Grade inflation present in some private Bay Area high schools

posted November 13, 2006

by Mia Pond of Campanile

Last year, a Saint Francis High School sophomore in jeopardy of losing his starting position on the Varsity baseball team expected an opportunity to retake a test in his AP Psychology class to help meet the grade point average required for athletes.

Cory Hassell, now a junior at Palo Alto High School, discussed baseball trivia with a teacher after school. After Hassell correctly answered a question about the 2005 World Series, the teacher added 30 points to one of Hassell's test grades.

Similarly, after talking to the dean, the GPA of the Saint Francis Varsity football team's running back changed from a 1.3 to 3.0 in one day in order to meet the necessary academic standard, Hassell said. The student was then able to play against the school's rival team that day.

As grade inflation becomes more common in certain local high schools, a result of the increasing academic pressure, college admissions do not have the statistical or objective evidence to infer inflated grading systems.

"Teachers had a lot of favorites in class," Hassell said. "For example, teachers would overlook wrong answers or give extra bonus points for no reason to certain students. You could also do favors for your teachers, and ask them to raise your grade."

Similarly, teachers will give guidance during tests.

"A lot of athletes who do not meet the grade requirements, or students who need the grade boost, are walked through quizzes by the teacher," St. Francis junior Victoria Lee said.

Hassell and Lee both point to favoritism and favors as the main forms of grade inflation at St. Francis. Students who are taught by the same teacher for multiple years receive higher grades on work that is equal to those of others students, Lee said. Teachers also have individual grading scales, with 85 percent and above listed as an A in AP European History, while the standard A is a 90 percent, Hassell said.

Similarly, at Palo Alto's Castilleja School, 85 percent is an A in some language classes, such as French 5 AP.

"The academic standard is lower in AP courses because teachers think that students have to get good grades to enroll in their class," Hassell said. "Teachers also want to look like they're doing well at teaching the subject, so they want their students to get good grades."

Standardized tests are considered objective evidence to compare course levels at different high schools.

"The typical ways to evaluate the rigor of a school are to compare against a standardized 'yardstick' like SAT or AP scores," said Kathy Chi, director of the Admissions Academy, a local college counseling center. "For example, a student body that takes full AP or honors curriculum and earns strong grades, yet performs poorly on the SAT and AP exams, might be indicative of an inflated grading system."

Standardized testing scores can validate students' grades as part of the college admission process

"We look at SATs, AP, SAT II, and other tests as validation of the performance on academic transcripts," Shawn Abbott, a Stanford admissions officer, said. "If we see a disconnect between test scores and grades, we analyze it and look deeper."

According to the 2006-07 Palo Alto High School Profile, 94 percent of Paly students scored a three or higher on at least one AP exam, while only 48 percent scored a five. Unlike both Paly and Castilleja, only 22 percent of St. Francis students who took AP examinations scored a five, while 51 percent scored a four or higher and 79 percent scored a three or higher, according to the most recent St. Francis High School Profile. However, college admissions staffs, such as that of Stanford, do not have statistical evidence to confirm the academic inconsistency between students' grades and standardized test scores.

"[The presence of grade inflation] depends on the information given by the school," Abbott said. "We acknowledge the presence of grade inflation, but without statistical data it's hard to infer when grades have been inflated."

College admissions officers also consider a student's overall performance in relation to the high school's student body, and the academic success in AP courses, Abbott said. While the academic transcript is the first to be considered in the college admissions process, colleges use other tools to evaluate a student's success.

"The academic record is the most important, followed by standardized test scores," Abbott said. "We also look at extracurricular activities, leadership, artistic and athletic talent, self-presentation in essays, special affiliation to the university and letters of recommendation."

Chi attributes grade inflation to the media's attention to academia and also with parents' and students' expectations of schooling.

"It is a matter of the media and their focused attention on the most elite schools," Chi said. "Also, parents and students expect the most out of the tuition they're paying. Thus, teachers feel pressure from behind the scenes."

Hassell credits grade inflation to St. Francis' culture.

"I would consider grade inflation to be common, but it is taboo," Hassell said. "Everyone does it, so it is prevalent, and the administration just turns its head the other way. Grade inflation is utilized more by private schools. Teachers want to look like they're doing their job."