Grades have been increasing significantly throughout the past few years. Many students have exceptionally high GPA’s, leaving some students to wonder if this actually equals outstanding academic performance.
“I don’t think students actually got smarter,” sophomore Sraddha Yenamandra said. “It’s just the reassessment and waterfall system that creates the illusion of improvement.”
With the school’s reassessment opportunities that lets students have a second try up to a 90, and a waterfall system that also may increase students’ previous grades up to a 90 according to the final, there are concerns that grades may not accurately reflect a student’s academic achievements.
“I believe that grade inflation negatively affects students’ mental health,” sophomore Muhammad Agha said. “Because everyone has high grades, I feel like our school is too competitive.”
Ironically, higher grades may not make students happier; they simply put more pressure on the students to keep up with peers.
“Because it’s relatively easy to get over a 90 in a class, there’s no clear line between a student that just gets the work done and an outstanding student,” Yenamandra said.
Yenamandra said she believes grade inflation marginalizes students’ perceived abilities, inaccurately reflecting individual achievement. Without a strong indicator to distinguish exceptionality, high achievers may also be inaccurately represented in their gradebooks.
Additionally, the internet may also put pressure on the students.
“I think the internet plays a big factor in our grades,” freshman Carlos Mateo Loza said. “It puts unrealistic and absurd expectations on us. It also allows for access to information to be convenient which makes it a lot easier to both cheat and study.”
Students are also involved in more and more extracurriculars to set themselves apart from their peers in a way different from grades.
“I’m taking tennis, math UIL, science UIL, science fair, and DECA,” freshman Seehoo Lee said. “I’m really taking them because they’re beneficial for college and make me stand out as a student when so many people have similar grades to me.”
