It’s not just higher grades that are being given out to more students, according to Sachin Maharaj, an assistant professor of educational leadership, policy and program evaluation at the University of Ottawa who teaches about grade inflation.
Maharaj says grades in high schools tend to cluster at two different ends: around the cutoff grade for a passing mark, which is 50 per cent, and at the higher end, in the A+ range.
“There’s increased pressure on teachers to get students to pass their classes either by helping them learn more, or by artificially inflating their grades to get them above the cutoff mark so that they achieve the credit,” said Maharaj.
“All of the incentives in the system are for teachers to do that.”