grade inflation

Definition of Grade Inflation

(noun) The tendency to award higher grades where lower ones would have once been awarded.

Grade Inflation Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: grade in·fla·tion

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /greɪd ɪnˈfleɪʃən/
• British English – /greɪd ɪnˈfleɪʃən/

Usage Note

• Plural: grade inflations

Additional Information

• Word origin of “grade” and “inflation” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Hunt, Lester H., ed. 2008. Grade Inflation: Academic Standards in Higher Education. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Related Terms

• anticipatory socialization
• credentialism
• cultural capital
• education
• formal education
• hidden curriculum
• informal education
• No Child Left Behind Act
• tracking

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Works Consulted

Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Cite the Definition of Grade Inflation

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “grade inflation.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 17, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/grade-inflation/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

grade inflation. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/grade-inflation/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “grade inflation.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 17, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/grade-inflation/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“grade inflation.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 17 Sep. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/grade-inflation/>.