Researchers say national tests will not reverse falling school results

A group of researchers has warned that proposed national tests for Finnish comprehensive schools are unlikely to improve pupils’ learning outcomes and could do more harm than good, Yle reported.

The researchers say tests taken by entire age groups would not raise achievement or promote equality between pupils. They argue that international research has found only weak or mixed links between national testing and improved results, and that lower-performing schools have not benefited in particular.

Jaakko Kauko, a professor of education policy at Tampere University, said such tests could increase pressure on pupils and narrow teaching to the material covered in exams. A group of researchers in education policy and learning assessment held a briefing in late October, saying public discussion of the proposal had presented a one-sided view.

Finland’s Parliament Audit Committee has proposed piloting national tests to provide reliable information about pupils’ learning. The proposal comes as results, including those in international PISA tests, have continued to decline.

Supporters say standardised results from different schools and regions would help assess the effects of education reforms. The researchers counter that Finland already has extensive research on schools, learning and teaching. They say representative sample-based studies can provide comparable information at lower cost than tests taken by every school.

Denmark was cited by the committee as a possible model. But Christian Ydesen, a professor at the University of Zurich who has followed Denmark’s testing system, said its PISA results had declined again and that national tests had not resolved the country’s learning difficulties.

Denmark has used three different testing models since the first was introduced in 2010. The latest version, launched this autumn, assesses literacy and mathematics; earlier tests also covered English, physics and chemistry. A pupil now takes ten national tests over the course of their schooling. Research findings on the newest tests are not yet available.

Although Denmark intended to prevent test results from being used to rank schools, Ydesen said a think tank, CEPOS, compiled publicly available figures from municipal quality reports and produced a school ranking.