Development of quality management in education: A comparative case study in the Swedish multi-level governance system

New Public Management (NPM) reforms has affected the Swedish school system and its administration over the last 20 years. User choices and competition create new context to promote quality management which are not completely applicable on public services. This paper focus on the growing use of quality management in primary education and on processes at different levels, how processes can be supported either by professionals or/and ICT to improve educational quality. This paper investigates meanings of quality in education by analysing data from Swedish public schools and the municipal administration. Case studies in five municipalities have been conducted, varying in size and thereby also by numbers of schools and structures of quality management. Based on this multi-case study we discuss four implications. First, there is a need to clarify the roles and obligations of the different levels and actors in the education sectors. Second, there is a need to support and develop roles that can strengthen quality in public schools no matter of the size of the municipality administration. Thirdly, such support can be implemented by certain services as quality coordinators in a community of practice. Implementation of ICT to support quality is an another opportunity; people in virtual community of practice collaborate online, share experiences and support each other in legislative matters, human resources etc. Fourthly, there is need to elaborate on the meanings of quality management in public settings and also open up the meanings of quality in relation to education in particular and public services in general.