{"id":158,"date":"2016-08-10T16:32:09","date_gmt":"2016-08-10T16:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/?page_id=158"},"modified":"2016-08-26T19:34:48","modified_gmt":"2016-08-26T19:34:48","slug":"norway","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/countries\/norway\/","title":{"rendered":"Norway"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"carouselwrap\"><div id=\"menu-norway\" class=\"carouselmenu\"><a href=\"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/countries\/norway\/\" class=\"menu-link main-menu-link menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom\"><span>Introduction<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/countries\/norway\/timss-target-grades-and-the-norwegian-curriculum-in-basic-and-secondary-schools\/\" class=\"menu-link main-menu-link menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page\"><span>TIMSS Target Grades and the Norwegian Curriculum in Basic and Secondary Schools<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/countries\/norway\/the-mathematics-curriculum-in-primary-and-lower-secondary-grades\/\" class=\"menu-link main-menu-link menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom\"><span>The Mathematics Curriculum in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/countries\/norway\/the-science-curriculum-in-primary-and-lower-secondary-grades\/\" class=\"menu-link main-menu-link menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom\"><span>The Science Curriculum in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/countries\/norway\/teachers-teacher-education-and-professional-development\/\" class=\"menu-link main-menu-link menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom\"><span>Teachers, Teacher Education, and Professional Development<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/countries\/norway\/instruction-for-mathematics-and-science-in-primary-and-lower-secondary-grades\/\" class=\"menu-link main-menu-link menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom\"><span>Instruction for Mathematics and Science in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/countries\/norway\/monitoring-student-progress-in-mathematics-and-science\/\" class=\"menu-link main-menu-link menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom\"><span>Monitoring Student Progress in Mathematics and Science<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/countries\/norway\/special-initiatives-in-mathematics-and-science-education\/\" class=\"menu-link main-menu-link menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom\"><span>Special Initiatives in Mathematics and Science Education<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/countries\/norway\/use-and-impact-of-timss\/\" class=\"menu-link main-menu-link menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom\"><span>Use and Impact of TIMSS<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/countries\/norway\/references\/\" class=\"menu-link main-menu-link menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom\"><span>References<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/div><\/div>\t<style>\n\t\t.carouselwrap{\n\t\t\tbackground: #e5eaef;\n\t\t}\t\t\n\t\t.owl-item a{\n\t\t\tbackground: #ffffff;\n\t\t\tborder: 4px #00b2cc solid;\n\t\t\tcolor: #000000;\n\t\t}\t\t\n\t\t.owl-item a:hover,\n\t\t.owl-item a:focus,\n\t\t.owl-item a.current-menu-item{\n\t\t\tbackground: #00667f;\n\t\t\tborder: 4px #00b2cc solid;\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tcolor: #ffffff;\n\t\t}\n\t<\/style>\n\t\n<div class=\"names\">Torgeir Onstad<br \/>\nHege Kaarstein<br \/>\n<em>Department of Teacher Education and School Research, University of Oslo<\/em><\/div>\n<h2>Overview of Education System<\/h2>\n<p>Norway has a centralized curriculum comprising all subjects for Grades\u00a01 to 13. Parliament approves the curriculum through a process initiated by the Ministry of Education and Research, and involving expert groups. Within the frameworks set by the curriculum, local schools and teachers have considerable freedom to make their own decisions regarding organization and instructional\u00a0methods.<\/p>\n<p>Kindergarten or preprimary school is neither compulsory nor free in Norway, though every child has a right to attend. Following preprimary school, every child has the legal right to 13 years of education, of which the first 10 grades (Grades\u00a01 to 10) are compulsory and free. The next three years of education (Grades\u00a011 to 13) are not compulsory but are still free. Children enter first grade in August of the year when they reach age 6. Most students are enrolled in public school; private schools play a minor role in Norwegian education.<sup>1<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>School in Norway is divided into three main stages: Grades\u00a01 to 7, Grades\u00a08 to 10, and Grades 11 to 13. Together, the first two stages (Grades 1 to 10) constitute compulsory education, referred to as basic school. In basic school, there are few alternative programs and no streaming; almost all students are taught together in inclusive classrooms. This system is based on a broad political agreement to not create unnecessary differences between children.<\/p>\n<p>The final three grades, Grades 11 to 13, constitute (upper) secondary school. Although education at this level is not compulsory, it is attended (or attempted) by the vast majority of the youth cohort in Norway. While certain basic subjects are common to all students, students choose from among a variety of general study programs that prepare them for tertiary studies and vocational programs.<\/p>\n<p>In 2006, the National Curriculum for Knowledge Promotion was introduced. This curriculum retains the basic educational vision of previous curricula while providing a comprehensive curriculum for the entire school system for the first time. Fully implemented by 2008, the curriculum includes goals defined as competencies to be attained, and introduces five basic areas of skill (literacies), which permeate the curriculum across all subjects.<sup>2-5<\/sup><\/p>\n<p>Mathematics is a prominent subject in the Norwegian school curriculum, together with Norwegian and English; it is one of the core subjects covered on national examinations in the 10<sup class=\"nonSup\">th<\/sup> grade. Much less instructional time is allocated for science during compulsory education, and there is no national examination for science in the 10<sup class=\"nonSup\">th<\/sup> grade. However, the 2006 curriculum reform increased the amount of time allocated for both mathematics and science in the lower grades.<\/p>\n<h3>Languages of Instruction<\/h3>\n<p>Norwegian is the main language spoken in Norway, and the primary language of instruction at all levels of education. The S\u00e1mi population speaks and writes one or possibly two of the three S\u00e1mi languages, and in certain schools, S\u00e1mi is the language of instruction. Immigrant students may study in their mother tongue in addition to Norwegian. For more about language in the Norwegian school system, see the <em>PIRLS 2011 Encyclopedia<\/em>.<sup>6<\/sup><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Torgeir Onstad Hege Kaarstein Department of Teacher Education and School Research, University of Oslo Overview of Education System Norway has a centralized curriculum comprising all subjects for Grades\u00a01 to 13. Parliament approves the curriculum through a process initiated by the &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/countries\/norway\/\">Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":129,"menu_order":47,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-158","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4731,"href":"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/158\/revisions\/4731"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/timss2015.org\/encyclopedia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}