In the beginning of "Buster Makes the Grade", when Mr. Ratburn hands the students back their exams on their final results, Francine is shown to be as intelligent as the Brain, hence Mr. Ratburn commenting on Francine's exam being "superb".
The basis of "Buster Makes the Grade" is loosely inspired after the The Simpsons's Season 2 episode "Bart Gets an F" that aired six years prior. Buster and Bart in their respective animated TV shows are both revealed to get an F at the beginning, Buster imagines repeating the third grade being in his early 40s with Mr. Ratburn being old, similar to how Bart imagines repeating the fourth grade with his teacher Mrs. Krabappel being old as well, and lastly where both characters in their respective shows being talked about repeating their respective grades where their own parents are present about the situation (though in the case of Buster, his grandmother is at the meeting instead of his dad - whom the latter is divorced and didn't exist until "Arthur's Faraway Friend").
In this TV adaptation of the book "Arthur Goes to Camp", this is the first time underwear is brought up in the series when D.W. brings Arthur his Bionic Bunny underwear as he is about to board the bus to go to Camp Meadowcroak. In the next season, "Arthur's Underwear" would have his underwear as the subject of that episode.
In the original book that the episode was adapted from, the girls' counselor was Becky whom is easy-going and friendly and the boys' counselor was Rocky whom is abrasive and often easily angered if expectations are not met. In the TV adaptation of the book, Becky is the sole counselor of Camp Meadowcroak to both the boys and girls while competing against Camp Horsewater.
When Mr. Ratburn comments on Muffy's exam, in this episode he says "Not bad". In the Chapter Book adaptation, he criticizes her handwriting about drawing lines through her numbers.