This week, I will let others make the case about the problem of grade inflation. Several websites are available internationally, monitoring and exposing grade inflation in the following countries and regions:
Ireland – this site also monitors the UK, the US, and other countries
Even Wikipedia provides an entry with a growing set of links to sources and websites to grade inflation in various countries and regions.
These websites have generally emerged as a result of frustrations academics experience in getting administrators or governments to even recognize the problem, let alone do something about it. We do see, however, some progress in Ireland. But elsewhere grade inflation remains the proverbial ‘elephant in the living room’: at some level, most people know it is there, but few want to talk about it.
For a full and fair treatment of the problem from multiple perspectives, allowing readers to see the (flawed) evidence and arguments put forth by ‘deniers,’ along with the counterarguments among those who take the problem seriously, I recommend Lester H. Hunt (ed.), Grade Inflation: Academic Standards in Higher Education (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2008).
If anyone has other links and sources to recommend, please let me know by email or share them with readers as a comment.
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