Blogger Response- “The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation”

In Alfie Kohn’s article “The Dangerous Myth of Grade Inflation”, it addresses whether or not grade inflation exist in the American education system. In Kohn’s article, it addresses and critiques many arguments for the existence of grade inflation. In particular he address about the grade changes of grades between studies done in the 1960’s and present day. It cites studies done by the U.S Department of Education. Through out most of his article Kohn effectively dismantles the opposing argument and gives credible sources that strengthen his argument. His use of is an attempt to appeal to the logos argumentative. Kohn uses the logos appeal frequently through out his article but at the same time his use of the appeal becomes very tiring and repetitive. The language Kohn uses addresses the academics and educators rather than the normal person. His sentence structure and works choices can be difficult to follow at times because of the difficulty it takes to digest the information presented in his article. In the last part of his article he address the reason why the traditional grading system is not very effective today. Again he uses a logos appeal but the language changes from an academic point of view to a preacher type of voice. In which he uses simple terms and emotionally charged language to sway the reader even more towards his argument.

I agree with Kohn’s argument that grade inflation doesn’t exist. In school most grades that are given out in report cards are not a good reflection of the students performance. Most classes that I have taken in college or in high school, the grade distribution is fair and does not lean towards either end of the curve. Also the system educators’ use to grade students differs from one to the next. It is impossible to find the existence of grade inflation in an empirical manner. If grade inflation does exist, I do not see the advantage for either the educator or student. After coming out of a k-12 and being in a higher education setting I do not see any grade inflation taking place.