Easy Does it
Your child got an A in a course? No big deal. In the last three decades the ease of getting an A has, well, gotten easier. A failing grade has become far less common.
One would think that better grades means higher achievement. Sorry, that isn’t so. Student achievement on tests like the ACT and the NAEP has gone down as school grades have gone up.
Maybe it’s not so bad that grades are going up. Boosting a kid’s self-concept is a good thing. Not so, says a study that is co-authored by researchers from the University of Maryland and Harvard Grad School of Education. Students who experienced more lenient grading were less likely to do well in subsequent courses, were less likely to graduate from high school and enroll in college. Over the course of their lifetimes, they earned less money.
The researchers examined students in both Maryland and Los Angeles. The Los Angeles cohort provided data on almost a million students. The population was about 70% Hispanic and failing grades were common. The Maryland cohort included 250,000 of a more racially diverse population. Graduation rates exceeded 90%
Researchers examined students whose teachers were lenient graders. The lenient graders were defined as teachers who gave high grades to students but whose students did poorly on standardized tests.
Examination of the outcomes for these students showed that in both cohorts showed no upside and actually damaged student chances of future success, even into the workplace.
The study does not answer the question of why grade inflation hurts kids, it just reports the data. But one can imagine that students who get high grades that were not earned learn that they do not need to work hard to achieve success. And as they haven’t learned the skill sets necessary to achieve in subsequent coursework. Future course grades will deflate any confidence that A grade offered.
It’s really easy to blame teachers on this one. But digging deeper researchers found that teachers felt strong pressure from administrators to offer “equitable grading”. This policy forbids zeros, allows for unlimited retakes and eliminates penalties for late work.
While it’s true that low grades are hardly inspiring for kids; this early evidence suggests inflated grades are doing them any favor either.
Next time your kid comes home with an A, check it out.
