Aims

scientific knowledge for facilitating evidence-based practice has now been proposed as relevant in several sectors of society.16

This analysis did not have the resources nor the time to do a systematic review, so a more selective approach was taken. Based on other reviews and partly working as a scoping review,17 the report seeks to highlight gaps in knowledge and research.

The study addresses a few concerns:

• The research methodologies in the relevant disciplinary fields are diverse and are also affected by various paradigms.

Different scientific approaches do not share basic assumptions, research procedures, and analytical methods.

Therefore, an introductory section deals with this challenge.

• The school systems in the Nordic countries are similar but also different. This means that it is possible to learn from each other’s successes and failures. A brief overview of the

Nordic school systems thus follows.

• School achievement is a major focus in this report. However, in order to do multi-country comparisons, the development of large-scale international assessments has been crucially important as a research infrastructure. The report gives some recent results from the PISA study.

• Gender differences in school achievement are a universal finding. Boys are lagging behind girls in school achievement.

What do we know about this, what impact does it have, and what can we do to make a school where the children can develop according to their potential? A separate chapter is included in the report.

• Socioeconomic differences in school achievement are typical findings in most countries, so also in the Nordic welfare states. This may seem paradoxical and is further discussed in a chapter.

16 Swedish Research Council. (2019). Kvalitet, implementering och nytta. En FoU-handbok för statliga myndigheter. [Quality, implementation and benefits. A handbook of research and development for governmental agencies]. Stockholm: Swedish Research Council. 17 Munn, Z., Peters, M. D. J., Stern, C., Tufanaru, C., McArthur, A., & Aromataris, E. (2018). Systematic review or scoping review? Guidance for authors when choosing between a systematic or scoping review approach. BMC Medical Research Methodology, 18, 143. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-0180611-x

• Health development is also linked to school achievement. We have learnt from longitudinal studies that there is a reciprocal relationship between mental health and learning. A chapter discusses certain knowledge gaps and concerns regarding the health development and school achievement.

• A provisional list of knowledge gaps and concerns is given in the last chapter. The report concludes by listing some priorities for future investment in research.