Course Deflation
By Mimi Rothschild
We’ve been hearing about grade inflation for some time. A recent Washington Post article illustrates a harrowing steady decline of academic standards in our public schools as allowed by teachers and school officials. The author of the report uses the term “course label inflation.” I prefer a more succinct term: course deflation. Essentially, public school students are granted admission and passing “advanced placement” courses with little regard to additional academic rigor.
All of this is done in an effort to make high school students more attractive to colleges. When a high school’s students sneak into good colleges, it reflects positively on the administration and will eventually lead to better funding. It’s deception, plain and simple. Parents, colleges, and most importantly, our children are being deceived. They are given a false sense of security that will eventually come crashing down when they get into higher-level college courses.
“… some high school transcripts apply the label “pre-calculus” to any math course before calculus. Some students who had taken “pre-calculus,” according to the transcripts he inspected, had skills so rudimentary that they were forced to take basic algebra in their first year of college.”
The article is full of shocking stories like this. Higher level courses are highly valued by students because they are so attractive to college admissions counselors. However, many high school seniors who have completed their K-12 schooling in the U.S. education system have sadly not yet mastered basic middle school fundamentals. Rather than placing the students in remedial courses to get them back on track, teachers and administrators welcome them with open arms into AP programs to beef up their resumes and college applications. In order to keep from failing them all, the courses are watered down using remedial or middle school texts.
Homeschooling provides an escape from this cycle of dysfunction and deception. Rather than passing homeschoolers along with little regard for their personal intellectual development, homeschool parents can spend valuable one-on-one time with their children. Children are encouraged to learn at their own pace. There’s no reason to hurry along, skipping fundamental material just to add spice to college applications. With homeschooling, the focus is on learning, not on passing. Homeschoolers are treated as people, not as product.