Over the last 50 years, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) has conducted more than 23 large-scale comparative studies of student achievement. The work associated with teacher preparation as well as experience gained in many of IEA's studies, such as TIMSS, led to a request from members of the…

School districts have attempted to integrate their efforts at school improvement with concepts and techniques of organization development. Some of them have approached the problem of continuous change with the help of an internal cadre of peers who offer organization development services to their school districts. The following school districts…

The aim of the Lofoten Project has been to build up an education relevant to the local community, and, as such, an education that is meant to give the pupils conceptual tools for analyzing their own material, social and cultural situation. Arguments for developing such an education are outlined focusing on local knowledge, researcher role, and the…

In Norway changes in legislation in recent years have loosened the firm hold of Christian philosophy in the schools and given room for alternative secular philosophy. This article presents background information and an outline of the basic plan for life philosophy as a school subject. (Author/SJL)

The author discusses efforts being made in Norway to decentralize policy decision making, allowing greater regional participation in educational policymaking. As an outcome of this process, the Norwegian Regional College System aims at achieving equal access to education, diffusing educational resources, and contributing to the cultural and…

In the late 1980s, Norwegian higher education has been characterized by increasing political interest, focus on universities and long-term research-oriented education, a growing student population, and a market orientation. Growing unemployment is also a factor. Despite opposition to Norway's joining the European Economic Community, integration at…

In this paper, multicultural primary school classes in Norway and the Netherlands are compared in terms of language teaching and learning. Drawing on observations, interviews, and school and policy documents, four dimensions of comparison are discussed. First, we deal with the different ways in which separate language classes for language minority…

From the start of the 2001-2002 academic year, people who had not completed secondary school were able to enter higher education based on documented non-formal learning, realkompetanse. Based on interviews with key personnel at selected universities and university colleges, and on quantitative data from the applicant register, this article…

The volume is one of a series of six listing language-related legislation around the world. It contains the texts, in French, of laws of Algeria, Austria, China, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Malta, Morocco, Norway, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Tunisia, Turkey, and the former Soviet Union. The laws concern official languages,…

This book contains papers discussing inter-sectoral educational planning in countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Intersectoral educational planning is interpreted as educational policy formation by any country which takes into consideration influences generated by that country's social and…

Highlights characteristics of arts education in Norway, especially with regard to music education. Discusses arts education policy issues such as School Reform 97, the aesthetic dimension, and the idea of the core curriculum. Observes how these different policy issues affected arts education and music/dance education in particular. (CMK)

Although its main focus is on economic collaboration, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has played a very influential role in the exchange of educational ideas and experience on an international level. It also is true that while OECD involves the nations of the European Community, Norway and Sweden have had a…

A discussion of recent changes in Norwegian graduate study and the role and attitudes of students within the system finds problems similar to other countries' in: program length and student financing, industry-academic salary differences, estimating demand for graduate degrees, the objectives of the training, and increasing women's participation.…

This article considers the problem of vocationalism in Norwegian higher education at the institutional and individual level and uses case studies of curriculum changes at the University of Oslo to examine the university's relationship to the labor market, effects of externally funded research, and academization of the labor market. (DB)

Examined the key constructs of Norway's centrally-based curriculum reform plan, Laerplan 97 (L97), interviewed those responsible for designing the subject related curricula, and administered teacher questionnaires (n=54). Findings show how the journey from policy making to effective classroom practice would benefit from a continuing interface with…