In the middle of a standardized test: The emerging relations of young children in research

The study challenges the understanding of standardised tests in child research as activities conducted ‘on’ children, and investigates the complex relationships that arise in test situations in Swedish kindergartens. The research questions are: 1) How do the characteristics of the Swedish research context for kindergartens become a part of the test situations? 2) How does the educational context of the Swedish kindergartens affect these events? 3) How do the relationships between children and researchers change the test situations?

The results show that although standardised tests follow the same procedures, they are affected by local conditions. In the Swedish research context, the tests are not just something conducted ‘on’ children, but together with children. Based on the educational context in Swedish kindergartens, the children are considered competent. In addition, the questions asked affect the standard testing procedures. The tests are also affected by interactions between the children and the researchers.

The researchers analysed video recordings from a previous study that investigated the effects of educational methods in 18 Swedish kindergartens. The data consisted of over 1700 individual standardised tests involving children aged four to six years old. The sample consisted of 432 children and 98 kindergarten teachers. The tests focused on improving children’s attention, language and communication skills, and were conducted both before and after educational interventions. The children solved similar tasks under similar conditions. Using a stratified sample based on gender, age and linguistic background, the researchers divided the children into twelve groups. Three recordings were randomly selected from each group, and 43 test sessions and approximately 20 hours of video material were analysed.

Bodén, L. (2022). In the middle of a standardized test: The emerging relations of young children in research. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood, https://doi.org/10.1177/14639491221117217.

Online year: 2022

Issue year: 2024

Review year: 2022