Special Reading Initiatives
The Norwegian results from several international surveys have indicated a need for a national quality assessment system. As a result, the Ministry of Education developed a national survey in reading (and in mathematics and English), and the theoretical foundation of this assessment relies heavily on the frameworks of PIRLS and the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA). Assessments for several grades were developed in 2004, and as of 2007, all students in Grades 5 and 8 take the national reading tests.
The Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training was responsible for developing a new plan focusing on reading education in schools. The National Center for Reading Education and Research played an important role in implementing the plan, which ran from 2010 through 2014 and focused on providing three areas of continuing education in reading instruction to teachers and school administrators:19
- How to work with reading across subjects in upper secondary school
- Reading as a basic skill in all subject areas
- Reading as part of the school’s responsibility to provide assistance with homework