Assessment Equity and Performance Gaps in Secondary Education: A Distributional Analysis of Pre-Board and Board Examinations

Anita Devi

doi:10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i01.69593

Assessment Equity and Performance Gaps in Secondary Education: A Distributional Analysis of Pre-Board and Board Examinations

Author(s)	Ms. Anita Devi
Country	India
Abstract	Abstract This study examines how preparatory school-based assessments influence educational equity in high-stakes secondary examinations by analysing changes in score distributions from pre-board to board examinations. Using a repeated cross-sectional design, the study draws on examination data from 393 students across six cohorts in a CBSE-affiliated school over three academic years (2023–2025), comprising Standard 10 (n = 223) and Standard 12 (n = 170) students. Rather than relying solely on average score gains, the analysis adopts an equity-focused framework employing distributional measures, including Gini coefficients, coefficients of variation, P90/P10 ratios, interquartile ranges, and quartile-based improvement analyses. The findings reveal a consistent equity enhancing pattern in Standard 10 cohorts, where score inequality declined following board examinations, as reflected in reductions in Gini coefficients ranging from 0.025 to 0.038 across the three years. These changes were accompanied by a clear “lifting-the-bottom” effect, with students in the lowest pre-board quartile recording substantially larger improvements (12–17 percentage points) than those in the highest quartile (5–10 percentage points). In contrast, Standard 12 cohorts exhibited minimal and inconsistent equity shifts, with Gini changes close to zero and relatively uniform gains across performance quartiles. Quartile-based differences were statistically tested using ANOVA, with moderate to large effect sizes observed in Standard 10. The results suggest that preparatory assessments can function as equity-supportive mechanisms when aligned with timely feedback and remediation, particularly at earlier stages of high-stakes assessment cycles. At later stages, such assessments appear to serve a predominantly predictive role, with limited influence on performance disparities. By foregrounding distributional outcomes alongside conventional performance indicators, this study demonstrates the value of integrating equity metrics into assessment evaluation and offers evidence-informed insights for assessment design, instructional practice, and policy in secondary education.
Keywords	pre board; board examination; assessment equity; Gini Index; performance gaps; longitudinal analyses
Field	Sociology > Education
Published In	Volume 8, Issue 1, January-February 2026
Published On	2026-02-22
DOI	https://doi.org/10.36948/ijfmr.2026.v08i01.69593

View / Download PDF File

E-ISSN 2582-2160

doi

CrossRef DOI is assigned to each research paper published in our journal.

IJFMR DOI prefix is
10.36948/ijfmr

Downloads

Research Paper Format Copyright Permission Form and Undertaking Form Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 2 Cover Page Vol 8 Isu 1 Cover Page Vol 7 Isu 6

All research papers published on this website are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, and all rights belong to their respective authors/researchers.

CC-BY-SA

About IJFMR Fees & Payment Current Issue Publication Archive	Submit Research Paper Track Submission Status Publication Guidelines Publication Ethics Peer Review & Plagiarism	Join as a Reviewer Editors & Reviewers Reviewer Referral Program Get Reviewer Membership Certi.	Website/Journal Policies Usage Policy Content Policies Privacy Policy

Contact Us		+91-9687-828-838	editor@ijfmr.com

International Journal For Multidisciplinary Research

A Widely Indexed Open Access Peer Reviewed Multidisciplinary Bi-monthly Scholarly International Journal

Assessment Equity and Performance Gaps in Secondary Education: A Distributional Analysis of Pre-Board and Board Examinations

Share this