Rich kids enjoy a lot of advantages over poorer ones—and new research shows that grade inflation may provide the children of privileged parents with yet another edge.
Research by American University education economist Seth Gershenson, published by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, found that grade inflation is more prevalent in wealthier schools than poorer ones, with socioeconomic status measured by the share of students receiving free and reduced meals. In other words, if you go to a school with richer kids, it’s easier to get a good grade.
Gershenson looked at the test scores and grades of all North Carolina kids who took Algebra 1 between the 2004–2005 and 2015–2016 school years. Using school transcripts, end-of-course exams, and ACT scores, he compared test scores to grades over time to see whether grades increased more or less than test scores.
He found the median grade point average (GPA) rose in all schools. But it rose by 0.27 points in affluent schools, compared to just 0.17 points in less affluent ones. On average, students who scored higher on the end-of-course exams also earned higher grades. But plenty of kids with good grades did poorly on the exam; more than one-third of the students who received B’s from their teachers in Algebra 1 failed to get a “proficient” score on the end-of-term exam.
Gershenson can’t say for sure why this has happened but he suspects that it’s because parents of privilege are not afraid to wield it. “Wealthier parents have more time and more confidence to be pushy and to challenge teachers, either proactively or reactively,” he said. They might argue to get a B turned into an A, or teachers may sense the threat of overbearing parents and be more lenient to avoid confrontation.
One possible explanation for this phenomenon could be that students at better-resourced schools become more engaged, and thus improve their performance and get higher grades. But Gershenson controlled for attendance levels, often used as a proxy for engagement, and found the same outcomes. That suggests a boost for those better off, which may in turn influence their college acceptances and future careers.
Grades versus test scores
The question of how best to understand and measure students’ ability is complicated. Tests offer a one-shot look at whether students have mastered a given set of content, although regurgitating information isn’t always evidence of learning. Still, some kids might crack under pressure or have a bad day, thus making their exam performance an imprecise measure of their knowledge.
Grades are more subjective, but tend to measure a broader range of things—mastery of subject content, but also improvement, effort, participation, maybe even a student’s conscientiousness. Interestingly, it is grades and not test scores that generally better predict a student’s level of college success, perhaps because grades measure some of the qualities and skills needed to finish a college degree, such as perseverance or time management.
One thing is clear: Parents really, really want their kids to get good grades. Yet they are not always the most objective observers of their children’s abilities. In one 2018 survey (pdf) of 1,423 parents and caretakers of public school children in grades K–8, conducted byLearning Heroes, a parent information group, 90% of parents reported that their child was performing at or above grade level, with two out of three saying they believed their child is “above average” in school. Eighty-five percent said their child was on track for academic success, with a mere 8% saying their kid performed below average. Wobegon, it seems, has become every town.
But grade inflation doesn’t serve teachers, colleges, or students, because it only masks children’s abilities. If a kid who’s actually struggling in math gets an A because the wrath of his mother scared the teacher into it, a great grade doesn’t really help anyone. “Every minute of every day, we make decisions with the information we have at hand,” Gershenson says. “If we have incorrect information about how we or our kids are doing, we will not make best decisions.”
He acknowledges that there’s a natural tension between wanting your child to improve in a given subject, and wanting to communicate to a college that your kid is worth accepting. This is a conflict that is not easily resolved. “Parents may want the grade to accurately reflect the students’ strength and weakness,” Gershenson observes. That’s the best way to become aware of the areas where your child is falling behind, and take steps to address the problem. “But at the same time,” he notes, “they want to make that grade as high as possible and ignore the deficiencies when using it for external evaluations.”
So what should be done about the troubling relationship between grade inflation and wealth? For one thing, Gershenson recommends that schools keep using both grades and test scores to assess students, since they measure such different things. In addition, he says it’s important to let teachers, principals, and colleges know that poorer kids’ grades may not have not been as inflated as their richer peers. One idea? A grade deflator tool, similar to a GDP deflator, to account for the discrepancy. “That might help students and parents and colleges make better decisions,” he says.