International policy trends point to an increased focus on student achievement, teaching quality, and school outcomes. Attention to Swedish students’ poor academic achievement over the past two decades has resulted in an increased emphasis on the responsibility of municipalities and schools to create a better educational atmosphere through building quality control systems at the local level. The purpose of this study is to contribute in-depth knowledge of not only how local education authorities (LEAs) support and control schools through quality management systems but also how these local governance strategies are conditioned and obtain legitimacy in relation to the national governance of schools. Based on interviews with LEA actors in one large municipality in Sweden, as well as observations of meetings within the quality management system, this paper uses an organizational theory to explore what appears to be important in a LEA quality management system and the tensions between the state, the municipality, and the school. The results show that the LEAs’ quality management system is based on three specific strategies: (a) data use, (b) leadership, and (c) different forms of dialogues, which, in turn, contribute to relatively close system connections. The exception is the LEAs’ ability to sustainably contribute to equity in outcomes and quality, where different tensions become clear. There is some support for the LEAs’ potential to contribute to stability and coherence in relation to national governance and to the local schools.

国际政策趋势表明，人们越来越关注学生的成绩，教学质量和学校成绩。在过去的二十年中，瑞典学生的学习成绩不佳，这导致人们越来越重视市政当局和学校通过建立地方质量控制体系来创造更好的教育氛围的责任。这项研究的目的不仅是为了深入了解地方教育当局（LEA）如何通过质量管理体系来支持和控制学校，而且是关于这些地方治理策略是如何调整并获得与学校国家治理有关的合法性的深入知识。根据对瑞典一个大城市中LEA参与者的访谈，以及对质量管理体系内会议的观察，本文使用一种组织理论来探讨在LEA质量管理体系中似乎重要的部分以及州，市和学校之间的紧张关系。结果表明，LEA的质量管理体系基于三种特定策略：（a）数据使用，（b）领导和（c）不同形式的对话，从而有助于建立相对紧密的系统联系。唯一的例外是，在不同的紧张局势变得明显的情况下，LEA能够持续为成果和质量的公平做出贡献。LEA有潜力为国家治理和地方学校的稳定和协调做出贡献。市政府和学校。结果表明，LEA的质量管理体系基于三种特定策略：（a）数据使用，（b）领导和（c）不同形式的对话，从而有助于建立相对紧密的系统联系。唯一的例外是，在不同的紧张局势变得明显的情况下，LEA能够持续为成果和质量的公平做出贡献。LEA有潜力为国家治理和地方学校的稳定和协调做出贡献。市政府和学校。结果表明，LEA的质量管理体系基于三种特定策略：（a）数据使用，（b）领导和（c）不同形式的对话，从而有助于建立相对紧密的系统联系。唯一的例外是，在不同的紧张局势变得明显的情况下，LEA能够持续为成果和质量的公平做出贡献。LEA有潜力为国家治理和地方学校的稳定和协调做出贡献。唯一的例外是，在不同的紧张局势变得明显的情况下，LEA能够持续为成果和质量的公平做出贡献。LEA有潜力为国家治理和地方学校的稳定和协调做出贡献。唯一的例外是，在不同的紧张局势变得明显的情况下，LEA能够为成果和质量的公平性做出可持续贡献的能力。LEA有潜力为国家治理和地方学校的稳定和协调做出贡献。