School achievement and health development in the Nordic countries : Knowledge gaps and concerns about school-age children

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 school-aged children in the Nordic countries. Learning in school and for life is a key element for future well-being and quality of life. The present analysis did not have the resources nor time to do a systematic review. Therefore, a more selective approach was taken based on previous reviews and partly working as a scoping review. The different sections of the report conclude with a list of knowledge gaps and concerns. The research methodology in the relevant disciplinary fields are diverse and is also affected by the paradigm war, that is, difference scientific approaches 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 similar but also different. We can learn from each other both from successes and failures, which merits a brief overview of the Nordic school systems follows. The school for all has been a joint characteristic of the Nordic school system, but it has been challenges by the neo-liberal policies such as school choices and privatisation. School achievement is a major focus in this report. However, in order to do multi-country comparison, the development of the international large-scale assessments has been of crucial as a research infrastructure. The report gives some recent results from the 2018 PISA study. This study concerns mainly three different aspects of inequality in school achievements. (i) Gender differences in school achievement are a universal finding. (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 be done to make a school where each child can grow and reach their full potential? (ii) Socioeconomic differences in school achievement are among the findings in most countries, so also in the Nordic welfare states. This may seem paradoxical. (iii) Health development is also associated with school achievement. We have learnt from longitudinal studies the there is a reciprocal relationship between mental health and learning. The report describes a series of concern regarding methodology, theoretical perspective, policy aspects, ethical and political aspects. There is a need for scientific knowledge, practical knowledge, and practical wisdom to guide the further development of the Nordic school systems. This can be achieved by bridging different knowledge gaps through studies of different educational practice, interventions and measures; by using systematic reviews to summarize what already is known; by doing original comparative research; by using the potentials of the unique infrastructure and competence in registry-based research as well as the best available evaluative research designs and practice-based designs; and by increasing research collaboration between Nordic researchers in relevant fields such as educational science, cognitive neuroscience, developmental psychology (developmental science), sociology of education, child public health and policy science. Moreover, the research should be concerned with ethical and political issues of the selected approaches. Research to bridge knowledge gaps in five different regards is suggested: (1) Trends: How is the situation; (2) Consequences: How important; (3) Mechanisms: why; (4) Interventions: What can be done; and (5) Policy and implementation: What can be done on a national level? The following measures are suggested for supporting Nordic research in this field: (1) Collaboration grants for Nordic researchers that can pool data and resources for in-depth analysis of trends, mechanism, consequences, interventions, and policy/implementation. (2) Support to infrastructure for Nordic comparative research. (3) Research grants to researchers that plan, supported by systematic review of previous research, and conduct original research on issues like: · School for all in the Nordic countries – trends, challenges, and remedies in the neoliberal era · Mechanisms behind the socioeconomic, gender and health inequalities in school achievement · Controlled studies of measures taken for improving socioeconomic, gender and health equality in school achievement · Studies aiming at improving the working environment in schools including children, parents and school staff in research and development · Studies of physical and mental health, and school achievement: educational trajectory for children in the Nordic countries · Health promotion in schools in the Nordic Countries: studies of educational practice, programmes and whole-school-approach research school. (4) a research school in this field could be a measure that facilitate the training of next generation of researchers in the Nordic countries. This could be an important link between senior Nordic researcher that jointly manage the research school. Positive Mental Health among School-aged Children in the Nordic Countries