Reassessing Academic Desert: Why Grades can be Deserved

Napoletano argues that grades, as measurements of academic performance, cannot be deserved. Since grades measure the basis of desert– namely, a student’s performance– they cannot simultaneously function as the object of desert. In this paper, I present two counterarguments to Napoletano’s claim. First, I argue that people can deserve to be measured accurately, as failing to do so can give rise to an injustice. Second, I argue that grades are not measurements but appraisals of student performance. Either claim, independently, undermines Napoletano’s conclusion, demonstrating that grades can indeed be deserved.