A very demanding course schedule lowers core-course GPA by about 0.40 points relative to an undemanding one¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associationalr3·q3
Currency · newest study 2016 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q3 i? Combining printed coefficients, an all-Honors schedule with high-achieving peers lowers GPA by 0.25 points; substituting AP classes and advanced math/science courses raises the penalty to about 0.40 points. → Elaine M. Allensworth and Stuart Luppescu 2016
Evidence¶
Elaine M. Allensworth and Stuart Luppescu 2016¶
Elaine M. Allensworth and Stuart Luppescu. (2016). Why do students get good grades, or bad ones? The influence of the teacher, class, school, and student. University of Chicago Consortium on School Research working paper. https://consortium.uchicago.edu
q3 · i? · associational · r3
The authors combine coefficients from Tables 2b and 2c into schedule-level illustrations: one-quarter AP classes with high-achieving peers lower GPA by 0.33 points, and four advanced math/science courses bring the total to 0.39, so "a very demanding schedule could make a difference of about 0.40 GPA points."
"taking only Honors classes with high-achieving peers (1 standard deviation above the mean) would likely reduce a student’s core course GPA by 0.25 of a GPA point (the class average effect of -0.173 plus the Honors class effect of -0.075)."
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Grades are lower in classes with higher-achieving peers, consistent with teachers adjusting expectations rather than grading on a curve — related
- Systematic racial, ethnic and gender differences in grades persist among students with the same test scores, attendance, courses and teachers — related
- Ninth-grade GPAs varied substantially by gender, race/ethnicity, neighborhood SES, incoming test scores, course level, and school — related
- Students flagged as honors courses demonstrated greater than expected science growth — related
- Attending a selective exam-entry high school yields no significant academic benefits and lowers 11th-grade GPA relative to observationally similar peers elsewhere — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
demanding-schedule-gpa-penalty |
title |
A very demanding course schedule lowers core-course GPA by about 0.40 points relative to an undemanding one |
description |
A very demanding course schedule lowers core-course GPA by about 0.40 points relative to an undemanding one |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
2016 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-08 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — elaine-m-allensworth-and-stuart-luppescu-2016 |
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