Grade Inflation: the “Anabolic Steroids” of Education?
One of the more unexpected symptoms of the prevailing economic climate is that the Irish Government is undertaking an investigation into the perceived “grade enhancement” that is alleged to have occurred in both final second level results and third level degree results since the early 1990s.
Let’s give this news some context: the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics has just ended. Thankfully and unusually, there were no performance-enhancement drugs-related scandals at these Games, but we all know that the illegal biochemical enhancement of some athletes performance plays some part in most sporting competitions. Nobody talks about it, but everyone knows it happens.
Returning to the domain of learning and development, is grade inflation the “dirty little secret” of education today? And like doping in the Olympics, this seems to an topic that is rearing it’s head internationally, not just in Ireland.
Now read on…
Last week Batt O’Keeffe (the Irish Minister for Education and Science) stated that his department was carrying out an investigation to see if concerns raised by Dr Craig Barrett, the retired Chairman and CEO of Intel, about the increased awarding of higher grades at the end of second and third level education are which were “critical” of Ireland’s education system, particularly in relation to Irish students’ average performance in mathematics and the ‘hard’ sciences in international rankings.
The view from Ireland is that our future depends on a strong performance in the Smart Economy; we must perform better in the “STEM” subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Our educational credibility would further suffer if the investigation shows that average performances are being rewarded with high grades. There is evidence that there has been huge grade inflation in the Irish summative second-level exam (the Leaving Certificate) results since the early 1990s. According to the Dept of Education, the number of higher level A grades rose from 6.14pc of higher level results in 1993 up to 10.01pc in 2001, and rose again more gradually up to 12.58pc in 2008, over double the 1993 rate.
A similar trend of increases in first-class honors awards is also evident in the universities. The percentage of university graduates getting first-class awards in honors degrees in Level 8 (primary degree) programs has increased from 8.3 per cent in 1997 to 16.2 per cent in 2008.
On (Irish national broadcaster) RTÉ’s News at One program, the Minister said a number of “influential voices” in the employer community have voiced their concerns about graduate quality and it was important to listen to those concerns and be responsive to boardroom demands.
In other words, our approach to developing education policy must be strategic and more aligned with industry needs.
He continued that “fundamental questions” about the quality of teaching, learning, graduates, resourcing the system and responding to the needs of enterprise are at the heart of the National Strategy for Higher Education which will be published before the summer.
The reason I bring up this subject is that it reminds us learning professionals of the importance of assessment, and the responsibility we have to ensure the people we educate are actually capable to go into the workplace and qualified to do the work that they studied and trained for. The nightmare scenarios are, of course, under-skilled or unqualified doctors, air traffic controllers, civil engineers and so on, who we entrust our well-being, our safety, and even our lives.
At one end of the educational spectrum are the so-called degree and diploma mills – organizations that award academic degrees and diplomas with substandard or no academic study and without recognition by official educational accrediting bodies. The purchaser can then claim to hold an academic degree, and the organization is motivated by making a profit. These degrees are 
often awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some such organizations claim accreditation by non-recognized/unapproved accrediting bodies set up for the purposes of providing a semblance of credibility.
Perhaps the most famous “graduate” of such an establishment is The Simpsons’ Dr. Nick ‘Hi Everybody!’ Riviera (right), alumnus of the famous Hollywood Upstairs Medical College.
Less personally risky, but still of concern, are graduates with (for example) honors MBAs who go into the workplace and make business decisions that affect the performance of corporations, institutions, and organizations, when they (the MBA holders) may not have the knowledge or expertise to understand the systems they are interacting with, or the ramifications of their decisions.
So how do properly accredited, honorable education institutions go about ensuring that learners are qualified to an appropriate standard? Most commonly, criterion- and norm-referenced testing are used to establish a learner’s skills and knowledge.
Criterion-referenced assessment is the process of evaluating (and grading) the students’ learning against a set of pre-specified criteria. It is used when candidates are measured against defined (and objective) criteria. Criterion-referenced assessment is often, but not always, used to establish a person’s competence (whether they can do something). The best known example of criterion-referenced assessment is the driving test, where learner drivers are measured against a range of explicit criteria (such as using mirrors, reversing, completing a 3-point turn, and so on).
Norm-referenced assessment (colloquially known as “grading on the curve”) using a norm-referenced test is not measured against defined criteria. This type of assessment is relative to the student body undertaking the assessment. It is effectively a way of comparing students. This means that standards may vary from year to year, depending on the quality of the cohort; criterion-referenced assessment does not vary from year to year, unless the criteria change.
Both of these approaches have their pros and cons. For example, in a post-graduate class of high academic achievers, is it ‘fair’ or ‘just’ to grade them on the curve just because such a class will have a high median score? Or can we say that if the median score is high, that’s the average (using the term loosely) and therefore most students in this cohort by definition are average, with some higher and lower outliers attaining the coveted first-class honor or (conversely) a mediocre pass?
Equally, should assessment be merely a box-ticking exercise, where learners who attend all their classes, submit their continuous assessment work on time, and fulfil other elements of a pre-defined rubric are somehow rewarded for merely doing what it’s their responsibility to do to actually complete the course be somehow “guaranteed” a pass?
[And yes, in my - long-past - under-graduate days I have heard students say "Oh, do such-and-such a course - you're guaranteed a pass if you turn up".]
There are other pressures.
The elephant in the room that nobody speaks about is that underfunded universities and other educational institutions need students’ fees, and there seems to be a tacit expectation from a minority of students that “If I pay $10,000 for a degree, I expect to get ‘straight As’ regardless of my suitablility, aptitude or dedication to meeting the objectives in the curriculum of study” – the unspoken intention being “…and if I don’t get what I want I’ll go elsewhere.”
There is no easy way to balance these imperatives, and I’m not going to attempt to answer it here (unless someone wants to give me a substantial research grant to untangle this particular Gordian Knot), but the perspectives are worth considering. I feel that there must be a workable, creative solution that takes the best of the two current approaches and innovates a fairer, more effective methodology for formative and summative grading and assessment.
I imagine it’s very hard for educational institutions to be uncompromising in their adherence to strict academic excellence when faced with economic reality. I would suggest that it’s part of such institutions’ purpose is to ensure that their integrity remains inviolate, and their credibility unquestioned.
Equally, grade inflation is hard to measure. In their paper Academic Standards in UK Universities: More For Less or Less for More? (2005) Johnes and McNabb assert that
studies of grade inflation have not distinguished between the effects of declining standards and increasing efficiency. Yet both of these phenomena can plausibly explain an improvement in measured performance of educational institutions over time.
(p.1)
In their paper, the authors propose a method whereby competing effects can be disentangled. Their findings suggest that there has been no decline in standards in the UK university sector during the last decade. Efficiency, meanwhile, has risen steadily over the last 25 years. This makes sense: I think that we can all agree that 21st century students are in greater competition for good grades, and are probably more savvy and more dedicated to their studies. They are definitely more selective about the courses they take and aware of the affect their choices will have on their future careers.
My view is that the Irish Department of Education’s investigation is the right and honorable thing to do in the circumstances. If they determine that there has been unjustified enhancements in grades and qualifications, let it be exposed and rooted out: if there has not, then at least we know that our graduates are worthy of their results.
Economically it’s a critical issue because employers must be able to tell whether an education system truly has many good students or whether it just gives easy grades.
As I alluded to above, educational institutions do have an incentive to inflate grades to assist mediocre students, despite the negative effect that this can have on a university’s good standing. By extension, I would assert that within the academic ecosystem where colleges are in direct competition for students and their fees, grade inflation can be contagious, as learners will naturally opt to study in the institution with the highest ranking – it’s a straightforward Return on Investment transaction from their perspective.
However, if the Intels and Googles of this world can’t trust the grades of job applicants, the graduates’ efforts to qualify are worth precisely nothing. In this context, it is positive to hear that Google Ireland’s General Manager (and VP of Global Ad Operations) John Herlihy supports the Dept. of Education investigation stating:
Ireland’s education system has been a critical attraction for US investment …and [is] the key to delivering the smart economy.
(The Irish Times, 2010)
I believe that people want to get on in life and achieve on merit, and on their own terms. Of course, a minority of people will always try to take shortcuts and will take advantage of these avenues if they become available to them. However, the discipline and rigor of academic study, as well as the experience of aiming for and meeting an objective is a worthwhile skill in itself, and one that stands to people through-out their careers, long after they graduate.
I want to leave you with a good news story for the value of education. There’s a relatively small, unassuming college on the outskirts of Dublin called the Ballyfermot College of Further Education. It offers further education, specific skills and training in areas including multimedia. I trained there as a sound engineer back in the day, but among the College’s other alumni are some creative people who among them received nominations in three categories in this year’s Academy Awards. One of them won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects: Richie Baneham took the gong for his ground-breaking work on developing the 3D world of Avatar.
Here’s the point: if you educate people well, giving them the foundational knowledge and skills they need to perform in their chosen role effectively, the sky’s the limit.
__________
References:
Flynn, S., & McGreevy, R. (2010). Google welcomes review of college’s ‘grade inflation’. The Irish Times. [Internet]. Available from: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0302/1224265430950.html Accessed 5 March 2010.
Johnes, G. & McNabb, R. (2005). Academic Standards in UK Universities: More For Less or Less for More? [Internet]. Available from: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/carbs/econ/mcnabb/unistandards.pdf Accessed 5 March 2010.
Radió Telefís Éireann (2010, March 1). Grade inflation’ results due this week. [Internet] Available from: http://www.rte.ie/news/2010/0301/education.html Accessed 5 March 2010.
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March 08 2010 03:30 pm | e-learning
3 Responses to “Grade Inflation: the “Anabolic Steroids” of Education?”
Digital Creator: An Irish E-Learning Initiative | E-Learning Curve Blog on 09 Mar 2010 at 3:02 pm #
[...] yesterday’s theme (but on a much more positive note) about education in Ireland. The Institute of Art, Design and [...]
virginia Yonkers on 10 Mar 2010 at 12:36 am #
As you can guess, my blood always boils when I read about “grade inflation” and the increase in student grades undermining our educational system.
The question to ask is, How are these grades being used? For the most part, they are not used to determine who has what competencies, but rather to ration out jobs. Many of those using the bell curve (normative assessment) do so in order to rank students. Often these assessment tools are simplistic and do not measure true understanding and learning. They also do not measure creativity.
That being said, one of the short comings to the testing is that the criteria used to measure learning may not be what is truly needed. For example, understanding logarithms and testing well for it does not measure if a programmer can trouble shoot software problems. Testing knowledge of logarithms, however, are easier to measure than the ability to identify problems and provide multiple solutions.
I think what the Irish government should be investing in is not “grade inflation” but the alignment of the curriculum to societal and economic needs. Should STEM curriculum be so focused on content or should there be other factors such as creativity that should be instituted into the STEM curriculum?
Consequences of an Inflated GPA « Let's B Fair on 30 Apr 2010 at 8:59 pm #
[...] even the odds on the playing field after college. Giving out more As only gives the illusion of a surplus of successful students, when it’s merely a mask for lowering our [...]