Grade inflation makes learning loss worse

Areas that have eased grading policies have suffered higher rates of absenteeism and worse performance on standardized assessments, with low-achieving students seeing the biggest declines.

Recent test results confirm a dispiriting reality: America’s students continue to lag far behind their peers around the world, and millions are running out of time to catch up. Yet many families remain unaware of the true deficits their children face — in no small part because teachers are often giving students higher grades than they actually deserve.

The grading systems used in K-12 schools vary widely, which makes it difficult to measure the problem precisely. But there’s evidence that the padding of classroom grades has become routine. Over the past decade, average scores on the ACT college-entrance exam declined in English, math, social studies and science, yet test takers’ self-reported grade-point averages in all four subjects went up. In 2010, 43% of test takers reported earning A’s in math, while 41% received B’s; by 2022, 54% received A’s and only 35% got B’s. The number with C’s fell to 10% from 15%.

The pandemic made the situation worse. An analysis of middle- and high schoolers in Washington state found that average GPAS in math rose from 2.36 in 2019 to 2.7 in 2021 — more than triple the rate of improvement over the previous eight years — even as standardized-test scores dropped.

In North Carolina, 54% of middle-schoolers received A’s or B’s in math before the pandemic, equal to the number who met proficiency benchmarks on state exams. In 2022, 51% earned A’s or B’s, but the proficiency rate fell to just 43%.

Several pedagogical trends are contributing to grade inflation. This includes recalibrating traditional 100-point grading scales, discontinuing the use of letter grades, increasing opportunities to retake exams, and judging students on their “mastery” of material rather than on things like homework and class participation. Schools became even more lenient during the pandemic, waiving penalties for poor attendance and scrapping rules to hold back unready students. Defenders of such measures claim that awarding higher grades can boost kids’ self-confidence at a time of heightened social and emotional challenges.

Educators need to be sensitive to those concerns, but compromising academic standards will only do more damage. Areas that have eased grading policies have suffered higher rates of absenteeism and worse performance on standardized assessments, with low-achieving students seeing the biggest declines. The practice also leaves parents in the dark about how far behind their kids are — which in turn weakens pressure on schools to prioritize academic recovery. One recent survey found that nearly 90% of parents think their children are on grade level in reading and math, even as national assessments show that fewer than half are.

Policymakers should insist schools address the pervasiveness of grade inflation and take steps to reverse it. Districts should be required to lower grades for students who are chronically absent. Report cards should provide more transparency about the calculations underpinning students’ marks and where they stand relative to their classmates. Teachers should be encouraged to maintain rigorous grading standards and rewarded if their students subsequently demonstrate improvements on standardized assessments. Schools should make public aggregate grade-point averages by age and subject area, alongside standardized-test results, allowing families and district leaders to evaluate the extent to which grades aren’t matching achievement.

Above all, educators and parents alike need a renewed commitment to be honest with students about the academic deficits they face and the work required to address them. Handing out good grades for subpar work isn’t helping anyone.