Grade Inflation: High Schools’ Skeleton in The Closet

By Perry A. Zirkel

Grade inflation is what happens when grades go up but the academic achievement they represent does not, at least not at the same pace. As with monetary inflation, the associated problems include the decreasing value and credibility of the currency, which, in the case of grades, counts for not just family pride and kudos, but also future educational and employment opportunities. Unlike monetary inflation, however, which is publicly monitored and controlled, grade inflation constitutes a hoax on the public, which continues to think that C represents a middling or average grade and that an A or, even more strongly, a 4.0 grade...