Statement of Purpose and Method of Study: Grade inflation has been recognized as a major concern for a particular rural school in the South. Research has shown that the problem of grade inflation existed on the high school and college levels, but the problem had not received much attention at the elementary level. As a result, the implementation of strategies to decrease grade inflation had not been examined. This study seeks to determine if focused professional learning communities (PLCs) could help to resolve the issue of grade inflation by using information provided on end-of-year student course grades and their relationship to end-of-year interim "i-Ready" assessments. Using these results as the baseline data of this study, the goal is to determine if the implementation of PLCs will help to deter grade inflation. Findings and Conclusions: Based on a review of the literature on grade inflation and professional learning communities (PLCs), pre-assessment data, intervention data, and post assessment data collected from electronic grade books and "i-Ready" software used by the selected teachers, significant conclusions may be made. Intervention data was collected through discussions with participants and through recorded responses. Teachers selected for the study must have taught the same subject and grade for two consecutive years, and the students must have been instructed by those teachers. The analysis of the data revealed that there was no significant relationship between end-of-year course grades and end-of-year "i-Ready" scores for the subject of math, but a relationship did exist for the subject of reading. Furthermore, findings show PLCs did not combat the issue of grade inflation at the elementary level. It is recommended that further quantitative research be done with a larger sample to increase the validity of the study as well as to decrease the amount of limitations. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]