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INTERRELATION BETWEEN EDUCATIONAL REFORMS AND EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS IN THE CONTEXT OF SWEDISH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

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Paper categorization: Original scientific paper

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Abstract:

In the field of educational policies and the illustration of dynamic reform processes, external assessment plays a significant role in the inception and implementation of educational reforms. The theoretical exposition of the primary drivers of educational changes highlights alternations in the implementation process of national reforms, distinctive to each educational system, while offering insight into the alignment between national and global reforms aiming for educational standardization and market orientation. These processes find support in the realm of external assessment, which is overseen by international organizations and educational agencies. The OECD's PISA survey, which has evolved into a recognizable benchmark for evaluating the quality of education systems, holds particular prominence in the realm of educational reform implementation. The data on achievements, system comparisons, and improvement recommendations proposals tied to PISA research can be used to transform national educational systems. To explore the correlation between educational reform and external assessment, the Swedish educational system was selected as an illustrative example of a system whose policies have long involved the evaluation and implementation of changes based on external assessment outcomes. This paper is based on the analysis of primary and secondary literature concerning Sweden's PISA survey results. A systematic search was conducted in the OECD database with the objective of gaining insight into primary data regarding student achievement. Insights into previous scholarly analyses of Sweden´s PISA results were acquired by searching scientific publication databasea. The primary focus lies on presenting the reform actions initiated in response to the decline observed in the PISA 2012 survey. Additionally, the paper aims to illustrate the influence of these reforms and changes in educational policy stemming from the instrumental utilization of external assessment data.

Keywords:

educational policy, educational reform, PISA survey, Sweden, external assessment