Achievement indexes for course grading

Replace raw grade caps with achievement indexes that compare student performance across overlapping course networks so course difficulty and peer quality can be separated from student ability. With enough linked course overlap, relative comparison methods (Valen Johnson; Gans and Kominers) can produce grades that do not penalize students for taking harder classes or clustering with strong peers. — Adopting relative‑comparison achievement indexes would change incentives for course choice, preserve the viability of demanding disciplines, and address grade inflation without blunt quotas.