The present paper seeks to discuss the education quality indicators, emphasizing the level of discrepancies that involves age and grade in three state high schools located in São Leopoldo city, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. It is part of a research of the subproject entitled Estudo da Evasão no Ensino Médio e Superior em São Leopoldo (Study on High School and Higher Education Dropouts in São Leopoldo). It is also part of the research project Observatório de Educação - Indicadores de Qualidade e Gestão Democrática (Education Observatory - Quality Indicators and Democratic Management). Data were collected from the database of Instituto Nacional de Estudos e Pesquisas Educacionais Anísio Teixeira (Inep - National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira), as well as from the three schools involved in the study. The descriptive analysis shows that the discrepancy between age and grade accentuates as the target public is segmented. There are differences when the results of the three schools are compared, the same happens in relation to shift work, grades and the students' conditions. It is possible to conclude that educational policies are insufficient or ineffective, mainly because they do not take into consideration the differences between the realities of the students.
discrepancies between age and grade; educational policies; high school