Assessment of learning outcomes in A syllabus of Finnish in basic education grade 9

Kuvituskuva. Koululainen työskentelee tietokoneella. — Image: Tuomas Sarparanta

14.3.2022

A-Finska-learning outcomes, 9th grade, spring 2021

In spring 2021, The Finnish Education Evaluation Centre (Karvi) evaluated the learning outcomes in the second official language (A-finska) among ninth-grade students who received basic education in Swedish. A total of 2,492 students from 38 schools participated in the study. 1,471 students studied Finnish as a second official language (finska) and 1,021 studied Finnish according to the bilingual syllabus (mofi).

The evaluation assessed students’ ability to interpret (listening and reading comprehension) as well as the ability to produce text in accordance with the Basic Education Curriculum Principles 2014. The assessment also included tasks that measured oral skills.

The evaluation sought to answer the following questions:

What are the skills of the students at the end of basic education?
How doe the municipality’s Swedish language rate affect students’ skills?
What background factors explain the differences in the results?
How have students’ skills developed since the end of 6th grade?

The results are presented in two reports: Utvärdering av lärresultat i A-finska i slutet av årskurs 9 and Kunskapsutvecklingen i A-finska från årskurs 6 till slutet av den grundläggande utbildningen. The results of the first report will be published March 24. The results of the second report will be published in the fall.

The assessment was carried out as electronic. At the time of the evaluation, Finland was partly under exemption conditions, meaning part of the schools were in distance education. The first report also compares the results with remote evaluation and evaluation at school.

A warm thank you to all those involved in the evaluation!