Grade Inflation Argumentative Essay

Great Essays
College students are no longer working hard to get a good grade in class because they have become accustomed to getting higher grades than they deserve. Grade inflation is the main cause of this way of thinking. Unsurprisingly, grade inflation in schools has become a subject that some have chosen to argue. An article entitled, “Grade Inflation Gone Wild,” by Stuart Rojstaczer, a former professor of geophysics at Duke University who has a PhD in Applied Earth Science, publisher of a book entitled Gone for Good: Tales for University Life After the Golden Age, and another article entitled, “Doesn’t Anybody Get a C Anymore?” by Phil Primack, an analyst, editor a journalist who teaches Journalism at M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, both suggests that grade inflation is problematic for college students today. On the contrary, there are some who believe that grade inflation is due in part to students being smarter nowadays than they were in the past. Ultimately, I argue that although grade inflation should be viewed undesirably because it makes the incentive for studying more, less desirable, …show more content…
Rojstaczer began collecting data on grades from eighty different colleges and universities then created a website that contains the data he found. The website address is www.gradeinflation.com.The website reports that grades have increased in both private and public schools in the United States. Another key point that Rojstaczer explains is that college students are bored because they are not spending enough time studying and are choosing to drink alcohol as a way to past the time away. Rojstaczer discusses how several colleges have begun making changes concerning grade inflation. Rojstaczer concludes by stating a call for action when he writes, “Colleges must roll up their sleeves, bring down inflated grades, and encourage real learning. (Rojstaczer

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    There are a lot of on-going debates about the traditional grading system. Many argue that the system deters learning therefore; it should be overhauled and/or reformed. Alfie Kohn, an American author and educator that speaks and writes about education and parenting is very much opposed to the traditional grading system. In his essay “From Degrading to De-Grading”, Alfie Kohn argues against it, he claim that students are so grade driven that it reduces their interest in learning, creativity and preference for challenging tasks. Not only that, it also encourages cheating, disrupt curriculum and waste teachers’ time.…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “Why Colleges Shower Their Students with A’s”, Brent Staples explains and questions the reason behind grade inflation in colleges. Primarily, Staples discusses how college professors are stuck between pleasing students and the administration; therefore, being forced to inflate grades for the profit of the college. Staples mentioned that professors inflate grades to escape the pressure put on them from consumer-conscious administrators and to avoid the negative feedback from the evaluations taken by the students (Staples 1-2). This implies that professors are being pressured into inflating grades by administration and students. Next, Staples emphasizes the competition between traditional colleges and online colleges, like the University of…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There is no question that the American education system is flawed and is not the most effective to teach students a broad range of academic subjects. Students are graded on the ability to reproduce knowledge onto a piece of paper after days, weeks, or months of studying a topic. The lack of this ability results in failure to earn a passing grade in the subject matter. If the student can reproduce the desired knowledge at a highly proficient rate, they receive a rating that distinguishes them from other students. In “A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System,” an article written by Jerry Farber, a professor of English at the University of California at San Diego, the grading system is put at fault for the flawed educational system.…

    • 1079 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A Lazy A Suzanne E. Fry writes “Some students feel that success is owed to them; after all, they did not spend thousand of dollars a year not to yield results”(Fry 10). In her article, she brings out her view that relaxing grades or the lower performance needed to achieve good grades, cause the quality of education to suffer and teaches student they don 't need to work hard to succeed are completely valid; it is seen in the way student pick classes today and their time spent studying. Suzanne E. Fry in the article, Grade Inflation argues that the inflation of grades going on in higher education is harmful to all involved. Fry points out that when A’s are easier to achieve students are taught that they don 't need to work hard. She shows that…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In writing “Our Graduates Are Rubes”, Nichols hopes to inform his audience, which consists of primarily professors and faculty of higher education, of the issues arising in colleges. His main purpose is to warn educators of the issues arising in colleges so that improvements can be made. The audience is professors and faculty of higher education. The exigence was the events leading up to the 2016 presidential election. However, this article does not come without its set of constraints.…

    • 720 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Has anyone thought of school and been like “Hmm, professors might give them a better grade if they complain to her about how they feel they did a better job at that assignment?” Or how about, “Wow there is so much free time from studying that they should just all go get drunk?” Says no student ever. But truthfully after reading “Grade Inflation Gone Wild” by Stuart Rojstaczer and “Doesn’t Anyone Get a C Anymore” by Phil Primack that is apparently the mentality that some people involved in school system has adapted, students and professors; which will be discussed in this essay. Whoever heard of grade inflation?…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A formal and an informative tone was used. She tried to get her point across that inflation of grades should not be acceptable and it is happening too often. This was emphasized when she proclaimed, "I had the numbers to back me up, and I wouldn't budge on her grade," after another student asked her if she could bump up her B-minus. Shepard includes experiences from her own life to make this article more personal. The story of even her own son receiving a bad grade helps drive her point that A's aren't always crucial.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to singleton,” If F’s were to appear on more work sheets in schools or colleges, it would be noticed and people would have no other choice but to take action.” Singleton is correct with his notion that the standards need to be set higher and that schools should take immediate action to grading students work according to their performance. Singleton states that,” illiteracy among high school graduates is growing because those students have been passed rather than flunked.” One of the reasons why he believes this is because there are students that have passed classes in school and have moved on to the next grade not ready for it. Singleton is absolutely correct with his notion that the grading scales should be pushed higher and not lower.…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Therefore, like pennies, even though letter grades are our tradition, since it is not reflective, schools shouldn’t keep on using it. According to an education expert Alfie Kohn, "letter grades are not only unnecessary but harmful” (Long). Research shows that the students receiving letters and percentage grades do not try to master what they learn, but only seeks better grades. Also, it does not reflect on the students' learning and improvements.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Former professor of geophysics at Duke University, Stuart Rojstaczer is a notable author and coauthor of many studies, books, and articles in his career. He has a PhD in applied earth and sciences and has also created a website on grade inflation, which he has done much research on. Rojstaczer wrote “Grade Inflation Gone Wild”, an opinion editorial in the Christian Science Monitor, which is particularly focused on grade inflation in the United States. Rojstaczer claims that many people, professors, and administrators turn their backs on the ongoing grade inflation at universities and colleges which must be addressed and fixed. Rojstaczer highlights the impact that grade inflation has on students and their education level but does not give adequate…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Across the country, college dreams are being dashed by rising yearly tuition prices. The increase of annual college tuition prices has become such a substantial problem that the percent of students attending college after high school has dropped from 70.1% in 2009 to 65.9% in 2014 (Is College Tuition Really Too High?). (2) Of course, college is a business, and needs money for upkeep, supplies, upgrades, and salaries for the professors. (6) However, the argument pales in comparison to the facts that are present within the declining number of students going on to college yearly, and the consequences of these declining numbers.…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Carl Singleton, author of “What Our Education System Needs Is More F’s” feels that the educational system should give more F’s to students that do not master the required material in classes. Singleton feels that giving the students more F’s will not only save money, but will force parents to focus more on their students and grades. He also feels that giving more students F’s will explain a lot about the educational system, the teaching style of the teacher, and the student effort towards work. An analysis of Singleton’s article reveals an unstable argument. Singleton argues that giving more F’s to students will be a good thing for the educational system.…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Argumentative Essay: Flaws of the Education System There are inherent flaws within the education system which we use today pushes students far beyond their limits and it lacks emphasis on practical skill. Schools create a needlessly high stress environment basing their future upon numbers and grades rather than teaching and refining their practical skills. Lots of potential is flushed out of the curriculum due to college and high schools insisting that students must be able to juggle advance courses, maintain high unweighted GPAs, and participate in extracurricular activities in order to succeed in the future; hence, repairing and recognizing the inherent flaws of the education system is crucial to ensure that students earn the future that…

    • 1394 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Argumentative Essay Should Students Get Paid For Good Grades Some students get money for getting good grades but is that really good? Research shows that paying students may be a bad idea. For example, the NEA states that paying students would lead to practical problems in the classroom. Parents would pay for their child’s good grades as motivation, but it is actually affecting their own desire to learn.…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Easy A? Do you know a voice that is not often heard throughout the educational debate? Students. The students know that they are miserable.…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays