Grade Inflation? Probably Not  

 
Grades are the fundamental currency of our education system. They signal academic achievement and student effort to parents, admissions officials, and prospective employers.

Over the years some educators and news stories have lamented “grade inflation.” They argue that grade point averages keep rising even while schools demand less from students than ever before. They conclude that grades no longer provide useful information to or about students because of a growing mismatch between student achievement and grades awarded.

WCER researcher Eric Grodsky cautions that this is a misperception. Grodsky’s research examines trends in grade averages over several decades at the high school and college levels. He says it’s important to think about grades in a more multifaceted way, by considering what he calls their “signaling power,” that is, a grade’s ability to provide information to and about students.

More: http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/news/coverStories/2013/grade_inflation.php