The Danish National Tests at a Glance

This paper describes the format of the Danish national tests and documents a socioeconomic gradient in student’s national test scores. The national test program was implemented in 2010 and covers ten standardized tests in grades 2 through 8. We utilize the complete set of student test scores in 2010-2013 to document a substantial persistence in the children’s test scores throughout compulsory school and further show that the predictive validity of the national tests is high in terms of their ninth grade examination results. After establishing a relationship between students’ national test results and later education outcomes, the second part of the analysis illustrates evidence on student achievement obtained from the national test data. We document negative and stable test score gaps of considerable magnitude for children with poorer socioeconomic status across all grade levels.