4 ms·

It's totally dishonest to analyze trends in an education system without accounting for immigration and ethnic differences. In the USA, for example, there is pl

It's totally dishonest to analyze trends in an education system without accounting for immigration and ethnic differences. In the USA, for example, there is plenty to be learned about the education system by taking that into account. If you discover the performance among native Swedes isn't changed, you'll learn the problem isn't simply caused by changes to the Swedish school system. Something like 20% of Sweden's population is of foreign origin. If the paper doesn't account for this, it's got a problem. The performance of American students in PISA or TMSS by racial breakdown has been well-documented -- blacks and Hispanics drag the average down more than Asians drag it up. And you can find that many comparisons between American states are just the result of Simpson's paradox. So that's something you need to check for when looking at Sweden's performance. (In the paper you can find good evidence that a big portion of the deterioration is not caused by ethnic makeup. For example, advanced proficiency dropping from 12% to 3% on page 9. But it's not so clear about changes to performance at the bottom end.)

vanderZwan 8y ago
You raise very valid points, but the way you address them has a very different ring to it than "the big elephant in the room is...", which is a pretty blatant a dog-whistle for "the problem is dumb foreigners". Now, I do wish to give the GP the benefit of doubt, but the expression is problematic regardless of intent. My comment was more of a response that implied dog-whistle. Admittedly, it was a bit reactionary because of my own personal experiences surrounding these issues, and the ease of which I have seen people blame things on foreigners without even a hint of self-reflection. But as you mention: the paper suggests these issues are not caused by immigration.

vanderZwan 8y ago

You raise very valid points, but the way you address them has a very different ring to it than "the big elephant in the room is...", which is a pretty blatant a dog-whistle for "the problem is dumb foreigners". Now, I do wish to give the GP the benefit of doubt, but the expression is problematic regardless of intent. My comment was more of a response that implied dog-whistle. Admittedly, it was a bit reactionary because of my own personal experiences surrounding these issues, and the ease of which I have seen people blame things on foreigners without even a hint of self-reflection. But as you mention: the paper suggests these issues are not caused by immigration.