Effects of Grade Inflation - Essay Example

Grade Inflation Introduction By definition, grade inflation as explicated by Kohn (2002) denotes an increase in students' ratings or marks devoid of a parallel ascent in terms of success or accomplishments. The issue of grade inflation has been prevalent in learning institutions for more than one hundred years. Additionally, this problem has for many years been primarily viewed as a problem caused by professors, who on the other hand try to justify it as a means to an end. Based on evidence presented by Kohn, Uva and Shepard, it is palpable that grade inflation has a negative effect on the society and on the way people learn. This paper elucidates the negative effects of grade inflation on the society and the way people learn, and supports the ideas presented through evidence from texts and also through personal experiences. Effects of grade inflation In relation to how people learn, Uva (n.d) asserts that grade inflation contributes to an asymmetrical positioning of students in class and also in the workplaces. In essence, student placement in classrooms ought to be based on performance. If the wrong picture is painted in regard to the performance of a student, then he or she may be placed in a class handling subjects he or she is not competent in. In so doing, students are exposed to more hardships in learning and thus are more likely to receive even lower grades. Grade inflation also gives the wrong impression to employers on the competency of individuals and therefore contributing to absorption of poorly skilled individuals in the job market. One of the assumptions that trigger the caveats surrounding grade inflation is that the work of educators is to rate students in order to boost expediency for the employers during the hiring process (Kohn, 2002). Therefore, less skilled individuals are absorbed into the job market whereas the more competent group is discarded unjustly. As an example of my personal experience, my disinterest in Sciences during the later years of my high school was largely contributed by grade inflation. As a junior in high school, my science teacher used to over-rate our exams and a result, I developed an undeserved interest in sciences. Subsequently, I joined more profound science courses. The hurdles i encountered in comprehending these advanced courses relating to sciences lowered my grades significantly and hence ended up lowering my motivation and interest in learning. This shows that grade inflation can lead to unearned or unjustified placement of students in the classroom and the job market as well. Grade inflation makes it impossible for a student to identify his or her strengths and weaknesses. It is difficult to identify areas that need improvement if all the grades are inflated. As a consequences, students who get selected to pursue advanced courses are ill prepared (Uva, n.d). What follows is students getting low marks they never anticipated in college. This can be construed to be one of the cause of the harassment University professors get from their students when they get low marks as spelt out by Shepard (2005). Shepard (2005) gives an example of an annoying student who complained of low marks despite the fact that he had not completed the coursework. This shows that the student always got A's despite having not completed the required work in other courses. Inflating grades can therefore shift the focus for students from learning and gaining knowledge to merely passing exams. When I first joined college, I found that it was more difficult to attain an A in my exams as compared to when I was in high school. According to Shepard (2005), college grading systems are more scrupulous and as a result, I could not understand why I rarely got A's until a professor in my department enlightened me. Kohn (2002) brings forward the fact that grade inflation brings with it an attitude of competiveness in that winners and losers must be separated even if the ranking is not necessary. This perception that students are obliged to compete with each other leads to grade inflation because some professors according to Kohn (2002) believe that there ought to always be ranking despite students performing equally well. This according to Kohn (2002) could impact negatively on the society as competiveness could drive people to shun away from freely sharing their ideas or opinions in an attempt to appear as winners and others as losers. Conceivably, the need to be among the A students is what has been noted by Shepard (2005) as students' assumption that working hard warrants a good grade notwithstanding their performance. If a professor is manipulated by the students to give them the grades they want, then this may misguide students to believing that manipulating numbers is right. This notion is reiterated by Uva (n.d) who posits that grade inflation gives the wrong picture to the students that numbers can be stage-manage hence being ingenious in terms of stage-managing figures in the field of accounting. All these three authors in their articles postulate that grade inflation could lead to unethical practices in future due to competiveness and the view that stage-managing numbers is the right way to achieving good results. Contrary to the widely believed concept supported by evidence that grade inflation negatively affects how people learn and also impacts negatively on the society, they are some people who still believe that grade inflation is justified. According to Uva (n.d), there are views that giving low scores or ratings at junior level classes could give a negative picture to the student that he or she is not aggressive enough to succeed. In other words, this could be extrapolated to mean that inflated grades gives hope to the students that they have a chance to succeed. However, Kohn (2002) seems to dispute this notion. According to Kohn (2002) inflating grades can be viewed as a means to give rewards to students. Kohn (2002) cites methodical investigations conducted in the past that have shown that increasing incentives, in our case inflated grades, leads to diminished interest in accomplishing obligations that lead to the incentives. In elucidation, believing that inflating grades changes students perspective in life in that they have a chance to succeed is wrong. Aligned with this opposing view is the fact that some parents believe that the only way their children can succeed in life is through getting good grades and acquiring a university degrees (Uva, n.d). It is of significance to posit that this belief forces teachers to inflate grades so that as many students as possible can go to university. This is however refuted by Kohn (2002) who explicates that good grades are not proof that the student will be successful in his or her career. This is attributed to the fact that good inflated grades may give students the wrong picture that they are talented in specific areas and hence end up pursuing irrelevant courses. Conclusion In conclusion, grade inflation leads to assimilation of low performers in the job market while skilled and knowledgeable persons are discarded. Equally, students can easily be misguided into choosing courses they themselves are not properly prepared to undertake. Rather than improving a student's performance, wrong placement of a student contributes to lower grades as the student chooses courses he or she is ill talented to handle. Grade inflation also gives the wrong picture to the students that they are good in all fields. Therefore, it makes it difficult for them to identify their areas of weakness. Subsequently, they are chosen to course of which they are ill prepared. The fact that grading in college is more harsh as compared to high school makes it difficult for students to understand why they cannot get A's. Grade inflation also give students the wrong idea that manipulating figures is the right way to achieve good results. As a result, such students could adopt bad practices after employment. It is worth noting that there are people who believe that grade inflation gives a fighting mindset to the students. This belief is wrong as evidence has shown that increased rewards contributes to decreased interest. In this view, grade inflation negatively affects the society as well as how people learn. References Uva, E. (n.d). The Consequences and Causes of Grade Inflation. Retrieved from http://montrealteachers4change.org/2013/04/20/the-causes-and-consequences-of- grade-inflation/ Kohn, A. (2002). The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 49(11), B7. Shepard, A. C. (2005, June 5). A's for Everyone. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.cpcc.edu/cpcc/millennial/presentations-workshops/faculty-or-all-college- workshop/3%20-%20As%20for%20Everyone.pdf Read More