The 'inflated grade' problem in schools: First scientific article published

The first school bell for the 2024-2025 academic year will ring on September 9, 2024, for approximately 19 million students in primary and secondary education institutions under the Ministry of National Education (MEB). As the new academic year begins, a scientific article regarding the issue of "inflated grades" in public and private schools has been published for the first time in Turkey.

According to the report by Ozan Ömer Kadüker from Milliyet, the article titled "An important problem we must face in schools: Inflated grades and grade inflation," written by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yusuf Kızıltaş, a faculty member at Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Faculty of Education, and published in the European Journal of Education, one of the world's prestigious journals, has brought the issue of "inflated grades," which causes injustices, to light.

The article, which examines inflated grades and grade inflation, was prepared through a study conducted with 203 teachers working in primary, middle, and high school education institutions in Van.

The results of the research are as follows;

73.4 percent of teachers think that grades are inflated. While 51.2 percent, meaning half of the teachers, state that they give inflated grades to their students, 63.6 percent indicate that they feel guilty about this situation.

'HIGH GRADES ARE GIVEN TO MOTIVATE STUDENTS'

When the reasons for grade inflation are examined, 21.6 percent of teachers give high grades to hide failures, and 16.2 percent do so to motivate students. There are also those who give high grades due to emotional approaches and because they do not want to take responsibility.

While 24.1 percent of teachers state that competition between schools stands out as the reason for high grades, 21.6 percent raise grades due to parental pressure, and 12.8 percent do so for parental satisfaction.

31.5 percent of the participants are aware that inflated grades lead to unqualified individuals, and 29.5 percent state that this situation causes cognitive damage in students.

IT IS THOUGHT THAT THE QUALITY OF EDUCATION IS DECLINING

The rate of those who think that the quality of education is declining is 27.5 percent, and the rate of those who state that it leads to imaginary successes is 26.1 percent. Furthermore, the rate of those who state that emotional damage occurs in students is 31 percent, the rate of those who express that there is an injustice problem is 23.6 percent, and the rate of those who state that it leads to disappointment is 15.7 percent.

Making a statement on the subject, Yusuf Kızıltaş stated the following:

“Hormonal grades are common, especially in private schools. For this reason, some students may turn to private schools. In the research, this situation was defined as 'grade migration.' Pressure from parents in private schools leads to grade inflation. The parent says, 'I paid money, show my child as successful.' One must also add administrative pressure to this. However, when imaginary successes and inflated grades are revealed by national exam results, both the student and the parent suffer great disappointment.”