‘I have my own picture of what the demands are ... ’: Grading in Swedish PEH — problems of validity,comparability and fairness

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to focus on Swedish PE teachers’ experiences with a criterion-referenced grading system and its practical consequences. It aims specifically at investigating the dimensionality of grades and how teacher reason and effectuate when grading students. The study consists of two parts: quantitative data collection of grades in PE given between 2000 and 2009 and 20 semi-structured interviews with PE teachers that were analyzed qualitatively. The study has shown that the principles of fair and equitable grading in Swedish PE should be strongly questioned due to lack of transparency, validity and reliability. Grading in Swedish PE seems to be arbitrary and the grading system is not accessible or transparent to the students.

Keywords

Assessment grading physical education Sweden

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Andersson A. ( 1998) The dimensionality of the leaving certificate in the Swedish compulsory school. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 42(1): 25-40.

Annerstedt C. ( 2002) Betygsättning i idrott och hälsa (Assessment in physical education and health), in Skolverket. Att bedöma eller döma. Stockholm: Liber , 125-140.

Annerstedt C. ( 2005) Physical education and health in Sweden. In: Puhse U , Gerber M (eds) International Comparison of PE. Basel: University of Basel, 604-29.

Berndtsson A. , Gustavsson F. ( 1998) Betygskriterier i ämnet idrott och hälsa (Assessment criteria in physical education and health). Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, Institution för pedagogik och didaktik.

Biggs J. ( 2003) Teaching for Qualitative Learning at University. Maidenhead: Society for Research into Higher Education and Open University Press.

Björnsson M. ( 2005) Kön och skolframgång: tolkningar och perspektiv (Gender and School Success: Interpretations and Perspectives). Stockholm: Myndigheten för skolutveckling.

Brookhart SM ( 1994) Teachers’ grading: practice and theory. Applied Measurement in Education 7(4): 279-301.

Carli B. ( 2004) The making and breaking of a female culture: the history of Swedish physical education’in a different voice’. Doctoral thesis. Göteborg: Göteborgs Universitet.

Cliffordson C. ( 2004) Betygsinflation i de målrelaterade gymnasiebetygen (Grade inflation in criteria-referenced grading). Pedagogisk Forskning i Sverige 9(1): 1-14.

10.

Cliffordson C. ( 2008) Differential prediction of study success across academic programs in the Swedish context: the validity of grades and tests as selection instruments for higher education. Educational Assessment 13(1): 56-75.

11.

Edgren K. , Johannesson V. , and Johansson A. ( 2003) Betyg och bedömning i Idrott och hälsa (Assessment and Grades in Physical Education and Health). Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik och didaktik.

12.

Eriksson C. , Gustavsson K. , Johansson T. , Mustell J. , Quennerstedt M. , Rudberg K. , Sundberg M. and Svensson L. ( 2005) Nationella utvärderingen av grundskolan 2003 (NU-03) (National Evaluation of Basic Compulsory School) Idrott och hälsa, ämnesrapport 253. Stockholm : Skolverket/Fritzes.

13.

Evans J. ( 2004) Making a difference? Education and ‘ability’ in physical education. European Physical Education Review 10(1): 95-108.

14.

Fontana A. , Frey JH ( 2000) The interview: from structured questions to negotiated text. In: Denzin N , Lincoln Y (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research (2nd edn). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 645-72.

15.

Gipps C. ( 2001) Sociocultural aspects of assessment. In: Svingby G , Svingby S (eds) Bedömning av kunskap och kompetens (Assessment of Knowledge and Competence) . Stockholm: Lärarhögskolan i Stockholm, PRIM-gruppen, 15-67.

16.

Gustafsson J-E. , Balke G. ( 1993) General and specific abilities as predictors of school achievement. Multivariate Behavioural Research 28(4): 407-34.

17.

Gustafsson J-E. , Carlstedt B. ( 2006) Abilities and grades as predictors of achievement: the encapsulation theory. Paper presented at the symposium ‘The investment theory of intelligence: New evidence, new challenges’, at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Associations, New Orleans.

18.

Hay P. ( 2006) Assessment for learning in physical education. In: Kirk D , Macdonald D , and ÓSullivan M (eds) The Handbook of Physical Education,. London: SAGE, 312-25.

19.

Hay P. , Macdonald D. ( 2008) (Mis)appropriations of criteria and standards-referenced assessment in a performance-based subject. Assessment in Education: Principles , Policy and Practice 15(2): 153-68.

20.

Johansson P. , Eriksson M. ( 2008) Vad och hur bedömer lärare i Idrott och hälsa? (What and How do Teachers Grade in PE?). Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik och didaktik.

21.

Kane MT ( 2006) Validation. In: Brennan RL (ed.) Educational Measurement. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 17-64.

22.

Klapp Lekholm A. ( 2008) Grades and grade assignment: effects of student and school characteristics. Göteborg Studies in Educational Sciences 269. Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis.

23.

Kvale S. ( 2008) Eksamen som konstruksjon av kunnskap (Evaluation as construction of knowledge). Uniped 31(4): 22-55.

24.

Kvale S. , Brinkmann S. ( 2009) InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing. London: SAGE.

25.

Larsson S. ( 2003) Bemött + Bedömd = Betyg (Meet + Evaluate = Grade) . Göteborg: Göteborgs universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik och didaktik.

26.

Larsson S. ( 2006) Riktning mot mitten (Movement towards the middle) Göteborg: Göteborgs universitet, Institutionen för pedagogik och didaktik.

27.

Linde G. ( 2003) Kunskap och betyg (Knowledge and Assessment). Lund: Studentlitteratur.

28.

Lundahl L. ( 2005) A matter of self-governance and control: the reconstruction of Swedish education policy 1980-2003. European Education 37(1): 10-25.

29.

McMillan JH ( 2003) Understanding and improving teachers’ classroom assessment decision making: implications for theory and practice. Educational Measurement: Issues and practice (Winter): 34-43.

30.

National Agency for Education (2005) National assessment and grading in the Swedish school system. URL (consulted March 2010): http://www.skolverket.se/publikationer

31.

National Agency for Education (2007) National subject tests in compulsory school. URL (consulted March 2010): http://www.skolverket.Se/sb/d/276

32.

Pilcher JK ( 1994) The value-driven meaning of grades. Educational Assessment 2(1): 69-88.

33.

Redelius K. ( 2007) Betygsättning i idrott och hälsa: en didaktisk utmaning med pedagogiska konsekvenser (Assessment in physical education: a didactic challenge with pedagogical consequences). In: Larsson H , Meckbach J (eds) Idrottsdidaktiska utmaningar. Stockholm: Liber.

34.

Redelius, K. ( 2008) MVG i idrott och hälsa - vad krävs då? Elevers syn på lärares bedömningspraktik (PSD in PE - what is needed?). Svensk idrottsforskning 17(4): 23-6.

35.

Redelius K. , Fagrell B. , and Larsson H. ( 2009) Symbolic capital in physical education and health: to be, to do or to know? That is the gendered question. Sport, Education and Society 14(2): 245-60.

36.

Ryan G. , Bernard H. ( 2000) Data management and analysis methods. In: Denzin N , Lincoln Y (eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research (2nd edn). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 769-802.

37.

Selghed B. ( 2004) Ännu icke godkänt: Lärares sätt att erfara betygssystemet och dess tilllämpning i yrkesutövningen (Not Yet Passed: How Teachers’ Experience a Criterion-Referenced Grading System and What they Say about its Use in Swedish Secondary Schools). Malmö: Malmö högskola, Malmö studies in educational sciences, 15.

38.

Skolinspektionen (Swedish Schools Inspectorate) ( 2010) Rapportering från Flygande tillsyn i ämnet idrott och hälsa den 22 april 2010 (Report from School Inspections in PE). URL: www.skolinpektionen.se

39.

Skolverket (Swedish National Agency for Education) ( 1998) Uppföljning av betygsenkät vårterminen 1998 (A Follow-Up Study about Grading) Stockholm: Dnr 96:12-2.

40.

Skolverket (Swedish National Agency for Education) ( 2000) Stor klyfta mellan grundskolans mål och resultat (A Big Gap between Aims and Results). Stockholm: Skolverkets Nyhetsbrev, 10 Feb.

41.

Skolverket (Swedish National Agency for Education) ( 2001) Bedömning och betygsättning (Assessment and Grading). Stockholm: Liber.

42.

Skolverket (Swedish National Agency for Education) ( 2004) Likvärdig bedömning och betygssättning: Skolverkets allmänna råd 2004 (Equal Assessment and Grading: General Advice Issued by the National Agency for Education). Stockholm : National Agency for Education.

43.

Strandell A. , Bergendahl L. ( 2002) Sätt Sverige i rörelse: Förskola/skola (Put Sweden on the Move). Stockholm: Statens Folkhälsoinstitut.

44.

Swedish National Audit Office (Riksrevisionsverket) ( 2004) Betyg med lika värde? En granskning av statens insatser (Assessment with the Same Value?). Stockholm: Riksrevisionen 2004: 11.

45.

Tholin J. ( 2003) En roliger dans? (A Merry Dance?) Borås: Högskolan i Borås.

46.

Tholin J. ( 2006) Att kunna klara sig i ökänd natur: En studie av betyg och betygskriterier - historiska betingelser och implementering av ett nytt system (Being able to survive in an unknown environment: a study of grades and grading criteria - historical factors and the implementation of a new system). Doctoral thesis, Borås: University College of Borås, Department of Education.

47.

Weaver-Hightower M. ( 2003) The ‘boy turn’, in research on gender and education. Review of Educational Research 73(4): 471-98.

48.

Wikström C. ( 2005) Criterion-Referenced Measurement for Educational Evaluation and Selection. Umeå: Umeå universitet, Institutionen för beteendevetenskapliga mätningar.

49.

Yang Y. ( 2003) Measuring socioeconomic status and its effects at individual and collective levels: a cross country comparison. Göteborg studies in educational sciences 193. Göteborg: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis.