Geographical variations in the relation between final course grades and results on the national tests in social sciences, 2015-2017

Abstract

Grade inflation, involving comparisons between public and independent schools, is presently under discussion in Sweden. This paper reports on discrepancies between national test results and the final course grade in social sciences, in year 9. Open data at school level were used in OLS regression analyses to scrutinise systematic differences between independent and public schools and between different geographical units. The geographical analysis was used to highlight systematic geographical inconsistencies between national test results and the final course grade. The main findings of the present study are: 1) The differences in grading between private and public actors are small when considering important background factors like the average educational level of parents, the school’s grade point average (GPA), and which national test in social sciences was carried out at the school. 2) Schools in metropolitan areas are more inclined to give pupils a higher final course grade than their national test result, and it is less likely that schools in metropolitan areas and in municipalities surrounding the metropolitan areas give pupils a final course grade that is lower than their national test result. The regional differences might well affect pupils’ continued studies, and the ambition of providing an equitable school to all children in all parts of Sweden has thus not been successful.