[xstartup]

Grade inflation refers to the phenomena of getting an "A" despite having what used to be a "B" or "C" level of knowledge.

If an institution gives grade A based on some objective criteria and students getting the grade C turn out to be successful then methodology of the institution will be considered flawed by the vast majority. Soon, the institution will lose its relevance.

If the institutions have to stay relevant, they'll have to make sure the grades are correlated to successful people in some way even if it means handing out grade A to any student!

[394549]

>> Grade inflation refers to the phenomena of getting an "A" despite having what used to be a "B" or "C" level of knowledge.

> If an institution gives grade A based on some objective criteria and students getting the grade C turn out to be successful business people then methodology of the institution will be considered flawed by the vast majority. Soon, the institution will lose its relevance.

What you describe is grade inflation.

Grades aren't meant to be predictors of career success, they're meant to be indicators of past academic performance. My understanding is that once upon a time, a "C" grade meant your work was average or typical, which was perfectly respectable. An "A" or "B" mean your academic work was above the norm or outstanding. People could get C's and go on to have successful, non-academic careers (such as in business) with little comment.

With grade inflation, when "average" is an A or B, it's much harder to distinguish the truly academically talented based on their grades, since they're grouped into the same category as average performers.

[ballenf]

> Grades aren't meant to be predictors of career success, they're meant to be indicators of past academic performance.

Isn't it both? If we had figured out the perfect academic program for all time, then it could be just a reflection of performance compared to all prior students in the program. Since we haven't, we update the programs and that might mean some aspects become easier and some harder. Or maybe overall easier, if career demands have generally gone down (which, imo, is a much more interesting discussion than whether an 'A' is really an 'A').

[lotsofpulp]

I don't see what being a successful business person would have to do with learning the material in a course, such as calculus or physics.

[dsajames]

That's not what happens. If A meant success at X, like running a mile in X time meant you could outrun a bear, no matter the percentage of people, it would be great.

What's happened is parents pressured schools to get their kids A's to get into college, then colleges set the minimum bar at A+ instead of A, then at A+ and a random selection of thousands of students, all with A+'s. We are at the point where a single A- will drop you 50 slots in class rank. This is like judging the difference between Olympic sprinters instead of seeing the real spread among students.

[tormeh]

That's why I think the universities should be holding high school exams. More generally, students/pupils should be judged by the institutions they're about to enter, rather than the ones they're leaving.

[tormeh]

Grading guidelines differ. Where I went, C was considered a good grade - more or less defined as the average among the students who didn't fail. Even an E means you got at least 40% of the points on the test.