Education Next – Seth Gershenson 
Grade inflation is pervasive in American high schools. Over the past 20 years, grade point averages have soared while SAT scores and other measures of academic performance have held stable or fallen. As a result, supposedly “good” grades have become unreliable markers of knowledge and skills. Is rampant grade inflation cause for concern? On the one hand, students who receive favorable marks despite struggling to master academic content may be encouraged in their studies; surely, many teachers who are generous in assigning grades have this logic in mind. On the other hand, grade inflation may be yet another manifestation of the “soft bigotry of low expectations” that President George W. Bush famously warned about.
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