Information about education quality is important for most actors in the education system. For example, government agencies need information about how schools perform to be able to identify and attend to quality deficiencies. Without high-quality information on pupil performance and progress, it may also be difficult for headteachers and teachers to grasp the issues on which they should focus most of their attention. And, of course, parents need information to be able to make informed school choices.
Without high-quality information on pupil performance and progress, it may also be difficult for head teachers and teachers to grasp the issues on which they should focus most of their attention. And, of course, parents need information to be able to make informed school choices.
Highlighting the lack of school-quality information in Swedish education, this report analyses research that investigates the role of information in generating well-functioning education systems, and how parents, schools, and other actors respond to information about school quality. Overall, research suggests that parents take into account education quality in their school choices, and that they choose better-performing schools when new information is released. Similarly, public accountability systems incentivise low-performing schools to improve or close down. This highlights the importance of ensuring well-designed standardised tests from which high-quality information about pupil performance can be created.
The report makes the following policy recommendations to improve the information system in Swedish education: (1) centralise the grading system; (2) introduce annual diagnostic cohort-referenced tests; (3) create school value-added metrics that are publicly released; and (4) introduce unannounced school inspections.