Examining Grade Inflation in High School: My Daughter's Experience

Thread starter hotvette
Start date Oct 5, 2010
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Inflation

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The discussion centers around concerns about grade inflation in high schools, particularly in relation to a senior student with a GPA of 4.0 unadjusted and approximately 4.4 adjusted for AP classes, who ranks 44th out of 450 students. While the parent expresses pride in their daughter's achievement, they find it troubling that so many students have GPAs exceeding 4.0, suggesting this reflects a broader issue of inflated academic standards. The conversation touches on the implications of grade inflation for college admissions, with some participants noting that prestigious universities like Princeton are adopting grade deflation policies to address this issue. Participants debate the rigor of past educational standards compared to current ones, with some arguing that students today may be more intelligent but face a diluted curriculum. There is also a discussion about the challenges of differentiating student performance when many achieve high grades, which can undermine the value of GPAs as indicators of academic ability. The conversation concludes with a recognition that while GPAs above 4.

Nov 22, 2011

mathwonk

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That last comment reminds me of a student i had who fell asleep in my class. I went up to him and waked him up and after class asked him to think about whether he really wanted to be in the class.

Many years later he emailed me and recalled this event and told me he wanted to thank me since his conclusion was no he did not want to be in my class nor in school and so he dropped out. He became a successful cartoonist and wanted to let me know how influential I had been! I was not sure just how flattered to be by this but hey, his cartoons were pretty cool, arguably lots cooler than my math equations.,