Tougher school grading systems hit girls and poor students hardest
A Swedish study tracking two student cohorts found that schools with stricter grading and more frequent testing increased stress among girls and low-income students by the end of secondary school, despite all students converging toward similar stress levels later. The finding suggests education reforms intended to raise standards may inadvertently widen wellbeing disparities—a concern for policymakers weighing academic rigor against student mental health.
Originaltitel: Heterogeneity in school stress trajectories?: A comparative analysis of cohorts across educational contexts
<p>This study examined the development of school-related stress across twostudent cohorts in Sweden: one educated under a less performance-oriented system, and the other under a more performance-orientedsystem characterised by earlier grading and increased assessments.Drawing on longitudinal survey data and register-linkedsociodemographic variables, growth mixture modelling identified distincttrajectories of stress development, from school year 6 to school year 12.The findings reveal both shared and cohort-specific stress patterns, withstress levels converging by the end of upper secondary school despitedivergent early trajectories. Gender, socioeconomic background, andmigration background predicted trajectory memberships, though thestrength of these associations varied between cohorts. Girls, as well asstudents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds regardless of gender, inthe later cohort were more likely to belong to high-stress trajectories,suggesting that reforms between the two cohorts may have exacerbateddisparities on school-related stress.</p>