Changes in High School Grading Standards in Mathematics, 1982-1992

摘要

In recent years, many observers have maintained that grades in secondary and postsecondary institutions have become inflated. Anecdotal reports of grade inflation, in some instances seemingly egregious, are common, but few studies have attempted to evaluate systematically changes in grading standards over time. This study explores changes in high school grading standards by comparing the senior cohorts of 1982 and 1992. The data used are nationally representative surveys, the High School and Beyond study (HSB, for the 1982 cohort) and the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS-88, for the 1992 cohort). The study explores how the distribution of grades changed over that time, how those changes varied across types of students and schools, whether the relationship between tested achievement and grades changed between 1982 and 1992, how grades changed when changes in tested proficiency and course- taking were taken into account, and whether the predictors of grades changed over that decade. Descriptive analyses were carried out for overall high school grade point average (GPA) and for academic GPA in several subject areas. Multivariate analyses were restricted to mathematics because the surveys provided equatable tests only in that subject, making it impossible to control for changes in proficiency in the other subject areas. Efforts were made to use Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Test (ACT) scores as surrogates in other subjects, but that approach was abandoned after analyses showed substantial changes in the self-selection of the tested subsamples between 1982 and 1992.