The evaluation of Reform 97: key findings
Peder Haug
Research leader
Programme for the evaluation of Reform 97, The Norwegian Research Council and
The University College of Volda.
Presented at the Concluding Session of the Programme for the Evaluation of Reform 97.
Folkets hus, Oslo 26 – 27 May 2003
Introduction
The assignment of evaluating Reform 97i, as it was formulated by the Ministry of Education
in 1998, has been twofold. The first and overriding task has been to investigate the general
quality of education in the compulsory primary and secondary school, with reference to the
formulations in the White Paper from the Norwegian national assembly Storting (St.prp. no.1
1997-98):

All children and young people shall be entitled to compulsory primary and secondary
education of high quality. The teaching shall provide knowledge, skills and attitudes that
form a basis for further education, work and participation in society.

The pupils shall, regardless of sex, their parents’ financial situation and where they live,
receive an equal education that is suited to their abilities, qualifications and cultural and
linguistic background.

The pupils shall grow up in a safe and secure learning environment, and there is to be
close co-operation between home and school.
The second part of the assignment has been to answer questions concerning the development
of the compulsory primary and secondary school on the basis of the measures that were
implemented in connection with Reform 97:
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
to identify changes and development that provide grounds for further planning, adjustment
and follow-up of the compulsory education sector

to determine whether the chosen solutions are appropriate for realising the objectives that
were drawn up

to point out the strengths, weaknesses and unintended positive and negative effects

to put forward proposals for change and concrete measures related to these
This twin assignment indicates that the evaluation of Reform 97 is meant both to offer a
general insight into compulsory education the way it is, and to provide knowledge about what
effect Reform 97 may have had on the development of the compulsory primary and secondary
school. The research programme is, therefore, a combination of research on the compulsory
school, and at the same time an assessment of it. Many of the projects cover both these
aspects, but not all of them do.
A Programme Committee in the Research Council of Norway has had the overall
responsibility for the evaluation of Reform 97. This committee drew up its own research
programme, which formed the basis for advertising individual assignments.ii Roughly 100
applications were received. Of these, 26 received grants. The evaluation has cost 45 million
Norwegian kroner, and approximately 75 researchers at a total of 20 institutions have been
involved in the project. The researchers and institutions that have taken part have been among
the leaders in their respective fields, a consequence both of the links to the Research Council
and the competition for financial support.
The fact that the Research Council was given the task of evaluating Reform 97 underlines
certain professional research realities. It was not simply a practical choice. It was meant to
guarantee that the evaluation was free and independent of concrete political interests from the
moment the assignment had been defined. It also means that the researchers were to have the
scope to influence and determine the research topics and approaches within the framework of
the assignment. With a majority of researchers on the Programme Committee, and with its
own research leader, this gave the research and the researchers great influence over and a
greater responsibility for the evaluation.
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The programme has provided the opportunity for meetings between different research cultures
and research traditions, which has resulted in quite a large variation in approaches, analyses
and results. Almost all the projects have in various ways studied the classroom and what
happens there. This has been done by interviewing pupils, parents and teachers, by studying
the learning results and by direct observation. Some projects have been most concerned with
limited in-depth studies, others have concentrated on broad representative studies, while
others still have combined these two, both in breadth and depth.
This paper focuses on the overall and more general results and assessments that the evaluation
has produced, based on the researchers’ own syntheses.iii There they have explained the basis
of their project and the situation in the field that they have investigated. They have analysed
how this situation can be explained and they have assessed it in relation to chosen criteria.
Many have also formulated proposals for future measures.
Quality in compulsory education
The first part of the assignment concerns the quality of the work in school as a whole. There is
little sense in talking about the quality of the activity in the compulsory school in the singular.
The reality of the situation is quite the contrary, there are many qualities and many areas. In
some areas the evaluation draws a fairly positive conclusion, in some fields a great deal of
variety is revealed, and in some areas the quality is downright poor.
The school is given honourable mention
The school in general receives honourable mention from pupils, parents and teachers alike.
They give their approval to the general values on which this education is based and which it
aims to promote. These include among others ideals such as inclusion and specially adapted
teaching. As a whole these groups also agree that the school by and large offers high quality,
and in particular when it comes to the pupils’ well-being, the social environment and the
relations between pupils and teachers. Academically, on the other hand, there is great
variation, both in opinions, the quality of the teaching and the learning results. In some
subjects, the evaluation confirms the results of other quality studies that have been conducted.
There the level is average, but far from poor. One subject distinguishes itself as being far
above average in this evaluation, and that subject is written Norwegian. The researchers who
have studied the written examination papers in Norwegian from the lower secondary school
conclude that most of the pupils know a great deal in this field, and more than would seem
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apparent from the public debate about Norwegian in recent years. Their findings also state
that the trend is positive.
Great differences
There are great differences in what is expected of school, in the way school is experienced
and in the results achieved in school in many fields. These differences exist both between
counties, municipalities, schools, classes, teachers, pupils and parents. School is not the same
everywhere, as some of my examples will indicate. The reasons for this variation are not
always clear. Is it a consequence of deliberate local adaptation, or is it random and
unintentional? Is the variation fundamental and of great consequence, or is it unimportant and
superficial? For reasons to which I shall return, there is much which would seem to indicate
that the differences that have been revealed are random. They are not intentional, yet they
may have quite fundamental consequences.
There are variations, but the municipalities in their role as owners have to a small degree
involved themselves in school as an enterprise, in spite of the fact that the school has become
more and more the responsibility of the municipalities. The municipalities can raise the
quality of education, and this is not simply a question of financial initiatives. The scope for
municipal action in relation to the school is broad, but it is exploited in very different ways.
The lack of academic competence can be a problem in municipalities that have introduced a
flat structure. A strong parental involvement in school would appear to have a positive effect
in many fields. The quality of the parent-school relationship varies a great deal, so here there
is a considerable potential for creating a better school.
The evaluation has registered vast differences between schools when it comes to e.g. school
environment, aesthetic qualities of the schools, academic results in several subjects, the
organisation of the school day and the use of new teaching methods. The projects that
describe the work in the classrooms reveal a corresponding variation in many areas, but also
provide different answers. One project emphasises the fact that what marks the classroom is
quiet and orderliness, with set routines, systematic work and clear rules for how to behave.
Another project concludes that there is a broad and varied level of activity at the school, but
with no clear purpose, a lack of system, vague academic requirements and weak strategies for
learning. They register a great deal of superficial activity, and many unexploited opportunities
for more detailed studies, reflection and concentration. The systematic teaching of basic skills
comprises a relatively small part of the total activity. These differences can be explained both
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in terms of method and with reference to the use of criteria. However, the most obvious
conclusion would seem to be that the studies reveal different aspects of the activities in
school, and which in fact can take place side by side.
Systematic unfortunate differences
For certain groups of pupils, the evaluation indicates that the qualities are not satisfactory.
The compulsory school does not, as is its declared intention, provide an equal education for
all pupils, regardless of sex, parents’ financial situation, where they live, abilities,
qualifications and cultural and linguistic background. Several categories of pupils are faced
with a school which does not pay sufficient attention to their point of departure and
background. What is most obvious is that boys and girls are faced with different
circumstances, and in such a way that the boys systematically do not do as well as the girls in
almost every respect. Many pupils with another mother tongue than Norwegian do not make
the grade in school, and very probably do not amass sufficient knowledge and skills to enable
them to function in further education and in society at large. Pupils from families with a poor
educational background systematically achieve less than pupils with parents who have a good
education. The benefits of specially adapted teaching programmes have been questioned.
Local culture and local values enjoy less room in school than the national culture of the
country. Some parents are reluctant to get in touch with the school to express their opinions
and wishes. They are afraid that their children will suffer. Specially adapted teaching
programmes have not been implemented to the extent that they ought to have been. The pupils
report that there is far less specially adapted teaching than the teachers claim that they offer,
and independent observations would appear to support the pupils rather than the teachers. It is
probably the case that much of what is mentioned above has negative consequences mostly
for pupils who for a variety of reasons need more time and help to benefit from school, or
who need other forms of teaching and measures than the majority of the pupils do.
Assessment
In relation to the objectives that concern the quality of the activity in school, parts of the
results that have been presented are unacceptable. The most serious point is that certain
groups of pupils systematically achieve less. Much of the explanation for this rather complex
situation can without doubt be completely or in part traced back to the school and the way it is
organised. The most central issue is what is it with the school that causes some groups to not
achieve the results that they ought to achieve. The school would appear to be best suited to
those who are normal and average, and for those who belong to those groups that have
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traditionally done well in this type of school. The interpretation is that we have a school that
is little sensitive to variation, heterogeneity, multiplicity, deviation from the norm,
colourfulness, what is different and unknown. The school would appear to be strongest and
best for those who fit into the pattern that the school has established over the years. The
school has created a norm for what is required in order to benefit from being there. Those who
cannot accept the school as it is, meet difficulties. Many of them do not make the grade
academically. By improving the circumstances of those pupils who at present seem to be least
included in the school’s activities, one will at the same time improve the overall result
achieved by the school.
The situation can be seen in the context of a clear prioritising in educational policy that has
been implemented throughout much of the previous century. It emphasises a strong central
administration, a rather strict standardisation and harmonisation of the schools, and with great
emphasis on the collective when it comes to methods and content. The policy has not been
particularly concerned with inspecting, following up and controlling the methods the school
has used and the results that have been achieved, and the circumstances have therefore not
been conducive to insight and change.
At one point in time this policy was an important tool with which to build the nation and give
as many as possible an education in a country facing enormous challenges, with small
resources and very little difference between people. At the time, that was the way to create
social justice and welfare. Today society has changed, the formulations in the national
curriculum focus heavily on individual adaptation and follow-up. Social justice today means
allowing scope for variation and adapting school to suit each individual. One of the most
serious aspects of these findings is that many of them have been well known for a long time.
There is therefore every reason to ask why such findings have not resulted in measures to
change the situation. This is probably the most serious criticism that can be raised against this
educational policy.
Reform 97
The political processes that lead up to Reform 97 took quite a long time. It all started with
what might well be compared to ovations when the general chapter of the national curriculum
was debated in the Norwegian national assembly Storting. The plan received a lot of praise
from a lot of people, also from unexpected political quarters. This did not last long. The closer
the time came for implementing the plan, the greater the criticism and resentment that was
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voiced. This has now changed. The vast majority of teachers and parents now support the
reform.
The many structural aspects of the reform have by and large been implemented, and anything
else would have been surprising. This applies e.g. to the new national curriculum for the
Norwegian and Sami (Lapp) school, the establishment of the Sami (Lapp) school itself, school
for 6-year-olds, a 10-year compulsory education, after-school child care, the teaching of
English in the first grade, new subjects like “Christianity and other religious and moral
education”, new subject titles like art and handicrafts, nature and environmental studies etc.
One exception is the plans that concern bilingual pupils. They were delayed.
The national curriculum
The teachers by and large give the national curriculum a positive assessment. It is read,
widely used and is an important tool in their planning. They want a plan with relatively
detailed content, and which indicates the academic progression in the various subjects. L97
maintains the pressure from earlier plans to move away from what the history of ideas refers
to as classroom-oriented teaching and to move in the direction of activity-oriented teaching
and pedagogical progressivism. The teachers support this policy.
At the same time the teachers criticise the curriculum rather vehemently, they register
contradictions, unclear notions and vague signals. The most central criticism concerns the
high level of ambition and the huge range of content that the subjects have been given. This
level of ambition would seem to be far in excess of what one can realistically expect to
achieve in a school for everyone. These are demands that can impair the power of the staff in
school, and which have reduced the free scope for local action that the curriculum has
introduced. When the plan becomes too comprehensive, something has to be omitted. One
consequence is then that the teachers must themselves decide, and thus the curriculum loses
the steering function it was intended to have. The alternative is to work through the material at
a pretty high speed, which many pupils will not benefit from. It is therefore tempting to point
to L97 as a national curriculum for those pupils who are clever, and who are comfortable with
an encyclopaedic or lexical ideal for education and learning. Several of the researchers also
make the point that this plan with so much and such a high degree of centralised “top-down”
steering, makes it difficult to implement specially adapted teaching.
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Stability and change
The material from the evaluation reveals that the work in school has two special
characteristics. One of them is stability, the other is change. Many of the projects come to the
conclusion that a great deal is still the way it always has been in school. In several fields
where L97 has been changed in relation to earlier curricula, the researchers cannot see that the
school has altered its practice to any significant extent. The main pattern of work in school is
still activity-oriented in the practical and aesthetic subjects and classroom-oriented in the
theoretical subjects. School means for the most part teacher-organised classroom teaching,
with instruction and question-answer sequences. The pupils are much of the time passive
recipients, they can give short answers to the teacher’s questions and they work individually
with exercises. The focus on the textbook is strong. All in all, the conclusion is that activityoriented teaching is more deeply rooted ideologically and rhetorically than in practice. There
is a difference between what one practises and what one preaches.
Parallel with the stability in the organisation and the methods employed, the evaluation also
registered changes. Many of the projects in the evaluation point to features in the development
that as such are promising and positive trends, seen in relation to the activity-orientation in the
national curriculum, but the forward movement is weak. The changes concern exactly the
same areas where we find the stable patterns. The trend goes from splitting up the teaching
into subjects towards a greater academic whole and integration, from individual to joint
responsibility in work teams, from one-sided collectively oriented blackboard teaching of
entire classes to varied forms of work in different physical environments and with more
individual guidance. The changes go from a timetable with 45-minute blocks drawn up for a
year at a time to great variation in the way things are organised and in how time is spent. The
role of the teacher in relation to the pupils is as fundamental as earlier, but the weighting
between the various elements is different. It has become more important to organise, advise
and inspire rather than simply to pass on knowledge and lead question – answer sequences.
The pupils are allowed more room for personal and collective action. Individual work with
tasks and exercises takes up more time. In some schools the researchers register a closer and
more professional sense of community than earlier, and which they believe to be a vital prerequisite in order to improve the quality of the work that is being done.
Within this variation the researchers find that many of the new elements in subjects and
methods that distinguish L97 from earlier national curricula appear to be more weakly put
into practice than the established routines. This applies in the first place to new fields in the
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subjects such as in art and handicrafts and “Christianity and other religious and moral
education”, it applies to new principle understanding of a subject, as e.g. in mathematics and
art and handicrafts. It also applies in the case of certain subjects that have become more
theoretical, such as physical education and art and handicrafts. The practical and aesthetic
subjects enjoy a tradition of pupil-activity and wish to keep that up. Therefore there is
opposition against theorising these subjects. The more theoretical subjects wish likewise to
continue to work according to their own traditions. Some teachers find difficulty in putting
activity teaching into practice. Many of the elements of that approach do not receive the same
emphasis. This applies among other things to team-organised work, project work, specially
adapted teaching, responsibility for one’s own learning, the inclusive school, differentiation,
the use of drama and the use of playing, to mention but a few. The role of the teacher as a
consequence of this activity-oriented teaching approach has also taken a direction that was not
intended. Some teachers are withdrawn and do not interfere much. They have left the arena to
the pupils, and to their own initiatives. There are examples that show that the teachers are
reluctant to make clear academic demands on the pupils and that they give positive feedback,
even when there are no grounds for so doing.
There is greatest correspondence between the work that is done in the primary school and the
national curriculum when it comes to the activity-oriented methods of working. This
correspondence is least at the lower secondary level. The reform teaching has thus made the
biggest impact at the primary level. There the actors are also most satisfied with the
administration of the school. There the researchers find the greatest degree of orientation
towards development and change, there the sense of community between colleagues is
strongest and the way the time is spent shows greatest variation. There they find a varied use
of the space available, a variety of work methods, there the pupils are happiest at school etc.
At the lower secondary level, less has happened when it comes to the activity teaching. There
the teaching is more classroom-oriented, with a timetable divided into subjects and 45-minute
periods. Several researchers conclude that it is now the turn of the lower secondary school
when it comes to making changes.
All in all, and if it is appropriate to use expressions like winners and losers in Reform 97, a
winner will be the classroom-oriented school tradition as it has been established over a long
period of time, and in particular at the lower secondary level. The measures that are
specifically reform-oriented are in a way the losers in the reform, even though there has been
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some development there too. The primary school level has come much further than the others,
and is thus the winner as regards the extent to which Reform 97 has been implemented.
Analysis
The main result that we observe from this evaluation corresponds in principle with the
findings in a comprehensive study of work in the American classroom in the period 1880 –
1990.iv Many schools are still working in much the same way as they always have done, but
with minor adjustments and adaptations. Some schools have come a long way in
accomplishing the ambitions that have been implicit in the reform. A group of schools have
done a little of both, and combine tradition and change, classroom-oriented teaching and
activity-oriented teaching.
The most difficult task for those who evaluate is as a rule to explain the empirical findings.
Here the intention is to summarise the researchers’ explanations of this overall result in just a
few main points. The important thing is not simply each individual factor, but the fact that
they combine, reinforce each other or counteract each other and create the school of today.
Established continuity
Ever since the time of the National Curriculum in 1939, one of the key aims has been to break
with a classroom-oriented teaching and replace it with various forms of pedagogical
progressivism. This is also the case with Reform 97. The empiri and the interpretations that
have been presented show that the school has progressed further along that road than ever
before. At the same time there is still a long way to go before we can say that the compulsory
school has reached that goal. Whether Reform 97 has made any difference is difficult to say.
The conclusions point mainly in the direction of indicating that what happens is the result of a
trend over a long period of time. Continuity and lengthy perspectives in educational policy
partly explain the results, more than short-term efforts, among others through Reform 97. This
does not necessarily mean that this reform has not had any effect either, but that it depends to
a great extent on how much it is allowed to take effect. The established tradition of work in
school has an enormous power of survival and of dominating what is happening there. This
would appear to be the case almost regardless of what type of reform intentions we are talking
about. This must be understood with reference to the fact that all of the school’s systems,
arenas, modes of expression and ways of thinking have been constructed on the basis of this
tradition and they are the bearers of the same tradition. It must be seen in relation to the short
time Reform 97 has been developing. For that reform to make such a great impact
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immediately, in relation to a pedagogical tradition that stretches back over 2-300 years, seems
improbable. It is not unusual to meet the view that it will take 10 – 15 years from the
introduction of a national curriculum until it has been fully implemented. Therefore it is far
too early to draw any conclusion as to the extent to which the reform has been successful or
not.
The weight and strength of tradition can also be explained by the opposition to change, which
is always an issue in connection with any reform. Even though the ideology in the national
curriculum enjoys the support of a great many people, disagreement has been voiced
regarding the direction the work in school is taking. In my interpretation of at least parts of
this opposition, it concerns a desire to impart nuances to the idea of what good teaching is, for
example: should we work with all subjects in the same way, or is it the case that certain
subjects demand different ways of working than others? Should the ideals that can be the
basis of activities in the primary school also be the ideals for the lower secondary school, or
should the lower secondary be developed on a fundament of its own? Do good and bad
methods exist, or is it the case that all methods work well in a given context, and less well in
another, that they work well for some pupils and less well for other pupils?
The policy
One explanation is related to the question of to what extent it is possible politically to direct
the activity in school, and how strong this control ought to be. We know from other research
that policy is not possible to carry out in school in a purely technical and instrumental way.
Policy can be easy to approve, but difficult to practise and implement. For every reform and
for every new national curriculum, the ambitions have increased and become greater. L97 is
characterised by very high academic and pedagogical ambitions, and the degree of detailed
control is felt to be fairly strong.
Linked to the ambitions, there are also intentions that are diffuse, unclear and contradictory,
which are often a consequence of the political and academic landscape that existed when the
reform was drawn up. Many of the signals on the reform are vaguely expressed in the
documents in question, interpreted in different ways and practised differently. This can have
meant that each actor has developed his own versions of the reform. It may be the case that
when the distance between political demands and what is felt it is practically possible to
implement, becomes too great, it is the policies that will lose. Then it will be other and
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perhaps more coincidental circumstances that determine what happens in school. In a number
of areas it would appear that this limit has been reached and even exceeded in Reform 97.
The evaluation does not present any unison or ritual demands for more resources. It chooses
rather to present well-founded arguments for, and examples of, how difficult it is to
accomplish central and concrete intentions in subjects and activities when the resources are
inadequate. The question is raised as to whether the methods and the content that the national
curriculum recommends can really be implemented within the total framework of resources at
the school’s disposal. Not least are buildings and rooms often unsuitable for activity-oriented
teaching.
The implementation
There are extremely large variations between municipalities and schools when it comes to the
extent to which they have accepted and shown the responsibility that the Norwegian national
assembly Stortinget placed upon them with regard to implementing Reform 97. There would
seem to be many indications that the introduction of Reform 97 in many places, and to far too
great an extent, has been converted into personal, to say nothing of private, projects. A
number of school administrators, both in the municipalities and in the schools, have not taken
any responsibility for establishing and developing the reform. Those schools that have come
furthest, both in quality and in the implementation, appear to have been engaged in a fairly
comprehensive and long-term development programme, in which the whole school has been
involved. There, both the reform and the national curriculum have been made a formal
institutional responsibility, and not a private matter for each individual teacher or groups of
teachers.
To too little extent has it been possible to fully exploit those tools that exist in order to build
the reform. Very few of the new textbooks that were published in connection with Reform 97
have a content that facilitates putting into effect the pedagogical changes that the reform
presupposed. These books provide e.g. little support in developing the activity-oriented
methods. Parent groups have only to a small degree been systematically involved when it
comes to quality control and in preparing the reform. The teachers have not been well enough
prepared. It is utterly incomprehensible that the staff in school does not have a clearer and
more unambiguous understanding of what the most fundamental ideas in the national
curriculum stand for both in theory and in practice, than would appear to be the case. This
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includes among others notions such as team-organised work, project work, specially adapted
teaching, responsibility for one’s own learning, the inclusive school and differentiation.
It is clear from the researchers’ analyses that the lack of competence can go some way to
explaining the great variation that has been registered between classes. Competence may have
several meanings in this context. Firstly, it concerns how personally suited to teaching each
individual teacher may be. This varies, but without a doubt there are those who should not
have become teachers. Secondly, there is the question of whether the teachers master the
knowledge, skills and the methods that are meant to be used. In many subjects at the upper
form level, there is a lack of teachers with adequate formal qualifications in a number of key
subjects. When it comes to methods, the situation, somewhat overstated, is that the knowledge
that exists in school to a large extent is related to the classroom-oriented teaching, while what
is needed in the field of activity-oriented teaching is not to be found to the same extent. There
are two challenges here. We have information from teachers who believe that they are not
personally suited to working with certain types of methods, but that they have a great deal of
ability in the areas that they master. What is to be done about this? The second is that many of
the changes involved presuppose a fundamental break with the most basic ideas about school,
education and learning. To create this basis will require long-term and continual development
of competence and in-service training, something which has not happened so far.
Thirdly, there is the question of whether the necessary competence really exists. The purely
academic aspect in relation to the school subjects is not the problem. The expertise about how
to run a pupil-active school for every category of pupil is, on the other hand, more difficult to
find. This expertise cannot simply be taught, it has to be developed. This has first and
foremost be done through local in-service training and development, where the eventual result
has seldom gone further than to those who have worked directly with it. It has nothing to do
with Reform 97, but over several years, hundreds of millions of kroner have been spent on
local development work, and on the background of the results presented here, it is not
unreasonable to question what return there has been on this investment. Perhaps it is time to
make this in-service training more systematic, and challenge teachers and researchers in and
around the school to develop it.
The future
The evaluation of Reform 97 has probably been the greatest single investment in research on
compulsory education so far in Norway. The evaluation has provided a number of answers
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about the state of affairs in the compulsory primary and secondary school, and what effect the
reform may have had on the activity that takes place and on the results that are achieved there.
The findings are hardly unexpected. The evaluation presents a picture similar to the one other
research has drawn of the school, with certain modifications and nuances. It is my opinion
that this evaluation will be of political interest for a short time only. By the time the
Norwegian national assembly Stortinget has discussed the White Paper that will be the sequel
to these findings, and the recommendations of the Quality Commission, the results will to all
intents and purposes have become irrelevant as a basis for policy-making. The knowledge that
this research programme has contributed will, on the other hand, be useful both for future
research and practice for a long time ahead, in the attempt to meet the challenges that lie in
developing the inner life of the school. It is here that the greatest effort is needed most. In the
broader perspective, it is in fact also here that the greatest benefit of this research will be felt,
and that gain still lies ahead of us.
i
Reform 97 for primary and lower secondary schools is one of many national government reforms addressing
child development and education which were implemented in the 1990s. The intention of the Storting (the
Norwegian parliament) has been to pursue further the main lines of Norway’s educational policy, emphasising a
comprehensive school system while taking account of new challenges facing schools now and in future.
Report No. 40 (1992-93) to the Storting states that the government defines Reform 97 through four subreforms:
 A school reform that introduced 10 years of primary and lower secondary school, beginning at the age
of six and based on new Norwegian (L97) and Sami (L97Sami) curricula;
 A children’s reform that makes the school responsible for helping to stimulate children through play,
learning and time spent with adults in different roles;
 A family reform that emphasises the expansion of before- and after-school programmes for families
with young children in need of supervision outside of ordinary school hours;
 A cultural reform in which more local culture will be integrated into the school’s everyday routines.
The curricula for the 10-year primary and lower secondary education (1996) points out that the primary and
lower secondary school system is intended to be a mainstream effort, initially offering all pupils the chance to be
educated locally and to be part of a class and a student body. Pupils should encounter a common core of
educational material which will gradually be expanded as they progress. Locally, the core material will be
expanded and go more in-depth, and it should be adapted to each individual pupil. The training should offer a
progression which ensures a high degree of correlation and development and is commensurate with the aptitudes
of the children as they grow older. The curricula contain some new subject combinations (inter alia, Christianity
which includes religion and ethics, sign language as a first language, arts and crafts, natural and environmental
science and optional subjects). New syllabi have been designed for all subjects. A curriculum will also be
presented regarding native language instruction for linguistic minorities (Report No. 25 (1998-99) to the Storting
on Native Tongue Instruction, cf. Recommendation No. 110 (1998-99) to the Storting).
The 10-year primary and lower secondary school system has three main divisions: the primary, middle
and lower secondary levels. Syllabi are used from grade 1, but the curricula aim at ensuring that each main level
fits into the overall progression. At the primary level (grades 1 – 3), teaching is based on a combination of
traditions from nursery school and ordinary school to ensure a satisfactory transition from day-care to school.
Much of the teaching is designed to be organised by theme, drawing elements from a variety of subjects. At the
middle school level, the various subjects should have a more distinct role to play, and the pupils should gradually
assume more responsibility for working independently as well as for planning their own learning. The lower
secondary level should offer a greater degree of in-depth study. At the same time, emphasis should be attached to
working across disciplinary divisions, and to project work.
14
The primary and lower secondary school bears a special responsibility for developing a good learning
environment. One aspect of this is that the basic and lower secondary school should have links to the local
environment and community, making the school a dynamic cultural institution in the local community. This calls
for close co-operation with parents, based on equality and mutual respect, and gives parents broader
responsibilities and duties in relation to local planning as well as school evaluation. Primary and lower secondary
schools also share responsibility for the environment in which children are raised, and they should offer children
from six to nine years old supervised activity programmes before and after ordinary school hours if so desired by
the children and the parents.
Years have been spent preparing the reform. Launched in August 1997, it is scheduled to have a threeyear introductory phase. The Ministry has adopted a number of instruments to support implementation, including
legislation and regulations, financial transfers, human resources development, management development,
national evaluation and comprehensive information activities. In a few limited areas, for example, native tongue
training for linguistic minorities, the authorities are still in the process of clarifying the schemes that will apply.
ii
Norges forskningsråd. (1999). Evaluering av Reform 97. Programplan. Oslo: Oslo: Norges forskningsråd.
iii
Almendingen, S. F., Klepaker, T., & Tveita, J. (2003). Det bortkomne faget ... Naturfaget tilbake til norsk
grunnskole. Synteserapport for prosjektet: Natur og miljøfag etter Reform 97, en evaluering ut fra et
elevperspektiv. Nesna: Høgskolen i Nesna.
Alseth, B., Breiteig, T., & Brekke, G. (2003). Synteserapport. Endringer og utvikling ved R97 som bakgrunn for
videre planlegging og justering -matematikkfaget som kasus. Notodden og Oslo.
Bachmann, K., Sivesind, K., Afsar, A., & Hopmann, S. (2003). En komparativ evaluering av læreplanbaserte
virkemidler, dets utforming, konsistens og betydning for læreres praksis. Oslo og Trondheim: Pedagogisk
forskningsinstitutt, UiO og Pedagogisk institutt, NTNU.
Berggraf Jacobsen, E., Moser, T., By, I. Å., Fjeld, J., Gundersen, K. T., & Stokke, R. (2003). L97 og
kroppsøvingsfaget - Fra blå praktbok til grå hverdag? Synteserapport. Tønsberg: Høgskolen i Vestfold.
Berggraf Sæbø, A. (2003). Synteserapport evaluering av drama i L97. Stavanger: Høgskolen i Stavanger.
Blichfeldt, J. F. (2003). Mot en ny samarbeidskultur. Synteserapport fra delprosjek "Lære for livet". Oslo:
Arbeidsforskningsinstituttet.
Christophersen, J., Lotsberg, D. Ø., Knutsen, K., & Børhaug, K. (2003). Evaluering av samfunnsfag i Reform 97.
Synteserapport. Bergen: Høgskolen i Bergen - avdeling for lærerutdanning.
Cold, B. (2003). Skoleanlegget som lesebok. En studie av skoleanlegget som estetisk ramme for læring og
velvære. Synteserapport. Trondheim: Institutt for byggekunst, prosjektering og forvaltning. NTNU.
Evensen, L. S. (2003). KAL-prosjektets sammendragsrapport. Trondheim: Institutt for språk og
kommunikasjonsstudier, NTNU.
Finstad, N., & Kvåle, G. (2003). Prosjekt reform 97 og kommunene -synteserapport. Bodø: Nordlandsforskning.
Fylling, I. (2003). Synteserapport for prosjekt:"Organisering av spesialundervisning i kjølvannet av reform -97:
Nye arbeidsformer - nye løsninger?" Bodø: Nordlandsforskning.
Hagesæter, G. (2003). Erfaringer med KRL-faget og konsekvenser for fagplanen i L97. Bergen: Lærerakademiet.
Hirvonen, V. (2003). Synteserapport. Innføring av samisk språk og forståelse i den samiske skolen. Kautokeino:
Samisk Høgskole.
Homme, A. D. (2003). Synteserapport. Skolen som styringsarena? Betingelser for gjennomføring av Reform 97 i
en ny lokalstyringskontekst. Bergen: Rokkansenteret.
Imsen, G. (2003). Skolemiljø, læringsmiljø og elevbutbytte. Synteserapport fra prosjektet "Læringsmiløjets
betydning for elevenes utbytte av skolen". Trondheim: NTNU.
Johannessen, K. I. (2003). Et fag for enhver smak? En evaluering av KRL-faget-synteserapport. Oslo og Volda:
Diakonhjemmets forskningsavdeling og Høgskulen i Volda.
Kjosavik, S. (2003). Synteserapport prosjekt 228. Kunst og håndverk i L97. Notodden: Telemarksforskning
Notodden, Høgskolen i Telemark og Høgskolen i Oslo.
Klette, K., Grøver Aukrust, V., Hagtvet, B., & Hertzberg, F. (2003). Synteserapport "Klasserommets
praksisformer etter Reform 97". Oslo: Universitetet i Oslo.
Lied, S. (2003). Elever i møte med fortellinger fra ulike religioner og livssyn. Synteserapport. Hamar: Høgskolen
i Hedmark.
Lillemyr, O.F. (2003). Kunnskapsstatus Reform 97 med vekt på tidsrommet 1985-1999. Synteserapport.
Trondheim: Dronning Mauds Minne, Høgskole for førskolelærerutdanning.
Nordahl, T. (2003). Synteserapport. Foreldre i skolen. Oslo: NOVA.
Pettersen, J. P. (2003). Synteserapport fra prosjektet Heim og skole: samarbeidets forutsetninger, former og
kvalitet. Trondheim: Pedagogisk institutt, NTNU.
Skogen, K., Nes, K., & Strømstad, M. (2003). Reform 97 og inkluderingsidéen. Synteserapport. Oslo og Hamar:
Institutt for spesialpedagogikk Universitetet i Oslo og Høgskolen i Hedmark.
Solstad, K. J., & Rønning, W. (2003). Likeverdig skole i praksis - synteserapport. Bodø: Nordlandsforskning.
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Vonen, A. M. (2003). Synteserapport. På vei mot en ny grunnskoleopplæring for døve elever. Oslo: Skådalen
kompetansesenter.
Øzerk, K. (2003). Prosjektet språklige minoriteter i L97-skolen. Universitetet i Oslo: Pedagogisk
forskningsinstitutt.
iv
Cuban, L. (1993): How Teachers Taught. Constancy and Change in American Classrooms 1880 – 1990. Sec.
Ed. New York: Teachers College Press.
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