Recently, I interviewed Michigan State’s admissions counselor Iris Shen-Van Buren and South counselor Nick Bernbeck, gathering their thoughts on the concept of “grade inflation.” It was truly fascinating to find that grade inflation has become an extremely convoluted and necessary fact of modern student life.
Current schooling has put such an emphasis on the “A.” It is the gold standard that every single student should chase after. To understand why, realize that if every student received all A’s, it would reflect dramatically well on the teachers, the administration, the school board, the community, and the students. Convenience is the keyword. All A’s help everyone.
Next, you have to understand the implications for students. At a school like South, college as the next step after high school is almost seen as inevitable. Better grades translate to a more prestigious school, and sequentially, familial and self-pride. The downside to this is societal pressure to perform. Yes, it is convenient for everyone to receive an A, but what happens if they don’t?
According to the U.S. Department of Education, an A is the most common grade given out. If you don’t receive an A, you have many opportunities to correct your work, receive late credit and extra credit, to inflate it back up. The dilemma this causes is that every student looks the same. GPA is no longer a way to understand student success. Grades themselves are intended to be an illustration of how well the student understands the material they are being taught. The stigma that bad grades are indicative of stupidity is misplaced and honestly dismal. Bad grades can be indicative of a lack of focus, retention or a brilliant mind that is dispositioned for school-learning.
Although, without grades being able to assess a student’s mastery, what can? What is there to separate student one from student two?
The answer is nothing. Test scores, supposedly, but most colleges are test-optional. Extracurricular activities? Unreliable, everyone has them, and a strong 3.6 student with amazing extracurriculars could still be outshone by an inflated 4.0 student with less impressive activities.
Grade inflation is a problem. The most important skill that students should take away from high school is undoubtedly a general ability to navigate the concepts that make up the world around us. Not feelings of guilt if they didn’t meet a college’s standards, not feelings of hate towards a system that tried to contain lucid thought, not even the ability to perform geometry equations. Don’t forget, everyone has unlimited potential, but everyone is different.
