Summary: | Society is characterized by an increasing number of various competitive factors. Especially within the school system, there are countless moments where, consciously or not, individuals with extremely divers conditions are being compared to the goals that the school system foresees for the grades in question. Why do pupils have to do the same type of test again and again? Especially in mathematics, where many students experience difficulties or struggle with anxiety an uncertainty, this can be an obstacle to their development. Swedish pupils pass the ninth grade by writing a tiring number of national tests and after a short summer break, start high school by undergoing a marathon of diagnostic tests. Assuming no pupil continues learning during the summer holiday, the results of those diagnoses will show the same level of knowledge as the national test did before. This essay investigates how transition after ninth grade to high school can take place in a more efficient way. Questions addressed are whether there is anything more that the diagnosis should reveal and if the results of it form a basis for any kind of individually tailored measures? Could not the results of the national test serve to reveal this information instead? For this purpose, tree high school teachers in mathematics are being interviewed. The essay concludes that the information that is passed on, tends to be generally poor and the level of detail not fine enough to be of use for the receiving teacher. The teachers state that the diagnostic test and the national test provide grounds for the same type of decisions. However, whilst national tests provide more assured results in quality, diagnostic tests tend to be self-constructed and unrevised.
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