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ERIC Number: ED636072
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Nov
Pages: 14
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Course Grades as a Signal of Student Achievement: Evidence on Grade Inflation before and after COVID-19. CALDER Research Brief No. 35
Dan Goldhaber; Maia Goodman Young
National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER)
There is widespread speculation (e.g., Johnson, 2021; Klinger et al., 2022; Mathews, 2022; Walker, 2021) and some evidence (e.g., Sanchez & Moore, 2022, Sanchez, 2023) that grading standards have changed over the course of the pandemic, making higher grades relatively easier to achieve and less reflective of objective measures of learning. It is possible--even likely--that shifting grading standards give parents, guardians, and students a confusing or inaccurate picture of what students know and can do, especially considering pandemic- related learning losses (Dorn et al., 2021; Goldhaber et al., 2023; Kuhfeld et al., 2022). Despite considerable theoretical work about grading standards and some evidence of changes in grading over the pandemic, there is limited research on the extent to which eased grading standards continued post-pandemic, as teachers and students returned to normal schooling. In this research brief, researchers used administrative data on student grades from Washington state to assess whether grading standards have returned to pre-pandemic levels.
National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research. American Institutes for Research, 1000 Thomas Jefferson Street NW, Washington, DC 20007. Tel: 202-403-5796; Fax: 202-403-6783; e-mail: info@caldercenter.org; Web site: https://caldercenter.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: National Center for Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research (CALDER) at American Institutes for Research (AIR)
Identifiers - Location: Washington
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A