What happened
Fifteen researchers and experts in economics and education demand on DN Debatt that the government retain the national tests in grades 3 and 6. In a government bill, the government has decided to phase out the tests and replace them with final exams in the final grade of the ten-year compulsory school. New tests will instead be introduced in several grades to identify students in need of support, but according to the article's authors, Skolverket plans to only record which students pass the tests. The debaters warn that this makes it impossible to track students' knowledge development and evaluate school reforms.
Our analysis
Every time the Pisa results decline, children of new Swedes are singled out as the explanation in the political debate. Politicians gladly speak of failing integration, but turn a blind eye to differences in parents' education, income, and school resources. When national tests are now removed from primary and middle schools, the few common tools that actually show which schools are failing their students disappear.
This primarily affects families in socio-economically disadvantaged areas. When Skolverket stops collecting comparable results for all students, it becomes easier for decision-makers to hide how school segregation is growing. Underfunded schools can be left to their fate without it showing up in the statistics until grade ten.
The result is convenient for the government. When hard facts are lacking, it is free rein to continue blaming declining school results on students' backgrounds, while responsibility for equal education is conjured away.
Explained
National tests are mandatory standardized tests that all compulsory schools administer to provide an equivalent assessment of students' knowledge across the country.