Assessing Ethics Education through National Tests--An Advantage or Not?

Autor/in	Sporre, Karin
Titel	Assessing Ethics Education through National Tests--An Advantage or Not?
Quelle	In: Journal of Curriculum Studies, 51 (2019) 2, S.262-278 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Sporre, Karin)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0022-0272
DOI	10.1080/00220272.2018.1533999
Schlagwörter	Ethical Instruction; Compulsory Education; Foreign Countries; National Competency Tests; Values Education; Test Construction; Testing Problems; Competence; National Curriculum; Curriculum Evaluation; Grade 6; Grade 9; Test Items; Moral Development; Abstract Reasoning; Sweden + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Ethics instruction; Teaching of ethics; Ethikunterricht; Schulpflicht; Ausland; Werterziehung; Testaufbau; Kompetenz; Curriculum; Evaluation; Curriculumevaluation; Lehrplan; Rahmenplan; Evaluierung; School year 06; 6. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 06; School year 09; 9. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 09; Test content; Testaufgabe; Moralische Entwicklung; Abstraktes Denken; Denken; Schweden
Abstract	The purpose of this study is to describe, critically analyse and discuss the Swedish system of assessing ethics education in compulsory school through national tests. The publicly available tests from 2013 for grades six and nine have been studied as have the assessment instructions for teachers. Staff responsible for the test construction have been interviewed. The aims, core content and knowledge requirements of the curriculum were also studied. The concept 'ethical competence' was used as an analytical tool in the qualitative content analyses. Through the design of this study, the actual test, its process of construction and the curriculum were examined. The results suggest that ethics education, given (a) the curricular construction of what ability to assess, (b) complexities of test construction in ethics and (c) possible teach-to-the-test effects, runs the risk of being limited to an argumentative, conceptual competence, with ethics education being emptied of crucial content. However, being included in national testing can strengthen the position of a school subject. Is it then an advantage for ethics education to be tested in this way? The critical problems the study raises make the author conclude it to be a disadvantage for ethics education to be tested through national tests. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01