It is reasonable to expect that the positive shift in final letter grade distributions observed by many adopters of specifications grading could be the result of an improvement in the quality of student work. However, the majority of publications only address comparisons of student work anecdotally between versions of the course taught using a points-based grading system and the version taught using a specifications grading system. In these cases, the perception reported was that the quality of student work submitted under the specifications grading system was similar or better than work submitted in points-based systems.