There is widespread speculation and some evidence that grades and grading standards changed during the pandemic, making higher grades relatively easier to achieve. In this paper we use longitudinal data from students in Washington State to investigate middle and high school grades in math, science, and English pre- and post-pandemic. Our descriptive analysis of the data reveals that—in accordance with state guidance—almost no students received an F in the spring of 2020, and the share of students receiving A's jumped dramatically. While English and science grades returned to pre-pandemic levels in the years following the 2019/2020 school year, grades in math did not. To understand how well grades reflect objective measures of learning we regress test scores on student grades separately by subject and year and find that the strength of the relationship between grades and test scores has diminished over time in math. The diminishment of the signal value of grades may be a concern given that schools and families use grades as a signal of when students are ready to progress and when they might need more help.

中文翻译：

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课程成绩作为学生成绩的信号：COVID-19 前后成绩膨胀的证据


有广泛的猜测和一些证据表明，在大流行期间，成绩和评分标准发生了变化，使得获得更高的成绩相对容易。在本文中，我们使用华盛顿州学生的纵向数据来调查大流行前后的初高中数学、科学和英语成绩。我们对数据的描述性分析表明，根据国家指导意见，2020 年春季几乎没有学生获得 F 分，而获得 A 分的学生比例急剧上升。虽然英语和科学成绩在 2019/2020 学年之后的几年里恢复到了大流行前的水平，但数学成绩却没有。为了了解成绩在多大程度上反映了客观的学习衡量标准，我们分别按科目和年份对学生成绩进行了回归，发现数学成绩和考试成绩之间的关系强度随着时间的推移而减弱。鉴于学校和家庭使用成绩作为学生何时准备好进步以及何时可能需要更多帮助的信号，成绩信号价值的减弱可能会引起人们的关注。