Published June 29, 2021 at 6:41 pm
Domestic. Graduating students from year 9 receive higher grades when only grades determine admission to upper secondary school. It shows a new dissertation in economics at Uppsala University. Grades improve especially for students with average grades.
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In 1999, Stockholm Municipality implemented a reform in which consideration was no longer given to which upper secondary school was closest to the student's home, but the final grades were the only decisive factor for admission to the upper secondary school.
It strengthened incentives for students to perform better in school.
Lucas Tilley, researcher in economics at Uppsala University, wanted to investigate whether students' grades increased as a result of the reform, and if so whether the increase was due to teachers being more generous grades or if the students made more effort.
To answer the question, he examined how the compulsory school grades changed in Stockholm municipality compared with other municipalities in Stockholm County, where the admission rules have not changed. If students 'performance improves when grades play a greater role in upper secondary school admission, average grades in Stockholm municipality should increase in relation to average grades in the rest of Stockholm County when the reform is implemented.
The results showed that students' grades in compulsory school increased significantly and that students at all levels improved their performance. The increases were slightly larger for students with average grades, who are in the middle of the grade distribution.
The improvement in grades does not seem to occur because teachers lower their grade requirements or due to grade inflation, but the most likely explanation is according to Tilley that students work harder to get better grades.