Chapter 1: The Research Council of Norway Evaluating Reform 97

The Norwegian Reform 97 in compulsory school came into force on July 1, 1997 as the last of several extensive reforms in Norwegian education during the 1990s. The reasons behind this reform movement in education are complex. The political change from the social democratic policy that had dominated since the 1950s toward neo liberalism and new conservatism is an important impetus for the reforms. Increasing market orientation and globalization can also be seen as driving forces, as has been the case in many other countries. There also was a strong interest in insuring more unity and continuity in the educational system as a whole to make it more accountable and survcyable. The rhetorical descriptions of the main elements in many of these reforms included educational quality, competence, excellence, efficacy, effectiveness and so on. The most important changes imposed by this particular Reform 97 are changing the start of school to age six (instead of seven), requiring 10 years of schooling (instead of nine), and implementing a new national curriculum.