There are many different measures used to determine how a student is doing academically — teacher observations, in-class assignments, quizzes and tests, report cards, benchmark exams, and standardized assessments, to name a few. But when those measures send conflicting signals, what should parents rely on to understand their child’s academic progress (or lack thereof)?
A new study from the University of Chicago and Oregon State University suggests many parents have already made up their minds. Seventy-one percent said that grades are more important than test scores when making decisions about their children’s education.
But with grade inflation continuing to rise, report cards are making it difficult for parents to know how their child is performing. Standardized tests, while far from perfect, are less susceptible to local inflation. Ignoring them may mean “there’s skills that we’re leaving on the table,” said Oregon State University Assistant Economics Professor Derek Rury, co-author of the study, in an interview with The 74. The study elaborates:
When test scores are high but grades are low, parents invest: they treat the low grade as actionable, recommending additional time and money for academic support. When grades are high but test scores are low, parents do not invest… High grades crowd out the investment response that low test scores would otherwise trigger. This pattern implies that parents receiving inflated grades will fail to make remedial investments that their children’s actual achievement levels warrant.
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…[O]ur finding that test scores trigger investment when grades are concordantly low suggests that maintaining standardized testing preserves a valuable information channel — one whose influence depends on the quality of grade information parents already possess.
If parents place more confidence in grades than test scores, “that has very big implications for the economy and the growth of skills [in students],” Rury told The 74.
Why do parents prioritize grades?
The study explored a few possible reasons for why parents value grades more, including that grades are familiar, frequent, and easier to interpret than standardized tests. Some parents also worry that the tests are “unfair, culturally biased, or reflect family background more than actual ability.”
However, the authors concluded, “none of these self-reported beliefs fully explain why parents prefer grades.” Whatever the reason, the result is the same: Parents discount information from standardized test scores, “even though those scores often provide a more objective measure of skills than grades. This pattern reveals an informational failure in the education market.”
And it is a pattern that should be concerning to all who care about educational outcomes. For years, teachers’ unions have pushed back against standardized testing, arguing that it’s too rigid or unfair. But scaling back these assessments without fixing the problem of grade inflation doesn’t help students.
New research from the University of Texas found that grade inflation can not only reduce a student’s future test scores but the probability of graduating high school, enrolling in college, and lifetime earnings.
At the end of the day, the issue is whether parents are getting an honest picture of their child’s academic journey. If that picture is distorted, the consequences can follow students long after they leave the classroom.
