<p>Concerning grade inflation - it is all about the incentives.</p>
<p>Fifteen or so years ago, Kentucky fundamentally changed its state-wide education model. Included in the changes was scholarship money for every student based on their HS GPA - the higher the grades, the more money the student received for college. Within two years, the average GPA across the state rose from 3.2 to 3.5 - schools had a tangible reason to inflate grades as well as political cover for doing so.</p>
<p>The hilarious thing is that politicians and education bureaucrats took credit for the improvement as if students were suddenly studying much harder.</p>
<p>This was in addition to the normal pressure that aggressive parents have always placed on teachers and administrators to raise grades for their child - no one ever complains that their grade is too low.</p>