Why read this: B1 students need practice with hedged argument writing, where a writer takes one side of a public worry but does not commit fully to it. This article does that work in plain language. It tells students that grades have gone up, but then gives them three different reasons why this is not always a bad sign. Students get to follow the chain of cause and effect: more applicants and the same number of seats means the cut-off goes up. They also see how a non-fiction writer corrects a popular wrong idea, the bell curve myth, in a friendly way.
What to notice: Notice how the article uses 'but' and 'however' to turn the argument around. The first paragraph sets up a simple worry. Almost every paragraph after that adds a 'but'. Watch for the supply-and-demand explanation: the writer wants you to see that two different things, the school grade and the university cut-off, can both go up for very different reasons. Notice also where the writer admits that we do not have enough research yet, and where the writer is more confident about what schools do today.
Skills practised: Following an argument across a whole article; matching one cause to one effect (more applicants and the same seats means a higher cut-off); recognising when a writer is correcting a wrong idea, like the bell curve myth; using 'but' and 'however' as signals that the argument is going to turn around; and using your own judgement to decide if the writer's reasons are strong or weak.
"Are grades really getting too easy?"
"Many people in Canada say students get higher marks today than they used to. The truth is more complicated than the headlines suggest."
Tap any green word in the article to see its meaning.
In recent months, news stories in Canada have asked a worrying question. Are students getting higher grades today because they really know more? Or are they just getting higher grades because schools have made marking easier? This is the idea behind . The worry is simple. If a 90 in 2024 means what an 85 used to mean, then grades stop telling us useful things about students.
Some of this worry comes from the COVID-19 pandemic. When schools closed, big tests were cancelled. Many schools used a softer kind of marking called . Teachers tried to be fair to students who had real problems at home. After the pandemic, average grades went up. That is what spurred the new public worry.
But grades have actually been going up for a long time. At Harvard, the average grade has risen almost every year since the 1950s. So the trend is older than the pandemic. Between 2019 and 2021, average grades for Grade 12 students in Toronto rose six per cent. In the United States, more students taking the ACT, a big college test, are now getting top marks.
There is something many people miss. The grade you need to get into a Canadian university has also gone up, but for a different reason. Between 2005 and 2022, the number of students applying to Ontario universities rose by 86.5 per cent. That is 344,000 more applicants. The number of seats only rose 31.2 per cent. More students are competing for the same number of places. So even if grades had stayed the same, the cut-off mark would still rise. This is , not bad teaching.
There are also good reasons why grades may really be higher. More students finish high school today than before. When more students pass, the average naturally goes up. Teachers also use better methods now. Many are trained in , which means they pick lessons that research shows actually help students learn. Some provinces have changed their rules so that grades only measure what students know, not how hard they tried or how often they came to class.
It also helps to clear up one common mistake. Many people think teachers must give the same number of As, Bs and Cs in every class. This is called marking on a . In real Canadian schools, teachers do not do this. There is no fixed limit on how many students can get an A. If most students in a class really do excellent work, they can all get top marks.
So should we be worried? The honest answer is that we do not have enough information yet. No big Canadian study has measured K-12 grade inflation since 2021. We also do not know if grades are rising more for some groups of students than for others. What we do know is that grades still tell us something useful, especially when we look at them together with other measures, like big tests and classroom work. A higher grade is not always a bad sign. Sometimes it is a sign that teaching is getting better.
In recent months, news stories in Canada have asked a worrying question. Are students getting higher grades today because they really know more? Or are they just getting higher grades because schools have made marking easier? This is the idea behind . The worry is simple. If a 90 in 2024 means what an 85 used to mean, then grades stop telling us useful things about students.
Some of this worry comes from the COVID-19 pandemic. When schools closed, big tests were cancelled. Many schools used a softer kind of marking called . Teachers tried to be fair to students who had real problems at home. After the pandemic, average grades went up. That is what spurred the new public worry.
But grades have actually been going up for a long time. At Harvard, the average grade has risen almost every year since the 1950s. So the trend is older than the pandemic. Between 2019 and 2021, average grades for Grade 12 students in Toronto rose six per cent. In the United States, more students taking the ACT, a big college test, are now getting top marks.
There is something many people miss. The grade you need to get into a Canadian university has also gone up, but for a different reason. Between 2005 and 2022, the number of students applying to Ontario universities rose by 86.5 per cent. That is 344,000 more applicants. The number of seats only rose 31.2 per cent. More students are competing for the same number of places. So even if grades had stayed the same, the cut-off mark would still rise. This is , not bad teaching.
There are also good reasons why grades may really be higher. More students finish high school today than before. When more students pass, the average naturally goes up. Teachers also use better methods now. Many are trained in , which means they pick lessons that research shows actually help students learn. Some provinces have changed their rules so that grades only measure what students know, not how hard they tried or how often they came to class.
It also helps to clear up one common mistake. Many people think teachers must give the same number of As, Bs and Cs in every class. This is called marking on a . In real Canadian schools, teachers do not do this. There is no fixed limit on how many students can get an A. If most students in a class really do excellent work, they can all get top marks.
So should we be worried? The honest answer is that we do not have enough information yet. No big Canadian study has measured K-12 grade inflation since 2021. We also do not know if grades are rising more for some groups of students than for others. What we do know is that grades still tell us something useful, especially when we look at them together with other measures, like big tests and classroom work. A higher grade is not always a bad sign. Sometimes it is a sign that teaching is getting better.
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
Why have the marks needed to enter Ontario universities gone up so much since 2005?
- 02
Which of these does the article give as a reason that some grade rises may be earned?
- 03
What does the article say about the bell curve in Canadian schools?
- 04
Explain why a higher cut-off mark for Ontario universities does not always mean that high school grades are too easy. Use information from the article.
Suggested length: ~70 words
- 05
Compare two reasons the article gives for why grades have gone up. Which reason do you find more convincing, and why?
Suggested length: ~70 words
Questions
Check your understanding
- 01
Why have the marks needed to enter Ontario universities gone up so much since 2005?
- 02
Which of these does the article give as a reason that some grade rises may be earned?
- 03
What does the article say about the bell curve in Canadian schools?
- 04
Explain why a higher cut-off mark for Ontario universities does not always mean that high school grades are too easy. Use information from the article.
Suggested length: ~70 words
- 05
Compare two reasons the article gives for why grades have gone up. Which reason do you find more convincing, and why?
Suggested length: ~70 words