Toward a Common Currency: Using Item Response Theory to Adjust for Grading Inconsistency

Grading inconsistency results from the application of different standards such that grades provide an inaccurate, and sometimes misleading, evaluation of student performance. Many attempts to correct for grading inconsistency have either not accurately corrected for inconsistency or have been too complicated to constitute politically feasible solutions to the problem. Within this context, Item Response Theory (IRT) is offered as a solution to grading inconsistency. IRT corrects for inconsistencies in the distributions yielded by the various grading practices of professors and departments as well as the failure of current practices to accurately account for differing student quality by course