Grades

The literature has demonstrated that grades from lower secondary school is the single most important factor in determining dropout rates. Other Norwegian studies have

documented that grades from the 10^th grade is strongly correlated with completing upper secondary education (Falch et al., 2010). In the analysis I have taken use of grades from school subjects instead of test scores, as this has been said to be a more accurate goal in order to predict dropouts and success in upper secondary education (Farrington et al., 2012).

The grade point average is calculated using the standpoint grades for the subjects in the 10^th grade. The grade average is defined by rounding up or down the average grade points to the nearest whole grade. That means that an average grade of 3 is for the individuals that has a grade average in the interval [2.5, 3.5)⁶. The grades for the whole sample follow a distribution that is common in grade giving, where the majority is centered around the middle grades, and the minorities takes on the lowest passing grade and the highest possible grade.

Table 11. Distribution of grade averages by student groups

Average grade

Whole sample

Ordinary Dropout Re-enroller

Not re-enroller

Permanent N

1 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 43

2 4% 1% 9% 7% 14% 15% 2036

3 23% 12% 44% 40% 54% 55% 13420

4 41% 44% 35% 39% 28% 27% 23556

5 30% 41% 10% 13% 3% 3% 17564

6 2% 2% 0% 1% 0% 0% 974

Sum 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 57593

*Highest share within each subgroup is marked in bold

The most common grade point average for the group of ordinary students is 4, while for the subgroups of dropouts the most common outcome is to have a grade point average of 3. The dropout groups differ by the magnitude of the share of students having a grade point average of 3. For the group of re-enrollers, the amount of pupils having grade average of 3 (40%) is almost equal to the amount of pupils having grade average of 4 (39%). In

comparison is the grade distribution more unequal between grade average of 3 and 4 for the

6 Including 2.5 and excluding 3.5

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group of non-re-enrollers and permanent dropouts. In general, lower grade averages is associated with being categorizes in one of the dropout groups, whereas the opposite is true for higher grade averages.

Figure 5. Distribution of grade averages by student groups

Grades are somewhat segregated between genders in the sample. Males dominate the lower grades, whereas the females dominate the two highest grade averages. From earlier in this chapter it is presented that males dominate all of the dropout categories, and this is likely to have a correlation with grades. The most common outcome for both genders is to have a grade point average of 4. When inspecting the least common outcomes it is clear that females dominate the grade averages of 5 and 6, while males dominates the lower grade averages.

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Table 12. Distribution of grade averages by gender

Male Female N

1 0% 0% 43

2 5% 2% 2036

3 29% 17% 13420

4 42% 40% 23556

5 23% 39% 17564

6 1% 3% 974

Sum 100% 100% 57593

The reason for this tendency can be many, and I am not going to investigate the reasons for this in this thesis. Yet it is known from the literature that structural factors, cultural factors and society’s perceptions of gender roles and expectations of how education affects future prospects may affect rates of dropouts and re-enrollment (Boylan & Renzulli, 2017). It can be that it is expected that boys do not care so much or engage themselves in school compared to girls, or that it is perceived as a social norm to not put so much effort into education. It can also be the case that girls face higher expectations from their parents to achieve good grades in school and secure themselves a better education later in life. Vogt (2008) argues that gender differences are more related to structural conditions and social background than the gender itself, and that gender differences in education should be

understood in light of the institutional context in male-dominated vocational studies. Gender differences in re-enrollment patterns might also be due to differences in the labor market careers of men and women (Jacob & Weiss, 2011)

Girls are more likely to complete their educations compared to boys, but this is primary due to better grades (Vibe et al., 2012). Grades are known to be affected by parental education. Children of parents with higher education have better grades and are more likely to complete their study program. I have merged parental education in to one variable in this table in order to interpret it more easily. The variable parental education takes on a value based on the highest obtained education for the highest educated parent of the individual. The levels correspond to the ones discussed in the section of parental education where it was divided into mother’s and father’s education separately.

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Table 13. Distribution of grade averages by parental education

Lower secondary (level 0, 1 or 2)

Upper secondary (level 3, 4 or 5)

Short higher (level 6)

Long higher (level 7 or 8)

1 0% 0% 0% 0%

2 10% 5% 1% 0%

3 43% 30% 15% 7%

4 36% 43% 41% 33%

5 10% 22% 40% 53%

6 0% 1% 2% 6%

Sum 100% 100% 100% 100%

The table shows a trend that lower parental education is associated with lower grade point averages of the pupil. When parental education is at a low level the majority of pupils has a grade point average of 3, followed by the second most common outcome to be a grade point average of 4. For pupils with highly educated parents the majority obtains grade point averages of 5. The magnitude of students having the highest possible grade point average increases from 0% to 6% when parental education increases from the lowest to the highest level.

Findings in the data coincides with previous findings in the literature. Vibe et al.

(2012) found that children of parents with higher education had better grades and were more likely to complete their study program compared to pupils from lower educated parents.

Another finding was that having parents with higher education increased the likelihood of achieving competence significantly, and that it had a marginal negative effect on the

probability of achieving a vocational qualification. Falch et al. (2010) found that an increase in grade average with one grade point would increase the probability that the pupil finishes upper secondary education with almost 30 percentage points. Markussen et al. (2008) found that social background influences the choice of educational path, and that this holds even when students from different backgrounds had the same grades. Working class students did not choose the same education as middle class students with the same grades. These findings in the literature highlights the relevance of parental education on school performance in upper secondary education.

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