Grade inflation
Some say grade inflation is rampant and others say the issue is exaggerated. You decide.
High school:
In 1998, 38.9% of high schoolers had an A average. By 2016, the rate had increased to 47%. Meanwhile, the average SAT score fell from 1026 to 1002 on the 1600-point scale.
"Achieving a B average at a high school without grade inflation," the researchers wrote in the study, "might prove a more impressive feat than earning all A grades at a comparable high school with rampant grade inflation."
https://www.businessinsider.com/grade-inflation-us-high-schools-2017-7
In North Carolina during that period (2006 to 2016), more than one-third of B students failed to score proficient on the state algebra exam.
In a VA school district during the spring 2020 shutdown on schools due to Covid-19, teachers may boost a student by a full letter grade if the student submits “artifacts of their learning that would demonstrate proficiency with concepts that they were unable to demonstrate earlier in the school year.” (completing worksheets at home, unsupervised)
His study of grading standards would have been impossible without having a standardized state exam with which to compare teacher grades. He warns that if such standardized tests are eliminated or not required for college admission, the pressure to inflate grades will only increase.
College:
In 2008, a committee of faculty members at UNC-Chapel Hill was astounded to discover that the average grade of a Carolina student was 3.213—well over a B average. Led by Andrew Perrin, a professor of sociology, the school’s Educational Policy Committee began looking at how other universities were dealing with grade inflation.
https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2013/08/offsetting-grade-inflation/
UNC Chapel Hill attempted to provide a system to provide context to their grade inflation issue.
Under contextual grading, student transcripts now will contain “not just what the individual student earned in a course, but also what the class average was, thereby providing the ‘context’ for the grade. “This policy tells prospective employers more than conventional transcripts alone provide. “Getting an A in a class where almost everyone gets an A is not so much of an accomplishment as getting an A when most of the other students earned B’s and C’s.”
UNC-Chapel Hill’s new contextual grading policy was met with dissatisfaction by students there. “Many thought it would hinder their ability to get into graduate school or make it more difficult to find a job, since it would reveal the relative value of their UNC grades, while transcripts from most other schools do not.”
The median grade at Harvard College is an A-, and the most frequently awarded grade is an A. “If this is true or nearly true, it represents a failure on the part of this faculty and its leadership to maintain our academic standards”, professor Harvey C. Mansfield.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/12/3/grade-inflation-mode-a/
“Ninety percent of Harvard graduates graduated with honors when I started. The most unique honor you could graduate with was none”, Larry Summers, former US Treasury secretary, speaking about when he was president of Harvard.
https://qz.com/153694/the-most-commonly-awarded-grade-at-harvard-is-an-a/
Princeton University faculty voted to end their practice of grade deflation (the fight against grade inflation) because it created a negative campus atmosphere and could be a turnoff for future applicants.
https://qz.com/277288/princeton-is-giving-up-ground-in-its-fight-against-grade-inflation/
It is “impossible for a professor to grade honestly” because awarding C’s to students who do merely average work, though just, will yield “declining enrollments in future years.” The administration would see this as “a sign of poor-quality instruction.” Not to mention the pressure from both students and parents who expect high grades.