Is a World of A’s and B’s a good thing or a bad thing?
...and put a stop to the agony of dead week. We need to put less infuses on grades and more on learning. We need to put a stop to grade inflation. The article, ‘Inflating the Grades” by Stephen Goode and Timothy W. Maier, presents the rising problem of how today’s children are becoming more and more obsessed with grades. Times have really changed and “the gentlemen’s C” is no longer a satisfactory grade. Students now beat themselves up is they receive anything less and than an A or B. The average GPA of college students is now a 3.15 versus a 3.05 ten years ago. However, this does not automatically mean that we are smarter and brighter; it just means we know how to manipulate the situation better. Taylor 2 In highly regarded universities such as Princeton and Stanford, over 80 percent of students receive A’s and B’s. And part of this is due to grade inflation. It is very important for prestigious universities such as these to give their students these high grades so their school does not lose its reputation for excellence. But some of these universities are getting worried because if majority of students are getting A’s and B’s, what does that say about the academic rigor of the school? What does an A mean if every other person in your class receives an A? Therefore, certain universities are trying to prevent grade inflation by implementing certain new policies. For example, Dartmouth College includes the average score of the class next to indiv...