How would you best describe the issue of grade inflation at US high schools and colleges?

A major problem (72%) – "Awarding students higher grades than they deserve sets them up for a big letdown when they go out in the real world to find a job and discover they do not have the education nor skills needed - and they believed they had because of teachers who want to ‘move them on’ instead of tutoring them and helping them acquire the knowledge and/or skill."

• "High school teacher opinion: The overall message from administrators and parents is that students should pass no matter what. After COVID, this has become a runaway problem. We no longer hold kids to the same standards from 10 years ago."

"I think teachers are overwhelmed and not paid enough. So, when parents push for the teachers to give better grades, regardless of earned, there comes a breaking point and teachers give in. Parents are doing less teaching of their own children and many sit them in front a screen, which makes it worse."

• "The US has accepted the narrative that GPAs are actually worth something and because of that, people have felt the need to inflate grades over the years so constantly out-do others and “keep getting better”. How is it possible to have higher than a 4.0 on a 4.0 scale? We are terrified to tell people that they need to improve and hold them accountable for doing so, but this also reinforces the narrative that US colleges will give you an A for just drinking the kool-aid they’re handing out."

"If people can't do basic math, that's a problem. If people can't read, that's a problem. Students shouldn't be pushed forward without actually learning the material just so that the schools can continue to receive funding. It ultimately hurts everyone when the students become adults and can't function in situations like spending money for groceries or reading warning labels."

• "Pressure from administrators and parents on teachers to teach to the test rather than teach skills such as critical thinking etc. are a major part of the problem. Our attitude of zero sum thinking doesn't allow students to take chances answering questions that might not be the right answer."

A minor problem (15%) – "To me, the problem isn't grade inflation; the problems are a standardized education system that doesn't allow for failure withiut penalizing the teachers and the school system, and parents that don't send kids to school ready to learn. Grade inflation reflects these two larger and much more daunting problems."

• "I think if its just the grades increasing but everyone elses are all increasing at the same rate the same competition, its ok. Also, they have more access to resources like AI and the internet, so they might not need to know as advanced things but it is definitely still import to use your brain and thinking skills. I think it is a problem but not as big of a problem as it could be. We as a community are all evolving and growing with resources and I think the grades changing is not a huge problem, but using your brain is."

Not a problem (7%) – "I don’t think grade inflation is a problem as much as how teachers are teaching math and reading are problematic. States are enacting the Science of Reading and Science of Math initiatives to counteract this. It is going to take years for teacher prep and schools to catch up with this but it is so needed. Schools really got off track on the Science of Learning and got swept into more appealing teaching strategies for teaching that didn’t translate to student outcomes."

Unsure/other (6%) – "The better question is: Why have we handed "job training" over to our post-secondary institutions? Why not move folks into their careers right after high school with an "internship" or "apprenticeship" model?"