Executive summary School achievement has increasingly come into focus during the last decades. The overall aim of this report is to highlight the need for knowledge for promoting health and development among schoolage children in the Nordic countries. Learning in school and for life is a key element for future well-being and quality of life. This analysis did not have the resources nor time for a systematic review. Therefore, a more selective approach was taken based on previous reviews, and the report also partly serves as a scoping review. The different sections of the report conclude with a list of knowledge gaps and concerns. The research methodologies in the relevant disciplinary fields are diverse. Different researchers also have different paradigms: not only do they differ in scientific approaches, but they also do not share basic assumptions, research procedures, and analytical methods. Therefore, an introductory section deals with this challenge. What is needed in this field is scientific knowledge as well as practical knowledge and practical wisdom to guide the further development of the school system. The school systems in the Nordic countries are both similar and different. We can learn from each other’s successes and failures, which merits a brief overview of the Nordic school systems. The school for all has been a joint characteristic of the Nordic school model, but it has been challenged by neoliberal policies such as school choice and privatisation. School achievement is a major focus in this report. However, in order to do multi-country comparisons, the development of international large-scale assessments has been crucial as a research infrastructure. The report gives some recent results from the 2018 PISA study. This study discusses mainly three different aspects of inequality in school achievement. (i) Gender differences in school achievement are a universal finding. Boys are falling behind girls. What do we know about this, what impact does it have, and what can we do to make a school where the children can grow and reach their full potential? (ii) Socioeconomic differences in school achievement are among the findings in most countries, and so also in the Nordic welfare states. This may seem paradoxical. (iii) Health development is also associated with school achievement. We have learnt from
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