by Nicholas Zill
The last quarter century has seen a dramatic increase in grade inflation on student report cards in elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the United States. So much so, that a student’s grade point average (GPA), which was once as useful as an SAT or ACT score, has become almost worthless as a predictor of how well the student would do in college or graduate school. So many students get “A’s” on their report cards now that a straight-A average is hardly a mark of academic distinction anymore. And high school graduation rates continue climbing, even as the 12th-Grade results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) have remained stagnant or even declined. There has also been a notable decline in disciplinary actions by schools for student misconduct or lack of application.
