We know that grade inflation is a problem. But the problem isn't just that an "A" isn't what it used to be. It's that the performance of schools themselves is systematically overstated.

The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation made in its recent report, The Proficiency Illusion. Now, the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions, an SPN member organization in Bowling Green, Kentucky, argues that the commonwealth's assessment system is suffering from grade inflation, too.

CATS in Decline is the Institute's look at the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System. Among its findings:

"As an unreliable gauge of progress, the CATS assessment needs to be replaced by more credible tests. In hindsight, it was a mistake to charge the Kentucky Department of Education to both assist school systems in making improvements and be the sole administrator of the assessment system to determine if that effort was successful. A separate agency should be created to manage the assessment of educational progress in Kentucky’s schools."