14. Does England Have the Solution to the Grade-Inflation Problem?

The article begins by characterizing grading. The author describes why the grading policy changed at Princeton University. It is difficult to find a good balance on how to grade students. Grade inflation has become a controversy with top American universities including Harvard. The author than makes a transition to how to find the balance of grading. He begins by asking a lot of questions that makes the reader think about what is the purpose of grades. Whether it is more for students, teachers, or employers. One of the solutions is to stop grades altogether. This way students will focus more on learning and no feel pressured about their final grades. There is also the “dual track system” where students receive two different grades. Another approach is having a quota for the average of the grades in a class. However this system was not popular with the students. The final suggested solution is to only use 3 classes of grades, as the UK does: first, second, and third. This system works with the understanding that most of the students will receive the same grade.  

The main purpose of the article is to inform the reader of different grading policies. He mainly states just the overall aspects of the different systems without going to much in depth about them. This gives the reader a good general idea without overwhelming them with boring information. At one point in the article, the author uses questions to get the reader thinking and gain their interest. He somewhat lists the different systems until the end of the article. The last few paragraphs he describes the UK system of grading which is preferred by the author. He explains how and why it works, partially persuading the reader into thinking the same. The author was able to make a somewhat boring subject seem interesting.        

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/10/does-england-have-the-solution-to-the-grade-inflation-problem/381571/