My research interests include assessment, multilingualism, language policy, generic competences, syllabus design, academic literacy, English medium instruction (EMI) and CLIL, all of this with an international comparative perspective. I am part of the board for syllabi revision and right now host for a program, PeP Talk under the Centre for the Advancement of University teaching, where faculty discuss various pedagogical issues in higher education.

I have many years of experience from teaching and curriculum development at various school levels in Sweden and a couple of years in the USA. I have worked as a director of education at the Swedish National Agency for Education where I was responsible for the national tests in English as a foreign language and modern languages.  I have also been involved in the development of national frameworks for the national high stakes’ tests. I give workshops and lecture on assessment in contexts with second language learners.

Research

From February 1 2025 to January 31 2027, I am a post-doctoral scholar with a project entitled Higher education in the crossfire? The focus is on examinations and relevant competencies in times of Gen AI and widening participation. I am also the project coordinator in Sweden for an international Erasmus-project, COALITION, on student centered inclusive pedagogies, i-SCPs, 2022-2025.

My previous research evolves around assessment of subject matter knowledge in multilingual education. In my dissertation from 2020, I compare teachers’ experiences of assessment in the natural and the social sciences among second language learners, both in high schools where English is used as the medium of instruction (CLIL/EMI) and schools with newly arrived immigrant students where questions arise in assessment whether it is the students’ language skills that are preventing them from communicating their content knowledge, their understanding of the subject or maybe a combination of both?  

Teaching

At Stockholm University I teach at the teaching and learning centre, Centre for the advancement of University Teaching. I have taught assessment for vocational teachers, a course in Communication, leadership and health, the principal program and at the International master program in International and Comparative Education. I have supervised student theses and worked with in-service training for student teachers.

Research groups and network

COALITION, Erasmus + project on Inclusive student centred pedagogies (i-SCP) in Higher Education.

ICER, Internationell och jämförande pedagogisk forskning, IPD, Stockholms universitet,

NUEX, Nätverket för undervisning och examination, Stockholm universitet.

FRAM, Främmande språkens didaktik, nationell forskarskola.

Conferences/presentations

Reierstam, H. (juni, 2024).

NU-konferensen Umeå.

Reierstam, H. (25 oktober 2023).

Insight Events, Stockholm.

Reierstam, H. (2023). Keynote. Comparability in an Era of Diversity and Inclusion. Consequences for teachers’ assessment practices and student outcomnes. International Higher Education and Faculty Development Conference. Rethymno University, Crete.

Reierstam, H. (2022)

. Nasjonal konferanse FVO, Oslo.

Reierstam, H. (October 14, 2021). Teaching and assessment in linguistically diverse settings. Merging interests for equity in education. Teachers Matter, Linnéuniversitet, Växjö, Sweden.

Reierstam, H & Hellstén, M. (September 6, 2021). Comparability in Learner Assessment: a Prescriptive for Diversity. Virtuell presentation vid ECER (The European Conference on Educational Research), Geneva, Switzerland (online).

Reierstam, H. (June 7, 2021). Comparable assessment – the challenge of diversity. CoInEd, Sydney university-Stockholm Univerisity collaboration. (online).

Reierstam, H. (September, 24, 2020). Fairness and Comparability in Assessment. Teachers' experiences in multilingual secondary education. Presentation vid the ICER Colloquium, Stockholms universitet, Stockholm, Sweden.

Reierstam, H. (October 3, 2019). Assessment in CLIL. Chapter presentation at book release. The CLISS-symposium. University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

Reierstam, H. (March 7, 2019). Subject content teachers’ perceptions of language: a comparative study of assessment in CLIL and migrant education. Paper presented at Nordic Educational Research Association, NERA, Uppsala, Sweden.

Reierstam, H. (December 13, 2018). Subject content teachers' perceptions of language: a comparative study of assessment in CLIL and migrant education. Paper presented at Tokyo Training Program, Education for Sustainable Development, Tokyo University, Japan.

Reierstam, H. (December 1, 2018). Assessing content or language? A comparative study of science teachers' assessment practices in CLIL context and among migrant students in Swedish upper secondary education. Paper presented at East-Asian Association for Science Education, EASE, Hualien, Taiwan.

Reierstam, H. (October 30, 2018). Språkets roll vid bedömning av ämneskunskap bland andraspråksinlärare. Ämneslärares bedömningspraktiker bland nyanlända och i CLIL, skillnader och likheter. Paper presented at Lärarnas forskningskonferens, Tumba, Sweden.

Reierstam, H. (April 21, 2016). Bedöma språk och/eller innehåll? Normer i teori och praktik. Paper presented at the national symposium, ASLA, (Association Suédoise de Lingustique Appliqué) Uppsala, Sweden.

Reierstam, H. (April 8, 2016). Bedöma språk och/eller innehåll? Hur då? Lecture at Centre for Professional Development and Internalisation in Schools, (Fortbildningsavdelningen) Uppsala University.

Reierstam, H. (October 13, 2015). Plenary speaker at Conference for French Teachers, Skolporten, Stockholm, Sweden.

Reierstam, H. (March , 2015). Bedöma språk eller innehåll? En jämförande studie av bedömningspraktik i tre svenska gymnasieskolor med internationell CLIL-profil. Paper presented at Uppdrag språk, LMS (Lärarna i moderna språk) conference.

Reierstam, H. (October 28, 2014). Bedöma språk eller innehåll? En jämförande studie av skriftlig bedömningspraktik i tre svenska gymnasieskolor med internationell CLIL-profil. Paper presented at Lärarnas forskningskonferens (Teachers’ Research Conference), Stockholm, Sweden.

Reierstam, H. (May 13, 2014). Assessing Language or Content. A comparative study of assessment practices in two Swedish upper secondary CLIL schools. Paper presented at AILA-Europe/AFinLA: The 6th Junior Research meeting in Applied Linguistics, Jyväskylä, Finland.

Reierstam, H. (April 24, 2014). Assessing Language or Content. A comparative study of assessment practices in three Swedish upper secondary CLIL schools. Paper presented at Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, Belgium.

Reierstam, H. (April 9, 2014). Bedöma språk eller innehåll? En jämförande studie av skriftlig bedömningspraktik i tre svenska gymnasieskolor med internationell CLIL-profil. Paper presented at Nationell ämnesdidaktisk konferens, NÄD, Göteborg, Sweden.

Publications

Bolander Laksov, K., & Reierstam, H. (2022). Upplevelser av undervisningen online vid Stockholms universitet—En uppföljande studie ett år senare. Stockholm University. Report. https://doi.org/10.17045/sthlmuni.18480629.v1

Reierstam, H. (2015). Assessing Language or Content? A comparative study of the assessment practices in three Swedish upper secondary CLIL schools [Licentiate Thesis]. Gothenburg university.

Reierstam, H. (2020). Assessment in Multilingual Schools. A comparative mixed method study of teachers’ assessment beliefs and practices among language learners—CLIL and migrant students. [Doktorsavhandling]. Stockholm University.

Reierstam, H. (2021).

Bedöma språk eller innehåll? Språkets roll vid bedömning i språk- och ämnesintegrerad undervisning. I Bardel, C., Erickson, G., Granfeldt, J. & Rosén C. (red)

Forskarskolan FRAM – lärare forskar i de främmande språkens didaktik

. Stockholm University Press. (s.219-243)

Reierstam, H. (kommande). Bedömningslitteractiet för språklärare i alla ämnen. I Hellquist, B., Håkansson Ramberg, M., & Ackermann-Boström, C. (red)

Reierstam, H. (kommande). Breddat deltagade - hur förenas mångfald och jämförbarhet i (bedömnings)praktiken? Arkiv förlag.

Reierstam, H. (2023). Comparing language ideology, policy and pedagogy – implications for student outcomes in CLIL and immigrant education. Nordic Journal of Language Teaching and Learning, 11(3), Article 3. https://doi.org/10.46364/njltl.v11i2.1153

Reierstam, H. (in print). Assessment of content and language: The case of CLIL, EMI and mutlilingual contexts. In: M. Dolores Ramírez-Verdugo (Ed.),Transnational Approaches to Bilingual and Second Language Teacher Education. Routledge.

Reierstam, H., & Hellstén, M. (2021). Linguistic Diversity and Comparability in Educational Assessment. In M. J. Hernández-Serrano (Ed.), Teacher Education in the 21st Century. Emerging Skills for a Changing World. (pp. 329–346). IntechOpen.

Reierstam, H., & Sylvén, L. K. (2019). Assessment in CLIL. In L. K. Sylvén (Ed.), Investigating Content and Language Integrated Learning. Insights from Swedish High Schools. Multilingual Matters.

Öhrstedt, M., Käck, A., Reierstam, H., & Ghilagaber, G. (2024). Studying online with special needs—A student perspective. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs.

https://doi-org.ezp.sub.su.se/10.1111/1471-3802.12670