Synthesis Essay: Grade Inflation
Grade inflation is a problem because it gives students a false sense of their ability to perform. For a student 's future, grade inflation means not having to put in the same amount of effort to achieve the grade they would want from high school and college. Grade inflation can be seen as a negative thing; it increased during the Vietnam War, when students became consumers in colleges, creates an easy path for advanced students, and can negatively affect the younger generation. A possible solution would be to slowly decrease the grade inflation, maybe so minimalist that it isn 't clearly noticed.
There was an inflation of grades during the Vietnam War because “[i]n the 1960s, full-time male college students were exempt from the military draft. If a male college student flunked out, chances were that he would end up as a soldier” (Rojstaczer). With the draft for the Vietnam War, many more people were enrolling in college as it was the easiest way for them to get out of the draft. It might have been a positive thing during the Vietnam War for the rich kids, but it was also a negative thing because the non-rich kids do not have those opportunities, troop numbers were probably limited, and it could have been a sign of weakness. In addition, the grades changed so much as a way to make sure students did not flunk out and were also “in response to changing attitudes about the nature of teaching” (Rojstaczer). Teacher’s attitudes changed as they saw