Thoughts on Grade Inflation
John DoE posts about grade inflation and his frustration with administrative pressure over the issue. At the program where I am completing a doctorate, a “C” is not acceptable for graduate work. I believe that if I were to have a “C,” that I would not be able to count that course’s credits toward my degree. I could be incorrect, as I have not tried to push the issue. 
In that type of system, a “C” is not satisfactory–it is an “F.” That in turn means a “B” is satisfactory, and I would say an “A-” is good, an “A” what you should be typically getting if you want a career afterwards, though maybe that applies more to an academic career than a practictioner career, such as an instructional designer. I would argue that with these type of expectations, you don’t have the full range of the A-F grading system, except within +/- additions to the grades. I would think carefully about the ramifications of giving out a C, and most faculty, in my experience did too. This played out in the student body as well, with graduate students receiving a B scheduling frantic meetings with professors or lashing out angrily for the slight (as if it was their character instead of their work that merited such a grade).
On the flip side of that, why can’t a classroom of capable students all receive an “A” if they are all sufficiently talented and given the proper tools, resources, and guidelines to succeed. If a grade is not normative, ie, not referenced against peers but against a set of expectations, as educators should be doing, is it grade inflation if all the students are meeting these expectations?
