When combined with another way in which America is an educational outlier -- our educational outcomes are more strongly linked to parental wealth than in any other first-world county -- I find this worrisome, because it means that other countries are probably using their human resources more effectively. They're turning their most gifted potential computer programmers into computer programmers, while we're only using the most gifted potential computer programmers among the body of students whose parents got them into functional schools throughout their pre-college education. If the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates turns out to be of middle- or upper-class origin, he or she may well be American. If the next Steve Jobs or Bill Gates turns out to be of poor inner-city origin, he or she won't be.

As dangerous as it might be, it is difficult not to view this issue through the prism of one's own experiences. I was fortunate enough to graduate from some reasonable institutions: a Purdue Engineer in 1981, and subsequently from MIT grad. Later, Chicago business school. No "Ivies," but not exactly the local community college.

That said, I can tell you unequivocally that from my perspective current admittance standards are tougher today than when I went through school, and the candidate pool is, generally, stronger. Lucky me, grade inflation or no, timing is everything.

Further, as an owner of several dozen businesses the last 18 years, and therefore an ongoing evaluator of potential employee talent, I must say that my observation is that the quality of candidates coming out is actually quite high...............at the top, that is.

Which brings me to my concern and observation: the real answer here (IMHO) is that a tremendous bifurcation of talent and capability is occurring, not dissimilar or divorced from the bifurcation in economic outcomes bemoaned by political observers in recent years.

That is, the economic return to brains, education, talent, risk taking, adaptability and hard work are increasing at an ever accelerating rate. (I know, I know, this is really not a popular view these days. But didn't Toffler predict this oh-so-long ago? And what do your practical experiences tell you?)

At the top, things have become incredibly competitive, most likely driven by the required increase in international competitiveness that globalization mandates. Smart and driven people applying to and performing at top institutions are naturally reacting. Grades, shmades. These people perform. The market at work, you see.

At the lower end - ah, yes, the lower end - insulated (or simply incapable of reacting) this is where our perception and experience of the laggard, grade inflated, student comes from. Not that grade inflation isn't real. I bet it is. Probably for many of the reasons James cited.

But if we want to find a policy issue to successfully address - this lower end of the pool - falling ever farther behind, requires inquiry. The smarties and motivated will do just fine. Same as always. The rest.........?

And the implications for social policy??????

Interestingly, it is. From an article that's actually highly critical of the Ivies:

Forty years ago, the average GPA at both public and private universities was about 2.6, still close to the traditional B-/C+ curve. Since then, it’s gone up everywhere, but not by anything like the same amount. The average gpa at public universities is now about 3.0, a B; at private universities it’s about 3.3, just short of a B+. And at most Ivy League schools, it’s closer to 3.4.

So, food for thought.

High School, though, has grade inflation galore, although they call it "social promotion." Meaning, basically, that they are graduating a bunch of students who lack the supposed standard in terms of basic skills and other skills, but they don't want to hold them back unless it is absolutely necessary so as to not "hurt the kid's feelings" or some variation thereof.

I think in some ways the expectations for students is lower-I think a lot of teachers do not hold kids accountable for poor work, and I also notice that a lot of teachers seem to structure their grading systems so that even a child who does poorly on some work can still get good grades if they complete some of the easier "give me good grades" assignments.

I do think demands for writing have gone way down. I think other expectations are higher. There seem to be a lot more big projects for my kids than I had in high school and middle school.

But I do think there are a lot of challenging classes and a lot of really bright kids out there. I notice that high schools seem to offer a lot more AP type courses and advanced or honors courses that weren't available when I attended high school.