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The Nordic Education Model pp 211–230Cite as

Dropout in a School for All: Individual or Systemic Solutions?

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Part of the book series: Policy Implications of Research in Education ((PIRE,volume 1))

Abstract

The chapter summarizes some important knowledge gained through a decade of work on preventing dropout in Norwegian school. The reforms during the 1990s established an upper secondary school for all in Norway, by guaranteeing a place for all pupils. As a result close to 100 % of all pupils progress to upper secondary school. During the same period, local and central authorities realized that this success was only partial. The dropout rate was high, in some study programs as high as 30 %. During the same period, Norwegian local government went through a period characterized by new public management and reduction of local administration. International as well as Norwegian studies of various efforts to reduce dropout show that this is a complex problem. Heterogeneous tools are needed, and it is necessary to establish this work at lower levels in primary and lower secondary schools as well. Local actors need to develop policies aimed at both individual students and at the school system. Due to the reduction in local government, school owners often lack the ability to play their needed role in this important work.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    SINTEF Technology and Society is a multidisciplinary research institute that operates in the fields of science and technology and the social sciences. The institute is based in Trondheim, Norway.

  2. 2.

    By 1990, this percentage was reduced to 2.6 %. All based on figures from Statistics Norway: Historisk statistikk 1994 and Ramsøy and Vaa (1975).

  3. 3.

    http://www.ssb.no/utdanning_tema/. Downloaded 24.05.12.

  4. 4.

    http://www.ssb.no/utniv/. Downloaded 24.05.12.

  5. 5.

    http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/KD/Kampanjer/NyGiv/Statistikkprosjektet/barometer2012_1.pdf Gjennomføringsbarometeret [The completion barometer] is a biannual statistical overview of the development regarding school completion in Norway, published since 2011, as a part of the NY Giv – New Possibilities strategy, led by the Ministry of Education and Research.

  6. 6.

    In the USA, economists have estimated the lifetime economic losses from dropouts in a single high school graduating class at $335 billion (Rumberger 2011, p. 255).

  7. 7.

    The certificate awarded on successful completion of a vocational training course and entitling the holder to practice the trade concerned.

  8. 8.

    http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/kd/campaign/ny-giv---new-possibilities.html?id=632025

  9. 9.

    The public agency in charge of following up young people (between 16 and 21 years) who are neither in school nor at work and helping them to get back into school or in work.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program for Teacher Education, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway

    Trond Buland

  2. IRIS Social Science, International Research Institute of Stavanger (IRIS), Stavanger, Norway

    Ida Holth Mathiesen

Authors
  1. Trond Buland
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  2. Ida Holth Mathiesen
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Correspondence to Trond Buland .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Ulf Blossing

  2. Department of Education, Norwegian University of Science and Tech, Trondheim, Norway

    Gunn Imsen

  3. Danish School of Education, University of Aarhus, Copenhagen NV, Denmark

    Lejf Moos

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Buland, T., Mathiesen, I.H. (2014). Dropout in a School for All: Individual or Systemic Solutions?. In: Blossing, U., Imsen, G., Moos, L. (eds) The Nordic Education Model. Policy Implications of Research in Education, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7125-3_12

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