ControllingGradeInflation-NEA.pdfVIP

283796_L-Stanoyevitch layout 10/30/08 12:52 PM Page 81 Controlling Grade Inflation by Alexander Stanoyevitch rades are the currency of exchange that instructors use to motivate students to put in the necessary time Gto master concepts and knowledge. However, exten- sive data show grade inflation, both in high schools and in colleges and universi- ties.1 Research has found a steady rise in grades that are assigned at universities, and a strong positive correlation between grades that instructors assign and the popu- larity of those instructors, as evidenced in student evaluations of teaching.2 These two forces—grade inflation and student evaluations—can interact to produce seri- ous threats to higher education and the nation’s overall educational system. Despite the abundance of compelling evidence about the dangers and long- term effects of grade inflation, the subject tends to be controversial for an assort- ment of reasons. Department chairs and university administrators find it conven- ient to ignore the problem and, in some cases, actually encourage the practice. And even though knowledge about grade inflation is widespread, very little work seems to have been done to develop strategies to resolve the problem. In this paper, I restrict my attention to the college and university level, although many of the tools and ideas developed here should be useful for high schools as well. I consider the relationships between grades instructors assign and scores they receive on end-of-the semester student evaluations of teaching. In addition, I exam- ine some of the possible causes