Public and Private School Grade Inflation Patterns in Secondary Education

Abstract We examine the extent of grade inflation in courses taken during high school and how such differences vary across student and school characteristics. Using administrative data, we assess grade inflation in Portuguese high schools over a decade. We propose a relative measure of grade inflation, comparing students’ high school grades to their national exam ranks. Examining various school types, we find that private schools tend to inflate grades more than their public school peers, particularly at the top of the ability distribution. A regional disaggregation indicates that the northern districts exhibit higher probabilities of grade inflation.