1. Equal Education in Practice!

2. 2 Kunnskapsdepartementet Aims for this introduction: Background information on immigrant children in Norway, integration and learning outcome Language support policies and curriculum development for immigrant children

3. 3 Kunnskapsdepartementet Increased cultural diversity Linguistic and cultural diversity is increasing Linguistic minority children provide vital resources The education system should take care of this diversity Kindergartens, schools and other educational institutions are vital in the work of securing inclusion and participation by linguistic minorities Immigrants in all 434 municipalities

4. 4 Kunnskapsdepartementet Immigrant children: Pre-school An increased participation of immigrant children in kindergarten Since year 2000 the number has doubled Lower proportion of immigrant children in kindergartens compared to the majority population Kindergarten has proved to be crucial as Norwegian language stimulation

5. 5 Kunnskapsdepartementet Language in school 120 different languages represented in primary and lower secondary school 40 000 pupils receive special teaching in Norwegian 22 100 pupils receive mother thong teaching and/or bilingual subject teaching

6. 6 Kunnskapsdepartementet Learning outcome First generation immigrant pupils have lower score than second generation and majority pupils (national tests 2007) The last PISA results confirm this; pupils with immigrant background perform significantly lower than majority pupils However, minority pupils spend more time on homework and are more motivated for learning than majority pupils

7. 7 Kunnskapsdepartementet Equal Education in Practice! 2007-2009 The strategy has been effective since 2004 Revised version 2007 Also published in English

8. 8 Kunnskapsdepartementet Strategic plan: Goals for linguistic minorities 1.Improve language skills among pre-school children 2.Improve the school performance in primary and secondary education and training 3.Increase the proportion who commence and complete upper secondary education and training 4.Increase the proportion students in higher education and improve opportunities for completing education 5.Improve Norwegian language proficiency among adults to increase opportunities for education and active participation in work and society

9. 9 Kunnskapsdepartementet 38 concrete measures Language training Early efforts in kindergarten, maternal and child health centre and primary school Improve the training in Norwegian

10. 10 Kunnskapsdepartementet Language support policies and curriculum development for immigrant children Old curriculum did not work according to intentions -no platform for transition to ordinary curriculum in Norwegian -many students continued special teaching throughout school attendance -lack of competence among teachers -no standardized assessment procedures to clarify the pupils’ level of knowledge

11. 11 Kunnskapsdepartementet New curricula in basic Norwegian for linguistic minorities and in native languages based on levels A new curriculum for basic Norwegian for linguistic minorities has replaced the curriculum in Norwegian as a second language A new curriculum in native languages Level based subject curriculum in basic Norwegian and native languages are based on the European Framework for Foreign Languages No grade assessment Goal: As soon as possible learn sufficient Norwegian to follow ordinary curricula

12. 12 Kunnskapsdepartementet New curricula cont. A standardised assessment tool Guidance material for teachers in basic Norwegian Post-qualifying courses developed for teachers in basic Norwegian The implementation of the new curricula will be evaluated over a period of 3 years Guidance material for teachers in native languages will be introduced

13. 13 Kunnskapsdepartementet New curricula cont. However, still some issues to be solved: - lack of grade assessment is a problem for pupils who arrive to Norway as youths - Adults who attend primary /secondary education on a short period of time Strengthening rights -Introduced the right to Special language education in upper secondary school -Proposed bill: compulsory language assessment of children with low Norwegian skills -Will propose a bill: right to until to years extra in upper - secondary education for pupils with low Norwegian skills

14. 14 Kunnskapsdepartementet The idea of inclusion Universal rights and measures /see cultural diversity as part of the ordinary In combination with targeted measures Everyone attend public school Diversity as a resource Intensify the work to improve the quality of education Increased emphasis on basic skills White Paper: Quality in Education White Paper: Language Build Bridges Committee for equal education for linguistic minorities in kindergarten, school and higher education

15. 15 Kunnskapsdepartementet Concluding remarks: New policy, legislation and measures are being implemented Research is being done to learn from new measures Too early to conclude on the results The issue of learning outcome and inclusion has a high priority for the Norwegian government