UT Researcher Warns Grade Inflation Hurts Students’ Long-Term Academic and Career Outcomes
Jeffrey T. Denning speaks at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
University of Texas associate professor Jeffrey T. Denning argued that grade inflation in K-12 schools and colleges may boost short-term outcomes but undermine students’ long-term academic and career success at a Tuesday event at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
During the talk — hosted by the Center for Education Policy Research — Denning pushed back against arguments that grade inflation only occurs on college campuses, pointing to a 2025 study he co-authored analyzing grades awarded by teachers at K-12 schools in Los Angeles, California and Maryland.
“They’re like, ‘This is a college phenomenon. This is not a high school phenomenon,’” Denning said, referring to how grade inflation is often discussed in education policy debates.
“It’s a bulk phenomenon, is our argument,” he added.
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