Knowledge gaps and concerns

competences measured by the PIACC scores. This study also included an analysis of the possible impact of traditional education –in which knowledge and non-cognitive skills (such as grit) were key goals – and more progressive, child-centred ideas focused more on school enjoyment both as an end and as a means for higher achievement.

There is little doubt that Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden have implemented progressive practices to quite a large extent, while Finland in 2012 stands out as the country with the most traditional practices, despite increasingly official policy pushing in a progressive direction. Using PISA data from 2012, it seems that while pupil-centred methods induce more positive school experiences, they decrease pupils’ academic performance. This may have an impact on health, but the conclusions rest on aggregated national data. It is nevertheless an important hypothesis for further studies. One policy recommendation from this study is: ‘To decrease health disparities in the future, Nordic governments should consider altering their current education-policy trajectories in a more evidence-based direction.’160

• The international large-scale assessments offer unique data for analysis of factors related to school achievement. Using more advanced analytical strategies would improve the knowledge state, but the quality of relevance of the content in the assessment needs to be discussed in detail.161

• The analytical procedure should involve advanced forms of statistical multi-level analysis, as the national comparisons on the aggregated level often disregard within-country variation.

• There are many longitudinal studies of children from birth onwards. Mostly these studies focus on health and child development. These could be linked to data of the children’s school situation and school achievement. This would lead to important improvement in the possibility to develop a more in-depth analysis of the drivers of inequality in school

160 Heller-Sahlgren, G. (2019). Summary. Educational policy for health equality: Lessons for the Nordic region. Stockholm: Nordic Welfare Centre, p. 9. https://nordicwelfare.org/wpcontent/uploads/2019/04/Education-Policy_HS_Webb_FINAL.pdf 161 Arnesen, A., Braeken, J., Ogden, T., & Melby-Lervåg, M. (2019) Assessing children’s social functioning and reading proficiency: A systematic review of the quality of educational assessment instruments used in Norwegian elementary schools. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 63(3), 465–490. https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2017.1420685

achievement and educational trajectories. Such a research initiative has recently started in Norway.162

• There are also databases on school children, but these lack data on health and other important mediating and moderating factors. The extension of these databases would increase the possibility for research, development, and evaluation of educational practices and policies.

• Ethical concerns: The ethical issues related to a more indepth research in this field have been well addressed by the ethical code for research and monitoring of sensitive issues such as health.

• Political concerns: The political aspects are important to recognise, as selective vested interests may make it impossible to use available resources.

162 Norwegian Institute of Public Health. (2019). Health gap: Helse, modning og kjønnsforskjeller i skoleprestasjoner – prosjektbeskrivelse [Health gaps: Health, development and gender differences in school achievement – project plan]. https://www.fhi.no/cristin-prosjekter/aktiv/health-gap-helsemodning-og-kjonnsforskjeller-i-skoleprestasjoner/