The impact of grade inflation on higher education enrolment and earnings

This study examines the consequences of grade inflation at the upper secondary education level on enrolment in higher education and earnings for Sweden. Although grade inflation is unfair and may imply inefficient allocation of human resources, current knowledge of grade inflation effects on individual outcomes is scarce. One explanation is probably the challenge of measuring and estimating causal grade inflation effects. We find that grade inflation at the school level affects earnings mainly through choice of university and the chosen field of education, rather than through enrolment per se, because attending universities of higher quality and pursuing high-paying fields of education have a substantial impact on earnings. On the other hand, high-skilled students attending upper secondary schools without grade inflation and, unexpectedly, low-skilled women attending “lenient” schools are harmed by this. This causes extensive unfairness and, plausibly, detrimental welfare effects.     

Public expenditures,educational outcomes and grade inflation: Theory and evidence from a policy intervention in the Netherlands

This article argues that resource expansion can fail to improve actual student performance because it might cause educators to soften grading standards (i.e., induce grade inflation). Our theoretical model shows that, depending on schools’ and students’ reactions to resource changes, the overall effect of resources on education outcomes is ambiguous. Schools, however, have an incentive to adjust their grading structure following resource shifts, such that grade inflation is likely to accompany resource-driven policies. Exploiting a quasi-experimental policy intervention in the Netherlands, we find that additional resources may indeed induce grade inflation, particularly when the resource increase is limited.     

Grade stability in a criterion‐referenced grading system: the Swedish example

This study investigates empirically the mechanisms behind the increasing grade point averages in Swedish upper secondary schools. Four hypotheses are presented as plausible explanations; improved student achievements, student selection effects, strategic behaviour in course choices, and lowering of grading standards. The analysis is based on extensive data, and focuses on grades and test scores from upper secondary school graduates over a 6‐year period. The result shows that the increase in grade point averages cannot be explained by better achievements, selection effects or course choices, which means that standards have been lowered, which is interpreted here as grade inflation. The grade inflation is most likely an effect of the leniency in the grading system in combination with pressure for high grading, related to the upper secondary school grades’ function as an instrument for selection to higher education.     

Unfairness in access to higher education: a 11 year comparison of grade inflation by private and public secondary schools in Portugal

Fairness in access to HE is unarguably a subject of paramount importance. Wherever a student’s secondary school scores are relevant for access to HE, grade inflation practices may jeopardize fair access. Pressures for high grading are common in the context of educational consumerism and competition between schools and students. However, they are not equally distributed across different types of schools, given that they have distinct relationships with the State and the market, and work with distinct populations. Specifically, the schools that are more subject to market pressures (namely private schools) are, in principle at least, the ones with more incentives to inflate their students’ grades. This paper presents an empirical study based on a large, 11 years database on scores in upper secondary education in Portugal, probing for systematic differences in grade inflation practices by four types of schools: public schools, government-dependent private schools, independent (fee-paying) private schools, and specially funded public schools in disadvantaged areas (TEIP schools). More than 3 million valid cases were analysed. Our results clearly show that independent private schools inflate their students’ scores when compared to the other types of schools. They also show that this discrepancy is higher where scores matter most in competition for HE access. This means that—usually wealthier—students from private independent schools benefit from an unfair advantage in the competition for the scarce places available in public higher education. We conclude discussing possible solutions to deal with such an important issue.     

Effects of cooperation on spelling achievement at three age levels (Grades 2, 4, and 6)

In a field experiment among second, fourth and sixth grade pupils from 27 primary schools, two instruction methods were compared. At 13 schools (control condition) pupils did spelling exercises as usual, i.e. individually. At 14 schools pupils worked in pairs; each pupil was asked to check a partners’ work and discuss mistakes. At grade 2 cooperation led to less off-task behaviour when pupils did spelling assignments of a more complex type. Nevertheless we found a negative effect on achievement. At grade 4 cooperation led to less off-task behaviour for complex assignments and an increase in pupil’s effort as rated by their teachers as well. These findings were accompanied by a weak effect on achievement. Cooperation did not affect effort nor achievement of pupils from grade 6. At none of three grade levels we found indications of better reasoning strategies as a consequence of pair learning. The differential effect of cooperation at the three age levels may be explained in terms of complexity of learning subject and of lesson type.     

Analysis of engineering discipline grade trends

Among the academic community, there is a perception that there is an upward shift in grade point average over an extended period of time without a corresponding increase in achievement. This trend has become an alarming topic among educators, industry and the general public. Some attribute increases in GPA to improvements in student quality while others point to the emergence of a consumer‐based perception of education that unjustly awards high grades. The objective of this paper is to review various opinions regarding grade inflation, investigate whether grade inflation exists in engineering curricula, and analyze the related factors. Using eight years of detailed course data from a college of engineering, we seek insight into recent grading practices within each engineering discipline. The results indicate an upward trend in grade point average and an increasing prevalence of ‘A’ grades. However, both trends match increases in student achievement potential as measured by ACT composite score. The results also show different grade outcomes among the engineering departments and the importance of class size as a predictor of grades.     

The Impact of Charter Schools on Promoting High Levels of Mathematics Achievement

Abstract

This study compares achievement levels for high ability students attending charter schools and students in traditional public schools in Georgia. Researchers examined student achievement (as assessed by the state's Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests) using three comparison groups: students in the closest traditional schools with similar grade levels, schools with similar demographics, and comprehensive school reform schools. Hierarchical loglinear analysis was used to determine the impact of school type and student demographic variables on student achievement mobility (i.e., the degree to which students, from 2004 to 2005, moved into or out of the top 10% of each grade level on the CRT mathematics subtest). Results for the first comparison did not provide evidence of a significant relationship between school type and achievement mobility, but results for the second and third comparisons suggest that Black students generally experienced positive or neutral achievement mobility in traditional schools and negative mobility in charter schools; White students generally saw negative achievement mobility in traditional schools and neutral to positive mobility in charter schools. Implications for the study of gifted education and gifted students within charter schools are discussed.     

Marketized education: how regulatory failure undermined the Swedish school system

ABSTRACT

In a radical school choice reform in 1992, Sweden’s education system was opened to private competition from independent for-profit and non-profit schools funded by vouchers. Competition was expected to produce higher-quality education at lower cost, in both independent and public schools. This two-pronged study first examines to what extent the consequences of this reform deviate from the predicted results. It demonstrates increasing discrepancies between absolute test results and grades, suggesting grade inflation. Secondly, the study investigates whether the school choice reform was institutionally secured against school competition based on phenomena that are unrelated with educational quality, such as grading. It reveals that the architects of the school choice reform overemphasized the potential positive implications of market reforms and, therefore, did not deem it necessary to establish appropriate rules and institutions for school competition. Instead, grading and curriculum reforms had unintended consequences such as grade inflation and similar forms of school competition in dimensions other than school quality. The analysis of how the objective of raising the quality in Sweden’s schools through competition and choice was inadvertently undermined contains practical lessons for policymakers with regard to the use of privatization and co-production both in schools and in other fields.     

私立学校与举办者产权关系的国际经验与中国探索

私立学校与举办者的产权关系是指私立学校与举办者之间的财产关系.产权不明晰是制约我国私立学校发展的重大隐忧.大陆法系国家私立学校基本上是捐资办学型,在产权制度安排上采取财团法人的形式;英美法系国家的私立学校则有两种形式--捐资办学与投资办学,它们采取不同的管理方式:捐资办学以公益信托的形式进行调整,投资办学则与企业管理一样.我国私立学校主要是投资回报型,属于英美法系国家的投资办学型私立学校,应纳入企业的管理范围.     

It's not which school but which set you're in that matters: the influence of ability grouping practices on student progress in mathematics

The mathematics achievement of a cohort of 955 students in 42 classes in six schools in London was followed over a 4‐year period, until they took their General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations (GCSEs) in the summer of 2000. All six schools were regarded by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) as providing a good standard of education, and all were involved in teacher training partnerships with universities. Matched data on Key Stage 3 test scores and GCSE grades were available for 709 students, and these data were analysed in terms of the progress from Key Stage 3 test scores to GCSE grades. Although there were wide differences between schools in terms of overall GCSE grades, the average progress made by students was similar in all six schools. However, within each school, the progress made during Key Stage 4 varied greatly from set to set. Comparing students with the same Key Stage 3 scores, students placed in top sets averaged nearly half a GCSE grade higher than those in the other upper sets, who in turn averaged a third of a grade higher than those in lower sets, who in turn averaged around a third of a grade higher than those students placed in bottom sets. In the four schools that used formal whole‐class teaching, the difference in GCSE grades between top and bottom sets, taking Key Stage 3 scores into account, ranged from just over one grade at GCSE to nearly three grades. At the schools using small‐group and individualized teaching, the differences in value‐added between sets were not significant. In two of the schools, a significant proportion of working‐class students were placed into lower sets than would be indicated by their Key Stage 3 test scores.     

Grade inflation in higher education: A comparative study

Recent research in higher education has exposed and documented a phenomenon that some have labeled “grade inflation.” Because of the significant implications of grade inflation for the credibility of academia's standards of excellence and accountability, efforts should be directed toward explaining why this phenomenon is occurring, and remedies sought. The present study represents a comparison of 10 departments displaying high grade inflation rates during a 7-year period with 10 departments within the same university displaying low(er) grade inflation rates. The study found an average inflation of grades of +.298 during this time period, with higher grade inflation rates related to perceived and/or actual increases in the demands or pressures placed upon the academician's role, to greater flexibility in grading options and, in particular, to the use of more subjective student-based methods of evaluation. While the study's findings also support the “peaking effect” theory that grade inflation rates will slow down, the central question remains: How high will grade point averages rise and, in the absence of positive corrective action, what will be the effect of the grade inflation phenomenon on the credibility of institutions of higher education and their graduates?     

Does education corrupt? Theories of grade inflation

Several theories of grade inflation are discussed in this review article. It is argued that grade inflation results from the substitution of criteria specific to the search for truth by criteria of quality control generated outside of academia. Particular mechanisms of the grade inflation that occurs when a university is transformed into a commercial enterprise, an industrial workshop or an extended family (Alma Mater) are discussed in detail.     

Transtheoretical-based bullying prevention effectiveness trials in middle schools and high schools

Background Bullying threatens the physical and mental well-being of students across a broad range of schools. Tailored interventions based on the Transtheoretical model and delivered over the Internet were designed to reduce participation in each of three roles related to bullying (bully, victim and passive bystander).

Methods Effectiveness trials were completed in 12 middle schools and 13 high schools in the USA. A diverse sample of 1237 middle (6th–8th grade, with 45.1% in the 7th grade; ages 11–14) and 1215 high school (9th–11th grade, with 41.6% in the 9th grade; ages 14–17) students were available for analyses.

Results Analyses showed significant treatment effects for both intervention groups when compared to control for both the middle and high school programs.

Conclusions Given the relative ease of dissemination, these programs could be applied as stand-alone practices or as part of more intensive interventions.     

The impact of attending an independent upper secondary school: Evidence from Sweden using school ranking data

Since the 1990s, the Swedish education market has gone through a dramatic transformation due to the introduction of voucher-funded independent schools. We make use of data on school applications to condition on student preferences for independent versus public education, and estimate a positive relationship between independent upper secondary school attendance and grades, graduation rates, and post-secondary education. We however also find strong indications of more lenient grading standards in independent schools, especially in schools organized as for-profit entities and in schools with a low share of qualified teachers. Our results suggest that, although independent school attendance seems to benefit the individual students in terms of higher grades and increased transition to post-secondary studies, grade inflation in the Swedish upper secondary independent schools may be a serious problem.     

The Challenge of Improving Urban High School Graduation Outcomes: Findings from a Randomized Study of Dropout Prevention Efforts

This 5-year longitudinal randomized study focused on the effects of a dropout prevention program implemented at two urban high schools. The program incorporated the characteristics of personalization found in previous research to have some positive effects, and typical of the type of programs implemented in many high schools nationwide. The primary program component was the provision of a facilitator for about 60 program students at each school to encourage students regarding attendance, their academic coursework, and personal issues. In particular, the study examined whether at-risk students randomly assigned to the program had better outcomes (particularly attendance, on-time promotion in grade, and high school completion) than those at the same high schools that were assigned to the control group. The article explores reasons for the nonsignificant effects of this program, emphasizing the need for earlier intervention prior to the ninth grade year among at-risk urban students.     

Trends in the development of student level of reasoning in pattern generalization tasks across grade level

This paper explored (1) the developmental trend of student level of reasoning across grade level in pattern generalization; (2) the mediatory role of task variables in the developmental trend of student level of reasoning within and across tasks; and (3) developmental trend of student level of reasoning associated with strategy use across grade level. A test designed to measure student level of reasoning was given to a sample of 1232 students from grades 4 to 11 from 5 schools in Lebanon. The Structure of the Learned Outcomes or Responses (SOLO) was used as a theoretical model. Results show that student level of reasoning exhibited an increasing trend across clusters of grade levels and that there were several SOLO levels in each cluster of grade levels. Type of task (immediate, near, far) and function type (linear, non-linear) seem to mediate the development of level of reasoning across grade level but the complexity of the task (simple, more complex) did not. Students used several strategies in each cluster of grade levels and the developmental trends of student level of reasoning associated with strategy use were not uniform and varied across clusters of grade levels, thus supporting a neo-Piagetian interpretation of the results.     

Racial-ethnic identity in mid-adolescence: content and change as predictors of academic achievement

Three aspects of racial-ethnic identity (REI)-feeling connected to one's racial-ethnic group (Connectedness), being aware that others may not value the in-group (Awareness of Racism), and feeling that one's in-group is characterized by academic attainment (Embedded Achievement)-were hypothesized to promote academic achievement. Youth randomly selected from 3 low-income, urban schools (n=98 African American, n=41 Latino) reported on their REI 4 times over 2 school years. Hierarchical linear modeling shows a small increase in REI and the predicted REI-grades relationship. Youth high in both REI Connectedness and Embedded Achievement attained better grade point average (GPA) at each point in time; youth high in REI Connectedness and Awareness of Racism at the beginning of 8th grade attained better GPA through 9th grade. Effects are not moderated by race-ethnicity.     

Estimating the impact of relative expected grade on student evaluations of teachers

Grade inflation over the past few decades has been a concern for many universities. Course evaluation scores are known to be positively correlated with students’ expected grades, and this paper tests whether or not there is an incentive for the instructor to “buy” higher evaluation scores by inflating grades. To test this hypothesis, I use unique data from the University of Washington's Office of Educational Assessment that includes a measure of each student's relative expected grade in the course. I find that there is an incentive for instructors to grade leniently after accounting for the potential endogeneity of the relative expected grade variable due to unobserved teacher productivity and unobserved heterogeneity of instructors and departments. Instructor fixed effects account for a significant part of the measured effect of relative expected grade on evaluations, and by not including them, the estimated impact of relative expected grade on evaluations is biased upwards.     

Relationship to place: positioning Aboriginal knowledge and perspectives in classroom pedagogies

This project is based on research conducted with 12 schools in New South Wales, Australia. It examines how each school incorporates Aboriginal perspectives in its Kindergarten to Year 6 program with a view to identifying quality practice. As we interviewed teachers in these schools, it became clear that there is considerable confusion over the difference between Aboriginal perspectives and Aboriginal knowledge with both concepts being used interchangeably to teach syllabus content and information about Aboriginal people. We endeavour to clarify these concepts and to suggest how teachers might incorporate Aboriginal knowledge in their programs, without recreating some of the stereotypical representations that are often an effect of current pedagogies.     

FACTORS IMPLICATED IN HIGH MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT

The most recent Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) (2009) mathematical literacy results provide evidence that in Western English-speaking countries, including Australia, the gender gap in achievement appears to be widening in favour of males. In the study reported in this article, the aim was to explore the effects of gender, school type (a measure of socioeconomic background), school learning setting and geographic location on mathematics performance amongst the highest achievers (top 2 %) in the grade 12 Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) mathematics subjects based on results reported in a metropolitan newspaper. The analyses revealed that over the period 2007–2009, males, students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds and those attending metropolitan schools predominated amongst the highest achievers in all three VCE mathematics subjects. Students in single-sex settings, particularly males, were also over-represented. For each factor, the dominance was more pronounced as the level of difficulty of the mathematics subject increased.