a student and teacher donʻt really have a good relationship, or if the teacher just does not like the student, the teacher may lower the students grade, which is deflation. • School Policy- There may be a policy at the school where the teacher is only allowed to give out a certain number of A’s, B’s, and C’s in order to keep the bell curve, or average of the course the same. This would cause the teacher to give you a grade that you did not deserve, which may be inflated or deflated.

7. Solution? • A solution that could fix the problem of grade inflation and deflation is to have a universal grading system that all schools throughout the nation use. This grading system would be used for both high schools and colleges. This would help inflation/deflation because every student would have the same standards and everyone would be graded fairly. For example, a grading scale that could be used by all the teachers is the 4 point scale. This scale is also called the even distribution scale which evenly distributes each grade within the 100 point scale. For example an A is 100-80%, a B is 79-60% and so on. This scale, if used universally, could solve the problem of grade inflation and deflation.