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Whose fault is it? Assigning blame for grade inflation in higher education

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  • R. Todd Jewell
  • Michael A. McPherson
  • Margie A. Tieslau

Abstract

This study attempts to isolate the potential sources of grade inflation and to measure their relative importance. We incorporate existing models of grade inflation into a model of grade inflation at the department level. Our data comprise 1683 separate courses taught in 28 different academic departments by 3176 distinct instructors at a large public university over two decades. Our results suggest that incentives to inflate grades vary according to characteristics of academic departments. However, the vast majority (over 90%) of grade inflation observed in our data is estimated to be a result of either university-level factors or instructor-specific characteristics.

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  • R. Todd Jewell & Michael A. McPherson & Margie A. Tieslau, 2013. "Whose fault is it? Assigning blame for grade inflation in higher education," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(9), pages 1185-1200, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:45:y:2013:i:9:p:1185-1200
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2011.621884
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    Cited by:

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    2. Jonathan A. Tillinghast & Dr. James W. Mjelde & Anna Yeritsyan, 2023. "COVID-19 and Grade Inflation: Analysis of Undergraduate GPAs During the Pandemic," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    3. Keser, Claudia & Späth, Maximilian, 2020. "The value of bad ratings: An experiment on the impact of distortions in reputation systems," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 389, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    4. Ali Palali & Roel van Elk & Jonneke Bolhaar & Iryna Rud, 2017. "Are good researchers also good teachers? The relationship between research quality and teaching quality," CPB Discussion Paper 347.rdf, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    5. Clifton-Sprigg, Joanna, 2014. "Educational spillovers and parental migration," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon TN 2015-46, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    6. Mohammad Alauddin & Temesgen Kifle, 2014. "Does the student evaluation of teaching instrument really measure instructorsù teaching effectiveness? An econometric analysis of studentsù perceptions in economics courses," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 156-168.
    7. Palali, Ali & van Elk, Roel & Bolhaar, Jonneke & Rud, Iryna, 2018. "Are good researchers also good teachers? The relationship between research quality and teaching quality," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 40-49.
    8. Claudia Keser & Maximilian Späth, 2020. "The Value of Bad Ratings: An Experiment on the Impact of Distortions in Reputation Systems," CIRANO Working Papers 2020s-22, CIRANO.
    9. Stankov, Petar, 2024. "The death of exams? Grade inflation and student satisfaction when coursework replaces exams," International Review of Economics Education, Elsevier, vol. 46(C).
    10. Berezvai, Zombor & Lukáts, Gergely Dániel & Molontay, Roland, 2019. "A pénzügyi ösztönzők hatása az egyetemi oktatók osztályozási gyakorlatára [How financially rewarding student evaluation may affect grading behaviour. Evidence from a natural experiment]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 733-750.
    11. Andresen, Martin Eckhoff & Løkken, Sturla Andreas, 2020. "The Final straw: High school dropout for marginal students," MPRA Paper 106265, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Keser, Claudia & Späth, Maximilian, 2021. "The value of bad ratings: An experiment on the impact of distortions in reputation systems," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    13. Berezvai, Zombor, 2023. "Az érdemjegy torzító hatása a hallgatói véleményezési rendszerekben. Egy természetes kísérlet eredményei [How to reduce the grade bias in student evaluation systems? A natural experiment]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(7), pages 795-812.
    14. Pearce, John A., 2017. "How employers can stanch the hemorrhaging of collegiate GPA credibility," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 35-43.
    15. Martin Eckhoff Andresen & Sturla A. Løkken, 2019. "High school dropout for marginal students. Evidence from randomized exam form," Discussion Papers 894, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    16. Fernando Suárez & Juan Carlos Mosquera Feijóo & Isabel Chiyón & Marcos García Alberti, 2021. "Flipped Learning in Engineering Modules Is More Than Watching Videos: The Development of Personal and Professional Skills," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-20, November.
    17. Geraint Johnes & Kwok Tong Soo, 2017. "Grades across Universities over Time," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 85(1), pages 106-131, January.
    18. Michael C Herron & Zachary D Markovich, 2017. "Student sorting and implications for grade inflation," Rationality and Society, , vol. 29(3), pages 355-386, August.
    19. Gabriele Lombardi & Giulio Ghellini, 2019. "Linking University Harshness and Students’ Choices: Sociodemographic Differences based on Italian Universities’ Characteristics," Department of Economics University of Siena 805, Department of Economics, University of Siena.

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