In a progress update sent to the government last month, the Swedish Council for Higher Education, which is responsible for developing Sweden's planned language and civics tests for citizenship, reported that it would be impossible to have the tests in place by the deadline of August 2016.
In particular, it said that Stockholm University had estimated that the tests would take three years to develop, indicating that the first applicants would be able to take the tests at some time in 2028.
Wirdenäs, who is responsible for developing the tests at Stockholm university, explained why the process is so time-consuming.
The Local: From the position of someone who doesn't know anything about arranging tests, it seems insane that it will take three years to develop a test when there are already a lot of existing tests to gauge people's level. Why do you think it will take that long? What is it that makes it so difficult to do?
Karolina Wirdenäs: We've had this question a lot, and it's entirely reasonable. I understand where it's coming from.
The type of test we have been tasked to produce is a high-quality, high-stakes examination, and in the examination world, “high-stakes” means there is something important at stake – in this case, citizenship – and that requires the quality to be extremely well assured.
The order we've been given also details what sort of examination it should be. This is a test a little like the TISUS test [for university entrance], but at a completely different level. TISUS is set at an upper secondary school level, whereas the test for citizenship is set at a different and lower level.
There’s no higher-education institution in the country that produced the requested kind of test at this level and for the purpose the test for citizenship will have. So you basically have to start from scratch and create a test, and to do that you need a set of test questions that are all at the right level and actually assess that level.
You might need to try out three to four hundred different items or parts of the test, and you need to run trials with maybe 3,000 people to get a test set that’s at the right level and quality-assured.
The people who develop the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test [Högskoleprovet] take between two and four years to develop a test, and with the TISUS test we already know all the guidelines and the level it is supposed to be at. Here, we’re starting from scratch.
When we test students here at the university, we already know what was included in the courses, the course literature, and the learning goals, so we test based on that. This is a completely different type of test, and it is a significantly bigger undertaking to develop.
TL: What progress have you made so far?
KW: We received the order to develop the test at the end of May and fully understood the extent of the task at the start of June. All of our staff were already occupied with a long list of other projects, so it has taken time to bring in new people and find the space for this. We can't just drop everything because we still have to carry out our roles as educators and researchers.
We were given this role without any warning, so we weren't able to plan for it. As I said, this is a high-stakes examination that needs to be developed extremely carefully. Some might prefer a quick and less safe, but that isn’t the type of test we've been instructed to produce. What has been ordered is a proper test, and that takes time to produce.
TL: Have you recruited additional staff to prepare the test?
KW: Yes, we’re working on it. We haven’t hired anyone new yet, but we’re working on forming the group.
TL: I've read that one of the problems was that the government hasn’t yet sent a proposition or decided exactly how they want the test.
KW: No, there is no proposition yet, and we don't know when it will come. That's also a problem. I don't know how it has come about that we have to start working before the decision is made.
TL: How is the work divided between Stockholm University and the University of Gothenburg?
KW: The University of Gothenburg has overall responsibility for the entire citizenship test, and they’re also responsible for the civics test.
It has been identified that the language-testing expertise that fits best is here at Stockholm University. That’s why we were given this assignment.
TL: If the government really put pressure on you, what’s the fastest this could be done?
KW: It takes three years to develop a test like this. If you think about it like building a bridge, it has to reach all the way across. You can’t just say, “build this bridge in a year,” when it actually takes three years. It would be a bad bridge; it wouldn’t stay up or reach all the way across. The type of test that’s been commissioned takes a long time to develop, and that’s also made clear in the conclusions of the government inquiry that preceded it.
TL: So do you think the government hasn’t read the inquiry properly, or somehow misunderstood it?
KW: You will have to ask the government that. Stockholm University has also said that they think it’s inappropriate for us to have the assignment since it’s a political assignment.
TL: Do you think this affects how quickly your department is working on the assignment?
KW: The timeline for the test is a matter of fact. Regardless of what you think of the government order, it takes three years. The willingness of the institution isn’t linked to how long it takes. It takes three years, no matter what you think about it.
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