Many of today's students believe "that grades are more important for success in life than acquired knowledge, the ability to learn throughout a lifetime; and hard work on campus" (Wingspread Group, 1993, p. 20). On this theme, Kohn (1999) observes that "The proper occasion for outrage is not that too many students are gettings A's, but that too many students have been led to believe that getting A's is the point of going to school" (p. 40).

Student cultures establish a normative academic effort in response to grading reward structures. In the past, as A represented excellent work; today, it represents work that is little more than acceptable. But success without achievement fosters high expectations among students. In a study of 278 students in five different courses, Lundrum (1999) found that a large proportion of students doing superior and average work expected an A and almost half of the students in the sample reported doing average work yet expected to receive a B.

Many students understand there are other ways to achieve high grades that don't involve hard work. They view decisions as open to negotiation and endless appeal and maneuver and bargain for better grades.

An unknown, but non-trivial fraction of students, use various methods that range from whining to intimidation to persuade teachers that they deserve high grades. In fact, most professors have, at one time or another, been faced with such highly competitive assertive students who expect an A grade and are not reticent about voicing their demands. Or the students who demand an explanation for a B which is considered today an unsatisfactory grade. Arguments have been made to suggest that more than a few teachers succumb to the pressure, not wishing to argue or hassle with students or to have their teaching evaluations suffer (Sacks, 1996; Trout, 1997a). In fact, Buck (2001) asserts that "Far too many instruments purporting to measure faculty performance are instead measures of the degree to which faculty accede to students' whining about what they consider to be excessive demands and difficult material" (p. 3).