QUALITY INDICATORS FOR SNE

The Swedish educational system is based on goals. National goals are set up by the government, and the municipalities, schools, individual staff and pupils are to make the goals concrete in their own environment and make their own plans for their activities reach the national goals. Quality indicators must therefore stem from educational plans on several levels of the educational system.

Apart from stating the goals of the operation, the National Curriculum also states who has the responsibility for the different assignments of school operation and the fulfilling of the national goals. 

In a similar way as goals are set up, a system of evaluation is operating on several levels. The school board, staff and pupils do their own evaluations and support the school board with the results and other information necessary. Each school board evaluate their school operation and use the material for the planning of the coming operation and report to the municipalities. The municipalities who are responsible for the operation of Swedish education report to the National Agency for Education who in their turn report to the government. Documents are official and should be easily available.

The National Agency of Education has launched a website where results, quality reports and other important documents and plans from all municipalities concerning school operation are available to the public and may be easily compared. The website SIRIS can be found at http://siris.skolverket.se/pls/portal30/PORTAL30.siris_frame.siris. SIRIS is available in Swedish only.

The National Agency of Education is responsible for the supervision of Swedish education. Each individual school is not supervised, but the Agency do supervisions of a few matters each year where a selection of schools is supervised concerning that specific matter. In 1998 a report was published concerning the state of art of Special Needs Education. In 2002 investigations were concerned with, among other themes, 'Information from schools to parents and pupils'.   

Individual schools can also be inspected after complaints. Parents, pupils, teachers or whoever concerned may complain to the National Agency of Education who can, if the matter cannot be solved by the specific municipality, investigate and advise the school in the matter. See http://www.skolverket.se/sb/d/345/a/819

At grades 5 and 9 national compulsory tests are conducted in the subjects Maths, English and Swedish. These tests are the basis for individual evaluations as well as for school plans and national comparisons.

Grades are given to pupils from year 8 of compulsory school. See http://www.skolverket.se/sb/d/345/a/819