The study aimed to investigate students' psychological, cognitive, and social well-being in 6th Grade and the relations to academic achievement in compulsory school, as measured by grades in 9th Grade. Due to reports from Swedish authorities and research, students' self-reported well-being has decreased during the last decade. Data from the…

It is well established that socioeconomic status, cognitive ability, and non-cognitive abilities such as self-efficacy are substantially associated with academic achievement. However, the specific relationships of these variables remain a relatively unexplored topic in regard to more recent and representative samples. The current study examined…

Historically, the Swedish school system has been designed to level out differences between pupils. There has also been scepticism about assessing pupils. However, new school reforms in Sweden centre on performance and tests. This article focuses on pupils (year 6) in Swedish elite schools and their perceptions of assessment. The pupils are in an…

Research indicates that beliefs on the locus of the primary source of learning can have negative effects on learning behaviors in school (Mercer & Ryan, 2011). To an increasing extent, young people in Sweden acquire English outside school through different cultural practices (Sundqvist & Sylvén, 2012). At the same time, students lack…

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…

The aim of this paper was to examine the relationship between Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) mathematics achievement and the two school achievement measures of grades and national test results in Sweden. A further aim was to examine the association of TIMSS mathematics achievement with different subgroups of students. The results…

The purpose of the study was to investigate if academic and social self-concept and motivation to improve in academic school subjects mediated the negative effect of summative assessment (grades) for low-ability students' achievement in compulsory school. In two previous studies, summative assessment (grading) was found to have a differentiating…

The primary purpose of the study was to examine methodological issues in investigations of the relative effects of schooling and age on school performance. One means of separating these 2 effects involves the use of a between-grade regression discontinuity approach. However, amongst other things, this approach is based on assumptions concerning…

Relations between aptitude variables and school achievement were investigated using a model of ability that permits simultaneous identification of general and specific abilities. Subjects were 866 Swedish students who were given aptitude tests in grade 6; results of that test were compared with course grades collected in grade 9. The usefulness of…