Face Off: Should all students be graded on a curve to deter grade inflation?

Grade inflation, a phenomenon where grades increase over time without a proportional improvement in student performance, can be a cause for concern. Grading on a curve is a method that strives to counter this by maintaining a consistent distribution of grades. It accurately reflects students’ relative performance and sets a benchmark for the entire class, ensuring fairness in the evaluation process.

Grades are a measure of academic achievement and are helpful for university admissions, scholarships and employment opportunities. If grade inflation continues unmanaged, however, the value of grades diminishes. This makes it difficult for schools or scholarship committees to differentiate between high-achieving and average students.

While some may argue that grading on a curve promotes a toxic atmosphere by pitting students against one another, it’s important to note that this approach mirrors real-world competition. In many professional settings, individuals are often evaluated against their peers. Grading on a curve, therefore, prepares students for future challenges where comparative evaluation is commonplace.

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Grading on a curve also benefits students when the difficulty of exams varies significantly. When an entire section of students gets below the expected grade average, the professor needs to step back, curve the grade, and ask for feedback on improving performance. Grade curving allows teachers to make tests more complex and specific while maintaining fairness.

Many external evaluations grade students on a curve or relative scale. Following this practice at school prepares them for these external assessments. It helps students understand how they perform relative to a larger pool of candidates.

From a student’s standpoint, if a test is inappropriately tricky, a question is poorly written, or the teacher fails to communicate a point clearly, a curve dictates that the most successful student will still get the top grade. If a question is so complex that no one in the class can answer it, it effectively does not count. For teachers, this helps establish consistency in grading. Grading on a curve should be standard.

Relying on curving to tackle grade inflation is like bandaging a gunshot wound. It fails to address the root problem and only acts as a temporary solution.

Although grade inflation is a valid concern, grading a paper on a curve undermines the primary purpose of assessments.

Grading on a curve not only fails to address grade inflation but also fosters a toxic environment of unnecessary competition among students. Instead of focusing on learning, students are pushed to prioritise results, leading to behaviour like withholding information, sabotaging work, and cheating. This method strips away the supportive atmosphere in schools, turning peers into adversaries.

Consider the frustration of investing hours into an assignment only to be disappointed by a curved grading system that limits the potential for excellence.

This situation breeds discouragement, leading to a decline in academic engagement and performance, despite the student’s best efforts.

Moreover, in some cases, the students who excel might be blamed for “throwing off the curve”, causing the rest of the class to receive lower grades.

For example, when most of the class fails, a teacher’s efforts to curve the scores can only go so far, but the student who achieves the highest mark is unfairly singled out.

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This creates a hostile environment for high-achieving students and discourages them from continuing to excel, as they fear the aftermath and social consequences of their success. We are responsible for nurturing future students in a setting that celebrates intellectual curiosity and dedication.

We must prioritise the cultivation of skills and learning over narrow, competition-based evaluation. By embracing more performance-driven assessment methods, we nurture the skills essential for navigating the rapidly changing world ahead while fostering a more collaborative and supportive learning environment.

While some may argue that grading on a curve is a necessary evil to address grade inflation, it is a fundamentally flawed approach that does more harm than good.