Deborah Nusche Policy Analyst Education and Training Policy Division OECD

1. OECD Reviews of Evaluation and Assessment in Education: NORWAY Deborah Nusche PolicyAnalyst Education and Training PolicyDivision OECD Visit by the NorwegianParliament Research Section Paris– 23 September 2011 Image: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

2. OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes

4. Teacher appraisal;

5. School evaluation;

6. System evaluation;Comprehensive approach: Investigation of each component individually, as well as the coherence of the framework as a whole (including the links between the different components).

7. 12 countries:Australia, Belgium (Flemish Community), Chile, Czech Republic, Denmark, Luxembourg, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovak Republic and Sweden. 24 countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium (Flemish Community), Belgium (Fr.), Canada, Czech Rep., Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia and Sweden.,

8. OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes

9. The Country Review visit to Norway Preparatory work: data analysis, bringing existing OECD work on Norway together 8 day to Norway Meetings with the national authorities and all key stakeholder groups in Oslo Visits to 5 municipalities and 6 schools In each school: group meetings with the leadership team, teachers and students

10. OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes

11. Norway’s strong points Norway is one of the few countries that set out to build a whole coherent evaluation and assessment framework from scratch. In 2004, Norway launched the National Quality Assessment System (NKVS) to enhance student assessment, school evaluation and system evaluation in a connected way Initial tools: national tests, user surveys and web-based school portal Later complemented by guidance to support evaluation and assessment locally In less than a decade, Norway has come far in developing a range of tools to help stakeholders evaluate their performance and inform improvement strategies The review team was impressed by Norway’s focus on local ownership, school autonomy and trust in teachers’ professionalism Taken together, these tools provide Norway with a powerful toolkit to support a decentralised system of evaluation and assessment

12. Main conclusions Norway is working towards a comprehensive evaluation and assessment framework but it is still incomplete There is little understanding of NKVS as a coherent system The distinct purposes of the different elements are not clear Teacher appraisal is not integrated into the framework Recommendation: Complete the evaluation and assessment framework, enhance coherence between its components and increase clarity in communication about its purposes.

13. Main conclusions 2. In Norway’s highly decentralised education system, there is a need for clearer reference points and criteria for quality in education There is no shared understanding of what constitutes adequate / good / excellent performance Recommendation: Develop stronger guidance regarding expected levels of quality such as (1) guidance on expected learning outcomes and criteria for assessment; (2) a profile of what teachers should know and be able to do; (3) process quality indicators for school evaluation.

14. Main conclusions 3. Embedding an evaluation culture across the system requires further focus on building the capacity of school owners, principals and teachers Not all schools and municipalities have the expertise to design and maintain effective evaluation and assessment approaches Recommendation: Further strengthen evaluation and assessment competencies through professional development and regionally based school evaluation and improvement services.

15. 3 Key recommendations Complete the evaluation and assessment framework and make it coherent Clarify learning goals, reference points and criteria for quality in education Further strengthen evaluation and assessment capacities among teachers, school leaders and school owners.

16. Thank you! Deborah.Nusche@oecd.org www.oecd.org/edu/evaluationpolicy Image: dan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net