2. THE CONTEXT OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN SWEDEN – 21 Chapter 2 The Context of Evaluation and Assessment in Sweden Since a major administrative reform in the early 1990s, Sweden has one of the most decentralised education systems in the world, with its 290 municipalities in charge of organising and operating school services. School leaders and teachers also have wide-reaching autonomy in deciding on study options, teaching materials and methods. The role of the national Government and agencies is to set curriculum goals and monitor outcomes rather than to focus on inputs and processes. In this highly decentralised context, evaluation and assessment are crucial to ensure that professionals get the information and feedback that they need to improve the quality of their work. Evaluation and assessment are also key tools for the central Government to monitor whether national goals for quality and equity in education are being achieved. OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: SWEDEN - © OECD 2011 22 – 2. THE CONTEXT OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN SWEDEN This chapter provides background information that will help readers not familiar with the Swedish education system understand the context in which evaluation and assessment takes place. The chapter provides a brief overview of the current national demographic, political and economic context as well as a description of the key features of the education system. 2.1 National context Demographic context Sweden has a population of 9 million people and is sparsely populated with only about 20 inhabitants per km2. Administratively, the country is composed of 290 municipalities of different sizes, ranging from just a few thousand inhabitants to over 800 000 people. Around one third of the population lives in the three major cities of Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö. Until the 1970s, Sweden used to be a demographically rather homogenous country with most immigrants coming from neighbouring Nordic and European countries. But since the late 1970s, immigration for humanitarian reasons has gained in importance and Sweden has become a culturally and linguistically diverse country: in 2006, 13% of Sweden’s population were born in a country other than Sweden (OECD, 2008a). The Swedish education system is thus facing new challenges and opportunities in adapting to a student body coming from increasingly diverse linguistic, cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Political context Sweden is a Constitutional Monarchy with a parliamentary form of government. Since the 1930s, the country has experienced a high degree of political stability. The Social Democrats have been in power (either alone or in coalition) between 1932 and 2006, except for nine years of non Social Democrat rule (in 1976-82 and 1991-94). Since 2006, the country has been governed by a coalition of centre-right parties. Similarly to other Nordic countries, there are a number of factors that have a positive impact on governance in the public sector in Sweden. These include the high general educational level of the population, the high degree of social trust accompanied by a low level of corruption, and the strong traditions of cooperation, consultation and consensus building. Economic context Living standards in Sweden are high, although the country’s relative economic position has fallen since the 1970s when it was among the richest countries in the OECD. In the early 1990s, Sweden faced a severe recession that has led to a sharp decline in economic growth. This caused major cutbacks in social services and also led to greater pressures on the resources available for school education. The recession of the first half of the 1990s helped focus attention on the need for reform in public administration and led to radical changes in the distribution of responsibilities in education and other sectors, with a very high degree of autonomy being given to municipalities. Throughout the 2000s, Sweden has experienced strong productivity growth and gradually reversed the relative economic decline of previous decades (OECD, 2008b). Sweden continues to operate a comprehensive welfare system and had the OECD’s highest level of public OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: SWEDEN - © OECD 2011 2. THE CONTEXT OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN SWEDEN – 23 social expenditure in 2005 (OECD, 2010a). But pressures remain on the public sector to achieve more with the available resources by increasing efficiency of public services. 2.2 Main features of the school system Structure The Swedish school system is organised in three levels: • Pre-primary education (typical ages 1-6). Pedagogical care is offered at the municipality level for children aged one to five whose parents work or study. Municipalities also have the obligation to offer pre-school classes for six-year-olds. These are usually organised within compulsory schools and are part of the public school system. Attendance of pre-school classes is voluntary, but 95% of all six-year-olds attend. • Compulsory education (typical ages 7-16). Children usually begin their compulsory schooling at age seven though early admission at age six is possible at the request of parents. Compulsory education lasts for nine years and comprises both primary and lower secondary education (ISCED 1 and 2). Participation is mandatory and free of charge. • Upper secondary education (typical ages 16-19). Upper secondary education comprises 17 national programmes lasting for three years. Students can also choose specially designed individual programmes, which combine subjects from the various national programmes. While upper secondary education is not compulsory, 98.5% of compulsory school students choose to enrol in an upper secondary programme. Participation is free of charge. Distribution of responsibilities Since the late 1980s, the organisation of the Swedish education system has been highly decentralised. The central Government holds the overall responsibility for schooling and is in charge of developing the curriculum, national objectives and guidelines for the education system. Within this framework, the municipalities and independent providers are responsible for implementing educational activities, organising and operating school services, allocating resources and ensuring that the national goals for education are met. The organisation of schooling within municipalities is further decentralised with a large degree of autonomy delegated to school districts and individual schools. Responsibility for budget allocation and organisation of teaching is, in most cases, left to school districts and school leaders. As is typical in the Swedish public administration, responsibilities at the central level are shared between the Ministry and a range of central agencies. The Ministry of Education and Research is supported, in the area of school education, by three agencies: the National Agency for Education (NAE) which supports and evaluates the work of municipalities and schools, the Swedish Schools Inspectorate which ensures that municipalities, independent providers and schools follow laws and regulations, and the National Agency for Special Needs Education which coordinates the Government’s support for students with special educational needs. These agencies are established by legislation and operate independently of the Government. OECD REVIEWS OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION: SWEDEN - © OECD 2011 24 – 2. THE CONTEXT OF EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT IN SWEDEN Policy development The Swedish education system has a strong tradition of institutionalised consultation between the different stakeholders. Political decision making is oriented towards reaching consensus between the different participants. When changes are being introduced in the education system, this is generally preceded by wide consultations and submissions for comments. The key stakeholders that are consulted in matters concerning education policy include the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SALAR) which represents the views of municipalities, county councils and regions; the Swedish Association of Independent Schools which represent the interests of independent school providers; as well as the national teacher unions (Swedish Teachers’ Union and the National Union of Teachers), the Association of School Principals and Directors of Education, and the different parent associations and student councils. Financing The 290 municipalities are responsible for funding a number of basic services including education. School education is financed by municipal budgets which consist of both local tax revenue and central state grants. The Government redistributes resources from wealthier to poorer municipalities through a structural equalisation payment. The state grants are untargeted, which means that each municipality can decide on the allocation of resources across different sectors and activities. The majority of schools are directly run by municipalities, but an increasing number of grant-aided independent schools have been founded since the 1990s. Municipalities provide funding for both municipal and independent schools according the same criteria, namely the number of pupils enrolled and pupils’ specific needs. Funding follows the student, which means that if a student changes schools, the associated funding is then provided to the student’s new school. Many municipalities provide schools with a lump sum budget covering salaries, buildings, materials and equipment, which is managed by the school leader.