Students experience that the assessment is unfair

Ásdís Kristjánsdóttir, mayor of Kopavogur, says teachers, parents and students, call for an overview of the school system and reasonable comparative assessment.

« That is why it is sad that after all this time we are still in this place, » says Ásdís, referring to the lack of coordinated Icelandic measurements of students' skills.

The only measurements are the PISA surveys that in recent years have given a dark picture of the Icelandic school system.

Ásdís is considering how to respond to this position and therefore ponders, among other things, whether a status assessment should be made to students at the beginning of each school year.

« (K) Anna how they stand in certain core subjects before we prepare winter so that we can support students during the school year. »

Ásdís Kristjánsdóttir and Almar Guðmundsson, mayor of Gardabaer, discuss challenges in education in daily affairs.

Visited every school

Following a great deal of discussion on education that began last summer, Ásdís decided to visit all the schools that the town operates and discuss with teachers, school administrators, students and parents.

« I talked to four hundred people, » says Ásdís, when she recalls the visits.

« I went to these visits to better understand what we can do to improve our children's learning. And I have to say after all these conversations that the red thread in all this was – the challenges we are facing, are that it is obvious that there is a lack of overview. « 

Want clearer information

She tells students that they get clearer and better information about their learning progress and where they stand in their studies compared to their fellow students.

« They find it unfair how to evaluate and on what grounds students are assessed in college. This is different between schools, and even within local authorities. « 

She also says parents are willing to support their children, but they lacked an overview. « I have to know better and understand better and know better where my baby is. »

She says teachers also call for tools to be able to support students better.

« It's all about it – and it is the problem in a nutshell, that the government must, by law, ensure that it is carried out here a coordinated assessment every year. Of course, this has not been done in recent years and the only coordinated measure we have is PISA. We see that the results are always poorer and poorer in every conclusion that appears. «