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Parents who value grades over test scores could be missing out on a key indicator their child needs more support 鈥� and raises the possibility students are graduating without necessary skills, a 蹿辞耻苍诲.听

Teacher-assigned grades and standardized test scores usually signal to parents how well a student is grasping reading, writing and math skills, but the two measures 鈥渙ften conflict,鈥� the report said. 

While trends across the country show , an online survey of more than 2,000 parents by researchers at the University of Chicago and Oregon State University found parents are less likely to invest in academic support when a child has high grades and low test scores. Similarly, parents are more likely to intervene when grades are low, even if a student is scoring proficient in standardized tests.

Many parents surveyed voiced resistance to standardized test results as a measure of how their child is doing in school because of cultural bias and appropriateness. Given the options to answer agree, disagree or neither agree nor disagree, nearly 40% said they believe tests 鈥渁re biased against certain groups,鈥� and 27% 鈥渟ee tests as reflecting a family鈥檚 income.鈥�

Grade inflation may make families think a student is performing better than they are; along with a distrust of standardized testing may mean 鈥渢here’s skills that we’re leaving on the table,鈥� said co-author Derek Rury, assistant economics professor at Oregon State University. 

鈥淚f it’s true that parents place more weight on information contained in grades rather than test scores, that has very big implications for the economy and the growth of skills [in students],鈥� Rury said.

The responses around testing confirmed previous research studies around parental skepticism of  standardized testing, including how test questions often lean into and in later grades, wealthier students often performing better on the SAT and ACT because of access to better opportunities. 

In the survey, parents responded more positively to grades, with 71% saying grades are more important than tests in their decision making for their children.

found parents believe that grades 鈥渋ncorporate effort, behavior and compliance in addition to mastery,鈥� the report said. But Rury鈥檚 study found parents also likely trust grading because it’s reported regularly throughout the school year and is more understandable.

Grades make performance comparisons relative to classmates, the report said, while test scores are reported annually 鈥� usually a year after they鈥檙e taken 鈥� and make national comparisons, which can be hard to understand.

Standardized test scores are presented with 鈥渉istograms and numbers, and there’s multiple comparison groups, like my kid in the school district versus my kid nationally, and we’re talking about percentiles and ranks,鈥� said Ariel Kalil, co-author of the study and public policy professor at the University of Chicago. 鈥淭his is all very confusing to parents.鈥�

Parents are more likely to accept a 鈥渇amiliar, frequently received signal鈥� like grading instead of a 鈥渓ess familiar signal,鈥� like test scores, the report said, 鈥渞egardless of relative accuracy.鈥�

An emphasis on good grades, 鈥渕ay systematically mislead parents about true standing,鈥� the report said. Grades can mask academic struggles and how well a student fully grasps skills 鈥� leading to an underinvestment in resources, according to the report.

Rury also called grades subjective and that 鈥測ou don鈥檛 know what you鈥檙e getting.鈥�

鈥淭est scores, for all their flaws, are objective and the same for people who are in that testing regime, which gives us so many advantages,鈥� Rury said.

Other studies have found similar results, including one in 2024 that found don鈥檛 match student test scores and newly-released earlier this month that reported grade inflation can reduce a student鈥檚 future test scores, graduation rate, college enrollment and lifetime earnings. 

Grade inflation is also being addressed at the higher education level, where instructors at Harvard University would only be able to under a new proposal. 

鈥淭he real downstream effect of [grade inflation] is that you have people who are leaving school unprepared for the labor force. 鈥� That is a policy failure in the United States,鈥� Rury said. 鈥淎 big part of what school should do is prepare people with the skills they need to at least figure out how they’re going to be productive later on.鈥�

Part of better equipping students for the future involves reframing the importance of standardized testing, Kalil added.

鈥淚n a world in which we know that grades are inflated, and in a world in which we know that on average, test scores are highly valuable predictors of future outcomes, then we’re trying to get to the parents who are just missing the signal,鈥� Kalil said. 

If test scores were made more accessible to parents, the measure could be another trigger to encourage academic intervention. Further investment from parents could help level a playing field for all students when it comes to measuring the full extent of their proficiency, Rury said. 

鈥淔or any kind of policymaker, it’s in their best interest to help parents kind of shift the weight from grades to test scores,鈥� Rury said. 鈥淲e want everyone to succeed, particularly low income kids, who I think are the population that’s really hurt by these test optional policies. Those high-grade, low test scores, kids could really benefit from interventions from their parents.鈥�

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