National assessment study reports a drop in 9th-graders' competence and more negative attitudes

Pupils' skills have fallen and attitudes towards school have become much more negative. At the same time, the belief in chance as an explanatory factor for school performance has strengthened, according to a national study on the assessment of learning to learn conducted by Tampere University and the University of Helsinki.

A recent first results report on the Assessment of Learning to Learn examines how ninth-graders' demonstrated competence and beliefs about schooling have changed since 2001.

The 2024 assessment results show that both pupils' demonstrated competences and beliefs about learning and schooling have become significantly more negative when compared to the first assessment (2001) and the previous assessment (2017).

In addition, there is a clear structural change in students' beliefs between 2017 and 2024: students' attitudes towards school have deteriorated significantly, while at the same time their belief in chance as an explanatory factor for school success has strengthened. According to Professor Mari-Pauliina Vainikainen, the observed changes have been very similar in all participating schools and across gender and socio-economic groups.

“However, chance belief has become slightly stronger in boys than in girls,” she adds.

Vainikainen says that the differences between schools in Finland have been very small at the national level before and have remained roughly the same as in 2017. The differences between classes are slightly larger than the differences between schools, but according to the study, they have even decreased slightly compared to 2017.

Some pupils care less about studying and learning than before

The results of the research project also show that many low-achieving pupils in school do not engage in assessment tasks because they are not directly related to schoolwork.

According to the researchers, changes in pupils' belief structures suggest that, for at least some pupils, this is happening more generally in schoolwork. Many pupils do not perceive schooling and what they learn in school as important as pupils in the same schools in previous years.

“It is therefore important that interventions aimed at improving competence levels also consider influencing pupils' attitudes, beliefs, school climate and culture,” says Vainikainen.

Changes in competences and beliefs are linked to broad societal phenomena

According to the researchers, the decline in students' demonstrated competence and their beliefs about schooling is likely due to several factors.

There has been a corona pandemic between the last two rounds of assessments. In addition, for some young people the war in Ukraine may have reinforced their experience of the unpredictability of the world. Together, these may cause young people to feel a lack of control.

According to Vainikainen, it is important to try to maintain a safe and peaceful learning environment in the daily life of the school, in which all pupils can influence their own learning and school performance. However, the decline in learning outcomes is a wider societal phenomenon that

cannot be tackled by schools alone. The challenge needs to be solved through cross-sectoral cooperation.

The ”Valtakunnallinen oppimaan oppimisen arviointi 2024 – Ensituloksia” report (only in Finnish) can be found here.

For more information on the project and its results, please contact

Mari-Pauliina Vainikainen
Professor
Research centre for Education, Assessment and Learning REAL
Faculty of Education and Culture
Tampere University

mari-pauliina.vainikainen@tuni.fi
+358 50 437 7303