Grade Inflation and Academic Standards

Readers might be interested in some information about grade inflation and academic standards. As one student recently commented in class, "grades are more than just a mark on a paper". How true that is. This is an ongoing discussion/debate in my classes. As former Chairman of the Academic Standards Committee, St. Gregory's University I was deeply involved in this discussion starting over a decade ago. Currently, I am a member of the Master Teacher Project administered by The Oklahoma Department of Education's Office of Standards and Curriculum. Wynona School is participating by conduction a book review/ discussion of student literacy and developing recommendations to improve student performance.

I believe that students should understand the long term ramifications of grade inflation and diluted academic standards. This issue not only has consequences for the individual student, but for American society as a whole. I want to share some thoughts on this topic in the days and weeks to come. Keep an eye on Zooblog to follow this issue. First of all however, we need to understand the definition of "grade inflation". Here is a good definition:

According to Random House Dictionary 2009, Grade Inflation is:

-noun- the awarding of higher grades than students deserve either to maintain a school's academic reputation or as a result of diminished teacher expectations.

-origin- 1980-85