Balancing trust and accountability? The Assessment for Learning Programme in Norway

Report

With the increasing complexity of educational systems, countries face challenges in governing the implementation of educational reforms and programmes. The present country case study explores the development of implementation strategies used to enhance the programme “Assessment for Learning – 2010-2014” in Norwegian schools as a part of the OECD’s Governing Complex Education Systems (GCES).

Norway’s educational governance is highly decentralised, with 428 municipalities and 19 counties appointed as “school owners.” The municipalities and counties vary greatly in size, number of schools and competence at the municipal level. The Ministry of Education and Research formulates national education policy including acts, regulations and curricula. Within this framework, the school owners (counties, municipalities and private providers) are responsible for implementing education activities, organising and operating school services, allocating resources, ensuring quality improvement and development of their schools.

The case study is organized in four parts. Chapter 1 introduces the GCES framework and presents the background for the study while Chapter 2 describes the Norwegian school system within the context of cultural, historical, and socio-economic factors. Chapter 3 examines the Norwegian programme Vurdering for Læring (Assessment for Learning) that is the focus of this case study. Chapter 4 presents the main results including policy recommendations. Details about the methodology, participants and analytical tools used in the present study can be found in the Appendices.

Authors: Hopfenbeck, T; Tolo, A; Florenz, T; El Masri, Y

• Publisher: Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development
• Host title: Report for OECD
• Publication date: 2013-09-01
• Commissioning body: OECD