Grade expectations : how marks and education policies shape students' ambitions / PISA.

Includes bibliographical references.

Foreword; Table of Contents; Executive Summary; Introduction; Overview; Introduction to PISA and the Educational Career questionnaire; Chapter 1. What Do Students Expect to Do After Upper Secondary School?; Educational expectations across countries and economies; Expectations of completing a university degree; Expectations of ending formal education at the upper secondary level; Inequalities in expectations; Inequalities in expectations by socio-economic status; Inequalities in expectations by gender; How graduation and enrolment rates are reflected in the expectations of 15-year-olds; Perspectives on social mobility; Conclusion; Chapter 2. What Behaviours Do Teachers Reward?; How countries grade their students: Marks in PISA; Behaviours rewarded by marks; Towards a model of marks; Grade inflation; Conclusion; Chapter 3. What is the Relationship Between Marks and Educational Expectations?; Marks predict educational expectations; Marks can reduce inequalities in educational expectations; Gender differences in marks and expectations; Socio-economic differences in marks and expectations; Conclusion; Chapter 4. Policy Recommendations; Annex A. The Educational Career Questionnaire; Annex B. Data Tables on Educational Expectations and Marks; Boxes; Figures; Tables.

"While enrolment in tertiary education has increased dramatically over the past decades, many university-aged students do not enrol, nor do they expect to earn a university degree. While it is important to promote high expectations for further education, it is equally important to ensure that students' expectations are well-aligned with their actual abilities. Grade Expectations: How Marks and Education Policies Shape Students' Ambitions reveals some of the factors that influence students' thinking about further education. The report also suggests what teachers and education policy makers can do to ensure that more students have the skills, as well as the motivation, to succeed in higher education."--Publisher's description.

Also available online.