[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-detail-529312-en":59,"doc-seo-529312-105":80},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":60},{"doc_id":61,"user_id":62,"nickname":63,"user_avatar":64,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":66,"doc_content":67,"file_id":68,"file_url":69,"file_type":70,"file_size":71,"view_count":72,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":19,"language":73,"language_code":74,"site_id":75,"html_lang":74,"table_of_contents":76,"faqs":77,"seo_title":78,"seo_description":66,"update_tm":79,"read_time":52},529312,5909892115043,"Bulrr","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","ISSUES IN COLLEGE READINESS - Are High School Grades Inflated?","Discusses whether high school grades are inflated for students over time and how colleges use high school GPA alongside ACT scores in admissions and course placement. Explains limitations of GPA due to differing grading standards, teacher purposes, and the difficulty of detecting grade inflation because it requires comparisons across time with stable benchmarks. Uses empirical evidence by analyzing ACT Composite scores and high school GPAs for students from 1991–2003.","COLLEGE READINESS  \n© 2005 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved.  \nISSUES IN COLLEGE READINESS  \nAre High School Grades Inflated?  \nIntroduction  \nHow useful to colleges are high school grades alone in making admissions and placement decisions about students?  \nTypically, along with scores on entrance examinations such as the ACT, colleges and universities require applicants to submit their high school transcripts, as well as teacher recommendations and other supporting evidence to be considered in making admissions decisions. ACT scores and cumulative high school grade point average (GPA) represent quantitative measures that are typically used by colleges to predict a student’s first-semester or first-year college GPA. The results of these predictions also serve to provide additional information in the admissions process and, if the student is admitted, in the course placement process.  \nA college’s use of these two measures to predict first-year potential or success is based on the premise that both variables provide valid and reliable measures of students’ high school learning and achievement. However, high school GPA may not always be an accurate measure of a student’s true level of achievement.  \nThis can be due to variability in the standards different teachers in different schools may use to assign grades to their students, or the characteristics of the particular population to which a student is being compared (whether fellow class members or students in other classes taught by the same teacher) . Another complicating factor is variability in the pedagogical purposes behind the grades teachers may give. For example, some teachers may use grades not solely as a method of rating student achievement but also as a method of rewarding student effort.  \nOne factor that is commonly believed to influence the reliability of high school grades is grade inflation, which can be defined as an increase in students’ grades without an accompanying increase in their academic achievement. An important difference between grade inflation and other factors influencing the reliability of grades is that grade inflation is an increase in grades over time for students who are at the same level of achievement, while other factors affecting variability in grades result in assignment of different grades to students at the same level of achievement during the same time period. Because of this, grade inflation is not easy to detect. It requires both examination of grades across time and a stable measure against which to compare them.  \nFor this reason, the existence of grade inflation is not universally accepted. Some who believe that grade inflation exists theorize that it is a result of “credential inflation”: as the education level of the U.S. population increases, so also do the requirements necessary for entry into a wide variety of jobs. As job requirements increase—especially to the point where a college degree has become a minimum  \nIC 050805240  \nqualification—teachers may feel the need to grade their students more leniently to enhance the students’ chances of gaining admission to college.  \nBut regardless of the potential cause, is there empirical evidence for the existence of high school grade inflation? One way to answer the question is to compare high school grades to an objective measure of student achievement that is stable over time: the ACT Composite score is such a measure.  \nThe ACT is an achievement test battery used by colleges for admission and course placement and is usually taken in the eleventh or twelfth grade. The ACT is designed to measure skills taught in typical college preparatory high school curricula. It is composed of four tests: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science. A fifth score, the Composite score, is the average of the scores on the four subject tests. The ACT not only measures the knowledge and skills students have acquired during their high school years and their level of achievement as a result of their h","cbCaieK8esgcbIUY","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaieK8esgcbIUY","pdf",135873,11,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n# The Study","[{\"question\":\"Why do colleges use high school grades and ACT scores together in admissions and placement decisions?\",\"answer\":\"They are treated as quantitative measures to predict students’ first-semester or first-year college GPA and provide additional information for admissions and course placement.\"},{\"question\":\"What makes high school GPA potentially unreliable as a measure of true achievement?\",\"answer\":\"Variability in grading standards across teachers and schools, differences in comparison groups, and differing pedagogical purposes behind grades can all affect GPA accuracy.\"},{\"question\":\"How is grade inflation defined, and why is it hard to detect?\",\"answer\":\"Grade inflation is an increase in grades without a matching increase in academic achievement for students at the same achievement level over time. It is hard to detect because it requires examining grade changes across time with a stable measure for comparison.\"}]","ISSUES IN COLLEGE READINESS - Are High School Grades Inflated? | PDF",1791520910,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"ok",{"site_id":75,"language":74,"slug":83,"title":65,"keywords":84,"description":66,"schema_data":85,"social_meta":139,"head_meta":141,"extra_data":143,"updated_unix":144},"issues-in-college-readiness-are-high-school-grades-inflated","",{"@graph":86,"@context":138},[87,101,121],{"@type":88,"itemListElement":89},"BreadcrumbList",[90,94,96,99],{"item":91,"name":92,"@type":93,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":95,"name":9,"@type":93,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":97,"name":40,"@type":93,"position":98},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":100,"name":65,"@type":93,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/issues-in-college-readiness-are-high-school-grades-inflated/529312/",{"url":100,"name":65,"@type":102,"image":103,"author":108,"headline":65,"publisher":110,"fileFormat":113,"inLanguage":74,"description":66,"dateModified":114,"datePublished":115,"encodingFormat":113,"isAccessibleForFree":116,"interactionStatistic":117},"DigitalDocument",{"url":104,"@type":105,"width":106,"height":107},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/issues-in-college-readiness-are-high-school-grades-inflated/529312.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":63,"@type":109},"Person",{"url":91,"name":111,"@type":112},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-14","2026-10-09",true,{"@type":118,"interactionType":119,"userInteractionCount":72},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":120},"ViewAction",{"@type":122,"mainEntity":123},"FAQPage",[124,130,134],{"name":125,"@type":126,"acceptedAnswer":127},"Why do colleges use high school grades and ACT scores together in admissions and placement decisions?","Question",{"text":128,"@type":129},"They are treated as quantitative measures to predict students’ first-semester or first-year college GPA and provide additional information for admissions and course placement.","Answer",{"name":131,"@type":126,"acceptedAnswer":132},"What makes high school GPA potentially unreliable as a measure of true achievement?",{"text":133,"@type":129},"Variability in grading standards across teachers and schools, differences in comparison groups, and differing pedagogical purposes behind grades can all affect GPA accuracy.",{"name":135,"@type":126,"acceptedAnswer":136},"How is grade inflation defined, and why is it hard to detect?",{"text":137,"@type":129},"Grade inflation is an increase in grades without a matching increase in academic achievement for students at the same achievement level over time. It is hard to detect because it requires examining grade changes across time with a stable measure for comparison.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":100,"og:type":140,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":111,"og:description":66},"article",{"robots":142,"canonical":100},"index,follow",{"doc_id":61,"site_id":75},1791607063]