Students’ social strategies in responding to leaked national tests at a Swedish municipal compulsory school

Abstract

AbstractIn Sweden, as in numerous other countries, national tests are common in contemporary education. Over the last few years, the national tests have leaked in Sweden, which has been reported by the Swedish National Agency for Education and mainstream media. This article, based on a part of a more comprehensive study, explores and provides knowledge about how students in a Swedish municipal lower secondary school respond to leaked materials relating to national tests, and includes an analysis from a students’ perspective of the rationales students provide to justify their reactions. Students in one school class were interviewed their last year of compulsory school (aged 15). In 13 individual interviews and three group interviews, the students talked about national tests being extensively leaked nationwide and how they shared pictures of leaked materials in the class Snapchat group. This enabled some students to practice beforehand and score better, while a few students dissociated themselves from the leaks. The leaked materials were regarded as the knowledge requirements for compulsory school, and the leaks seemed to be unproblematic for most of the students.

Keywords

• assessment
• educational research
• grades
• national test
• social media
• writing assignment