sorting function
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Grade Inflation is a Symptom, Not the Disease (Part 7): Harvard’s Plan to Save (the Sorting Function of) Grades
Throughout this blog series on grade compression, I have argued that: 1. The work of supporting students operates in direct conflict with sorting them, and 2. Society and formal education prioritize sorting. The idea that grades can differentiate students while meaningfully contributing to their learning is a convenient illusion, but the existential crisis compression has… Continue reading
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Grade Inflation is a Symptom, Not the Disease (Part 5): Harvard Gets Real about the True Purpose of Grades
The recent report Re-Centering Academics at Harvard College revealed that in 2025, As accounted for 60% of grades at Harvard’s undergraduate college. Because Harvard has outsized influence on conversations about higher ed, this report inspired a flurry of op-eds about whether the university has “gone soft.” These concerns have, unsurprisingly, focused on alleged grade inflation… Continue reading
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Grade Inflation is a Symptom, Not the Disease (Part 4): Alternative Grading’s Role in Compression
In this series, I have been arguing that grade inflation, or the allegation that widescale grade increases have occurred absent corresponding learning and achievement gains, is a red herring. Whether grades are going up (and there is compelling evidence, if not definitive, that they are going up overall in higher education) because teaching techniques are… Continue reading
Teaching Inquiry 