Surprising Source of Grade Inflation (Inside Higher Ed.)

Parents Forum
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<p>[News:</a> Surprising Source of Grade Inflation - Inside Higher Ed](<a href=“http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/15/virginia]News:”>http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/06/15/virginia)</p>

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<p>It’s an interesting article, but when I think about it, why is it called grade inflation? If a kid masters all of the standards set forth by the state, than why shouldn’t they be given a good grade?</p>

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<p>This comes back to the question of what grades mean. If they are criterion referenced, then all can receive As, and one judges by evaluating the criteria used. If they are norm referenced, then each student is compared against the other and sorted. In reality a little of both is probably used by most teachers.</p>

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<p>The point, it seems, that upping the grade is an incentive to take the SOL rather than a reflection of the learning that the SOL is supposed to test. In MA, there does not seem to be such incentive. if you don’t take the MCAS, you don’t receive a high school diploma (and sometimes, the MCAS conflict with APs.) That pretty much eliminated protests against teaching to the test.</p>