FYI from BSF, 11.10.23
The average student today probably has better grades than you did.
Your pride aside, “grade inflation” is not a new phenomenon. Researchers first flagged this in the 1970s. There have been culture-war type flare-ups at colleges on the topic from time-to-time. There is definitely a correlation with the rise in competition for colleges, SAT scores, and higher grades. As a result, grade inflation has been largely tied up in the college admissions nuclear arms race that reached its apotheosis with the “Varsity Blues” scandal several years back.
A new research study and a provocative report frame grade inflation less as an end game played by a select few, and more as a pervasive practice that is potentially harming many.
The pandemic, for social scientists, established an evergreen “the dog that didn’t bark” framework. For example, ACT results plummeted during and post pandemic. Stands to reason: kids missed school, rise of social and emotional issues, etc.
But guess what didn’t fall: grades. They went up.
Researchers more recently went further back (10 years), examining lower, middle, and high school grade performance over time in Washington state. Grades went up and stayed up.
A similar pattern played out in study of two districts, with anonymized data, going back to 2017. Again, a curious result: students who had lower assessment results and missed more school saw their grades go up.
It may be reasonable to ask what the big deal is. It may be reasonable to assume that piling bad grades on kids who were struggling seemed like a bad idea. It may be reasonable to think that adoption of equitable grading has had an effect. It may be reasonable to argue that standardized tests are flawed.
But we lose at least two things when grades become more bifurcated from student learning and work products.
First, GPA has been perhaps one of the strongest predictors of long-term academic success in research. Without having a milestone for educators and younger students to reach towards or a data point that could initiate a response or resources (think of Chicago’s 9th grade intervention program or Massachusetts’ Early Warning Indicator System), we are losing an important signal that educators rely on.
Second, families are heavily reliant on the information schools provide to them for student progress. Families may not have the information they need to support or even advocate for their children - asking for tutoring, requesting an evaluation, etc.
There is no easy answer. Formative assessment and frequent grading by a teacher are essential learning tools, distinct from the other standardized assessments and data collected about students.
But what if the grades are telling a completely different story? Losing the plot on grading can have real consequences for many children.
Notes in the Margin
Case in point. Exam schools are back in the news, focusing on the “bonus points” students receive based on their school’s demography. But a letter grade - an A versus B - carries more weight in determining a student’s score for admission to those schools.
Jayson Tatum visited New Mission.
The Commonwealth continues to link more data and make it more publicly available. The Massachusetts Education-to-Career Research and Data Hub provides data sets and visualizations that were not available just a few years ago. For example, here is how the BPS Class of 2012 is faring in wage growth.
What may be driving these gaps? Where students went to school before 2012? What did they do in their postsecondary years? You can download data and see for yourself.
How are Massachusetts schools responding to an increase in migrant students?
Staffing shortages hitting the bookends - Head Start classrooms in Massachusetts can't keep up with demand and many Brockton High School students aren’t having classes.
With so much discussion about chronic absenteeism, what are the solutions? Two experts weigh in on the Shah Family Foundation’s new Deep Dives podcast.
One potential long-term impact of ESSER funding: stimulating more community model schools.
Last Tuesday’s elections created more fodder for those keeping score on the school culture wars.
Well, there is one way applying to college is easier: hundreds of colleges now offer automatic admissions.
other matters
November is an early award season for schools. We are thrilled that our longtime partner, East Boston High School, was recognized as this year’s School on the Move.
De’Shawn Washington - a Boston charter school graduate and former BPS teacher - is the Massachusetts teacher of the year, the first Black man to win the award.
