Grade inflation: Is it really a bad thing?

Usually by the time they have entered grade school, students have become acutely concerned about the grades they are receiving relative to their peers. This concern, according to some anecdotal and statistical evidence, has resulted in a slow, steady upward trajectory of grades. Students and parents alike are placing more pressure on teachers to ensure students have competitive GPAs for college and grad school. This, critics contend, is effectively cheapening the value of an 'A.' But is grade inflation really a bad thing? The question perhaps is not so much if grade inflation is bad but rather the extent to which grades are viewed as the ultimate purpose of learning. Is getting good grades the point of attaining higher education or is actually learning the material? "Are grades signals to students about their mastery of content and the skills of a discipline?...
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