Students’ grades at the Academy are rising, causing administration to examine the rigor of classes and grading policies. The general trend of escalating grades, deemed grade inflation, has crept up on the Academy primarily over the last six years.
The administration at the Academy, mainly in the 10/12 division, has noticed the incline in grades. “About three to four months ago, the department chairs asked me to look into grade inflation,” said Sonia Roth, 10/12 Division Head. TIS grouped all the grade data from previous years. Paul Demers, Mathematics Department Chair, compiled the information into a more easily comprehended form with the help fellow Mathematics faculty members David Metzler and Alan Vraspir. From the data, it became evident that “there’s been a slow drift upward in the overall GPA,” Roth said. “Five or six years ago the average was an 86 or 87. Now it’s an 88 or 89.” It can’t keep rising. “The drift can’t continue to where everybody has a 100,” Roth said.
While teachers and administrators have noticed the fact that grades are increasing, they are less certain as to why. According to Roth, there are a multitude of reasons. One is the attention the administration gives to students with lower averages. “We’re aggressively addressing kids with academic deficiencies,” Roth said. “Very few kids graduate [with an average] below an 80.” In previous years, the teachers and administrators didn’t intercede as frequently as they do now, and programs like structured study hall and meetings with the parents help identify students with possible learning issues. However, there are sometimes students that can’t, or won’t, fix their grades. “Occasionally, we ask them to leave, which pulls up the average,” Roth said.
The administration’s choices are not the only factors that contribute to higher grades. Students’ academics also take some of the blame. One explanation is what Roth calls an “[academic] golden period.” This refers to the last three graduating classes at the Academy, which have been very strong academically, with 33 National Merit Semi-Finalists three years ago and 31 the last two years. “The quality of the student body is better,” Roth said. English faculty member Hugh Himwich agrees. “[Students] at other schools I have taught don’t come close to having the intellectual curiosity that students at this school have,” Himwich said.
Not only are students stronger academically, but they are making smarter choices in regards to their classes and workload. The Pass/Fail option and the “move-back” option are two such choices that students opt for. Pass/Fail grades are not included in the calculation of the Grade Point Average (GPA), allowing kids to move to Pass/Fail to save their grades in a class. The other option deals with work in AP classes. A student floundering in an AP course has the option, until the end of the first and third quarter, to “move back.” The grade from the class does not follow the student to their new class, allowing them a fresh start. While the courses of action that students pick impact the average of the student body, informing students about the possible options is the best way the administration can help. “The better job we can do with academic counseling...the more grades go up,” Roth said. “Fewer kids are going to make bad choices and drag the grades down.”
One of the main reasons for grade inflation is the rising pressure to get into good colleges. “We don’t want to hurt students’ chances to get into universities when we give grades,” said Rolando Villegas, Languages Department Chair. But, the Academy’s transcript allows “[colleges to] see what other kids got.” Demers also points out the advantage of the format of the transcript. “[With] our transcript, a lower grade can hurt you less the way that its put in context with the other grades in that class,” Demers said.
Faculty opinions on grade inflation vary. Villegas believes that grade inflation is actually detracting from the purpose of grades. “[The reason] I grade papers and give them back is to show a student how well they’ve learned the material.” Villegas said. “It is my obligation to give students the grades they deserve.” Villegas’ previous job was at a small, independent private school much like the Academy. “Students that got an 85 were outstanding,” Villegas said. “[Grades of] 90 and above were reserved for those who were truly outstanding. Here [at the Academy], students are very disappointed with anything less than a 90.”
To the contrary, Himwich believes that the focus on grade inflation is “misplaced.” “It takes attention away from the actual activity of learning and teaching,” Himwich said. But, according to Himwich, students at the Academy look beyond grades. “Students want a high grade, but they want to improve their skills more,” Himwich said.
On the other hand, “it stands to reason that in such a large group, there is a certain percentage of kids that are going to struggle,” Villegas said. “If everybody is getting 90s, maybe we’re not being rigor