LAUSD and Grade Inflation

Excerpt from the L.A. Times

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The vast majority of students — whose teachers follow revised grading guidelines put in place amid the pandemic — received A’s, Bs and Cs in their classes. But the good report cards may not reflect a student’s ability to meet California’s grade level standards — even though a district policy calls for a C to mean that a student understands the material.

While grades and standardized tests are distinct ways of measuring how students are doing, the growing disconnect raises questions about whether families are fully informed about the extent of their children’s academic setbacks and whether they are being well positioned to push for additional help.

The Times examined district-wide spring 2022 grades obtained through public records requests and the state’s spring 2022 Smarter Balanced test scores. Among the findings:

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In math, 73% of 11th-graders earned A’s, Bs, and Cs. Tests scores showed only 19% met grade-level standards. For eighth-graders, 79% earned A’s, Bs and Cs in math. Test scores showed 23% met grade-level standards. In English, 85% of sixth-graders earned A’s, Bs and Cs, while 40% met grade-level standards. For seventh-graders, 82% earned A’s, Bs and Cs in English. Test scores showed 43% met standards. “My fear is that grades can be a smokescreen for serious holes in knowledge and skill, and that’s not good,” said Robin Lake, director of the research group the Center on Reinventing Public Education. “Smoke will clear. Kids will see eventually that they don’t have what they need if they’ve just been passed forward.”