Globalisation and policy transfer in education make it incumbent upon decision makers to prioritise among competing policy options, select policy initiatives that are appropriate for their national contexts, and understand how system-specific factors moderate the relationship between those policies and student outcomes. This study used qualitative…

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…

Reading comprehension is often treated as a multidimensional construct. In many reading tests, items are distributed over reading process categories to represent the subskills expected to constitute comprehension. This study explores (a) the extent to which specified subskills of reading comprehension tests are conceptually conceivable to…

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an important cross-national study of 15-year-olds' academic knowledge and skills. Educationalists and public policymakers eagerly await the tri-annual results, with particular interest in whether their country has moved up or slid down the international rankings, as compared to earlier…

Developing the skill to form derivatives is a slow incremental process even for native speakers of English, starting in elementary school and continuing through high school. In fact, it appears to be a universally challenging area of the lexicon. Nevertheless, studies have shown that it is one of the most important skills to possess for a learner…

The present study investigated whether two summated rating scales used in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2003), Mathematics Self-Concept (MSC), and Students' Valuing of Mathematics (VoM) seemed appropriate, meaningful, and useful in a Swedish context. The 4,256 Swedish eighth-grade students involved in TIMSS 2003…

The academic performance of 840 Swedish college students in four study programs was observed for three years. Students were divided into those admitted on the basis of grade point average (GPA), Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test (SweSAT) scores, and SweSAT scores plus work experience. The last group was less successful than the other two. (SLD)

Selection effects in the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test due to socioeconomic status (SES) were studied using data from longitudinal studies (n=8,222). Results show that subjects from low SES groups constitute the most positively-selected group even though they obtain the lowest test scores. Gender and grade differences are discussed. (MAK)

The effect of different item formats (multiple choice and open) on gender differences in test performance was studied for the Swedish Diagrams, Tables, and Maps (DTM) test with 90 secondary school students. The change to open format resulted in no reduction in gender differences on the DTM. (SLD)

Changes in verbal, spatial, and reasoning intelligence among Swedish 13-year olds were studied from 1960 to 1990. Rising verbal scores until 1980 have been followed by a decline to essentially the 1960 level. Spatial and reasoning results have risen continuously. Gender and social class differences are discussed. (SLD)

As part of a continuing evaluation of the Swedish school system, changes in intelligence test scores from 1960 to 1995 were studied in relation to cohort, gender, and socioeconomic background. Changes in verbal, spatial, and reasoning ability were studied by comparing results on identical tests given to representative samples of Swedish…

A written intelligence test with verbal, reasoning, and spatial subscales was administered to two comparable national samples of 1,000 thirteen-year olds in Sweden, tested in 1961 and in 1966. The increases were greater for girls than for boys, and the changes occurred simultaneously with several changes in social and educational conditions. To…