Sheridan 1

Sydney Sheridan

Mrs. Cramer

Comp Pd. 4

7 December 2018

An Abundance of “A’s”: The Value of Education Has Been Diminished

“Think back to when you were in high school and the courses you loved most. You

probably loved them because the teacher was engaging and knew enough about the subject to

make it interesting,”1 said Bernard A. Harris Jr. (“Education”). The same goes for today, but in

several ways, education has drastically lost its sense of purpose. The value of education has

diminished to the point where students are no longer receiving what is needed for them to be able

to reach their full potential. What has been forgotten is that the whole purpose of education is to

gain knowledge that will help one grow and learn who he/she is as a person. Moreover, the

overemphasis and inflation of grades, and the simplified curriculum being taught in schools,

have led to a decrease in educational quality.

To start with, a major factor influencing the decrease of educational quality is the

overemphasis and inflation of grades. One of the biggest problems in schools today is that

students tend to focus more on grades than actually learning, and teachers feed into this by

inflating grades. The number of “A’s” earned has increased from 16% to 34% (Gray). This

statistic proves that grades are being inflated, which does not benefit students. Students tend to

prioritize grades over learning and processing information (Krick). Grade inflation does nothing

for students, besides making them believe that they know more than they do, while also feeding

1 Pathos- This quote uses an appeal to emotion to grab the reader’s attention.
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into the ridiculous idea that the only good grade is an “A.” According to research, grade inflation

is often done so that teachers or professors can avoid conflict (Gray). Teachers and professors are

afraid that giving bad grades to students will crush their self-esteem. What educators either do

not realize, or do not care about, is that inflating grades has no benefit for students at all; it

actually has the opposite effect. When students begin to believe that they know more than they

do, it causes them to have future struggles in similar areas. Also, if grades were not inflated, then

more students would realize that it is okay to not always receive an “A.” Today’s society and

education system has made it unacceptable to even get a “B,” and a “B” is not a bad grade; it is

just not the highest one can achieve. Students need to be more willing to retain information

rather than memorize facts in order to pass a test. What should be important is that students are

actually trying their best to understand what they are being taught, but instead all that matters

anymore is whether the grade on a report card is good. Overall, grade inflation, with the rippling-

effect of students putting too much emphasis on their grades, has been a leading factor to the

downfall of educational quality.

Even with these points in mind, there are still individuals who disagree that educational

quality is declining. One might argue that schools offer a variety of different classes, meaning

the value of education is not decreasing. These individuals could point out that schools offer a

variety of career training courses (Clark). Although many schools do have a variety of courses

for students to choose from, if grades are being inflated and the curriculum is not challenging,

how are students truly going to know if they have potential in that subject? 2 Even if schools

provide hundreds of classes for students to choose from, they will have no purpose if students

aren’t actually learning from them. Until grades are no longer inflated and coursework becomes

2Rhetorical Question- This example asks an obvious question that doesn’t need answered which
brings to mind how grade inflation and a simplified curriculum is negatively affecting students.
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more challenging, the focus needs to remain on fixing the quality of the core aspects of

education, not the variety of courses a school offers.

Another factor influencing the diminishing value of education is the simplified

curriculum being taught in schools. There are multiple pieces of evidence that show that the

curriculum in schools is not rigorous enough, one of the largest being test scores. The American

College Testing (ACT), has been said to indicate how well students will perform in college.

Thirty-one percent of students did not meet any of the college benchmarks on the ACT,

indicating that they will most likely not even maintain a “C” average in college courses

(DeNisco). This demonstrates that the curriculum taught in high school classes is not rigorous

enough to prepare students for the challenges that they will face in college. An additional

example of the watered- down curriculum in schools is the lack of diversity for gifted students.

Schools do not provide students who are considered to be academically gifted the chance to live

up to their true potential (Lynch). If students are not being provided challenges to push their

individual limits, then they are not learning or growing to their full potential. In other words, the

lack of a rigorous curriculum is causing students to lack in preparation for college, and to not

have the opportunity to live up to their full potential.

Another argument a person disagreeing with this point of view might make is that the

value of education is not declining, that standardized tests challenge students and provide them a

way to learn and reach their potential. Honestly, this couldn’t be any further from accurate. The

ACT, a standardized test which was previously mentioned, actually demonstrates how appalling

the curriculum of education is (DeNisco) 3. Also, take Finland for another example. They do not

take standardized tests, and yet their education system has an extraordinarily higher success rate

3 Diction- The use of the word appalling emphasizes how watered down the curriculum taught in
schools actually is.
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than that of the United States (Tung). All of this being said, standardized tests do not improve the

quality of education in the United States; they actually prove the claim that it is decreasing in

value and effectiveness.

Given the overvaluing and inflation of grades and the lack of a rigorous curriculum being

taught in schools, the value of education in the United States has been diminishing. Grade

inflation has been happening uncontrollably in schools, allowing students to believe that they

know more than they do. A ripple-effect of grade inflation is that students overvalue grades.

Students aren’t focusing on learning in school; what is important to them is getting a “good”

grade. The watered-down curriculum being taught in schools is causing students to earn “A’s”

too easily, while not actually learning to their full potential. In order to stop this drastic decrease

in the quality of education, students need to be challenged based on their individual potential,

and grade inflation must be stopped. A possible solution to this dilemma might be the addition of

Advanced Placement (AP) courses. These courses would provide a challenge and expand

learning opportunities in schools. There is even an organization, The National Math and Science

Initiative (NMSI), that offers grants to schools and provides help with delivering AP classes to

students (“Education”). Teachers must return to teaching in an engaging way, so that students

can not only gain more information, but also enjoy what they are learning. If classes were taught

more rigorously, and teachers were getting students excited to learn, then grade inflation would

not even be needed for students to earn good grades. Students would begin to be more excited to

learn and not just focus on good grades, and the rest would follow with their hard work. Learning

needs to return as the focus of education, so that students are excited to learn, and are able to live

up to their full potential.

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Works Cited

Clark, Michael D. "Career Education Classes Explode in Variety." USA Today, 16 Feb. 2014,

www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/02/16/career-education-classes-explode-in-

variety/5538513/. Accessed 17 Nov.2018.

DeNisco, Alisan. "Schools Need More Rigor to Prep Students for Post-high-school Life." District

Administration, Oct. 2013, p. 26. Academic OneFile,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A348645818/AONE?u=pl1949&sid=AONE&xid=2d634ef7.

Accessed 18 Sept. 2018.

"Education Empowers Opportunity: Educators Need to Embrace STEM, AP and Professional Learning to

Help Students Succeed." District Administration, Sept. 2018, p. 43. Academic OneFile,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A552969127/AONE?u=pl1949&sid=AONE&xid=38f8f195.

Accessed 24 Sept. 2018.

Gray, H. Joey. "'I'm present, 'A' please': a Case Study Examining Grading Issues in a Recreation

Curriculum." Schole: A Journal of Leisure Studies and Recreation Education, vol. 23, 2008, p.

43+. Academic OneFile,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A191646484/AONE?u=pl1949&sid=AONE&xid=ca3f79a7.

Accessed 19 Sept. 2018.

Krick, Heidi. "Value of Education Forgotten, More Focus on Grades." The Blue Banner, 20 Feb. 2013,

thebluebanner.net/value-of-education-forgotten-more-focus-on-grades/. Accessed 25 Sept. 2018.

Lynch, Matthew. "18 Reasons the U.S. Education System is Failing." The Edvocate, 3 Apr. 2017,

www.theedadvocate.org/10-reasons-the-u-s-education-system-is-failing/. Accessed 17 Nov. 2018.

Tung, Stephen. "How the Finnish School System Outshines U.S. Education." Stanford News, 20 Jan.

2012, news.stanford.edu/news/2012/january/finnish-schools-reform-012012.html. Accessed 17

Nov. 2018.