ERIC Number: EJ1188451
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Sep
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1474-9041
EISSN: N/A
Pupils' Enactments of a Policy for Equivalence: Stories about Different Conditions When Preparing for National Tests
Löfgren, Håkan; Löfgren, Ragnhild; Pérez Prieto, Héctor
European Educational Research Journal, v17 n5 p676-695 Sep 2018
This article revolves around the educational policy introduced in Swedish schools that has extended national testing to younger pupils. The policy is intended to support equal assessment and grading. With the exception of short-term preparations for the tests focused on here, the testing routines are regulated by the state. The paper aims to examine how the policy of national testing in grade six is enacted in different school contexts from a pupil's point of view, and how this affects equivalence in school. A narrative analysis was conducted of pupils' (n = 150) stories about preparing for national tests in 11 schools. Three forms of enactments were distinguished according to how responsibility for test preparations was allocated in each school. In some schools, teachers invited the pupils systematically to the translation process. In other schools, pupils were given most of the responsibility for preparation and were left alone as actors vis-a-vis the policy. Finally, in schools that applied ad hoc preparations, the pupils' position as actors became less secure and more multifaceted. This variety regarding the pupils' test preparations in school stress that the different enactments of this policy of national testing have implications for the interpretation of equivalence in school.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, National Competency Tests, Test Coaching, Educational Policy, Grade 6, Student Attitudes, Teacher Responsibility, Student Responsibility, Elementary School Students, Grades (Scholastic)
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 6
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Sweden
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A