Equity Means Grade Inflation for All

April 30, 2023 | Washington, D.C.

by Eagle Forum Chairman, Anne Schlafly

In pursuit of “equitable grading”, some public schools are ditching homework and deadlines. Many students have lost significant academic ground over the last three years and the test scores that measure subject matter proficiency have dropped. School districts have responded to this crisis not by raising the bar of academic achievement, but by lowering the bar. In the name of “Equity”, schools are depriving their students of learning.
 
In “equitable grading”, the student does not start at 0, but starts at 50 percent. So the teacher grades on the assumption that the student already knows half of the coursework. Homework and in-class discussions are down-played and only weighted at between 10 to 30 percent of the final grade. No points can be lost because of skipping class or disruptive behavior. No points can be gained by doing extra assignments. As for the final test that determines the grade, the students are given multiple opportunities to retake exams. Why turn in homework when you can re-do it later and it doesn’t count for very much anyway, because you only need to gain 10 percentage points in order to pass the class?
 
Equitable grading has now been implemented in public school districts in California, Iowa, Nevada, and Virginia, according to the Wall Street Journal (4/27/23). These students no longer need to make up any excuse for their failures, because they will still get passing grades. The unfortunate result of dumbing down scholastic achievement will be graduates who are unable to complete tasks within deadlines. As one Las Vegas senior commented about his class, “There’s an apathy that pervades the entire classroom.”
 
The heart of communism is equality of outcomes. Every one is equal and the result is that every one is miserable.