Despite great attention and numerous efforts across countries to reduce school dropout, it remains a persistent challenge. One such initiative, named New Possibilities, launched by the Norwegian Ministry in 2010, was a nationwide, flexible program aimed at providing intensive training to poor achievers during the last months of 10th grade, before…

In Swedish compulsory school, students can choose to study a modern language in addition to English, i.e., French, Spanish, or German. Since 1994, instruction time for modern languages has been extended, the learning objectives have been made more attainable, and national assessment materials have been introduced. The government made these changes…

The Finnish comprehensive school system is regularly referred to as a uniform and "no-tracking". In this article, we show with novel urban case data in Finland that school performance differed significantly between schools, most strikingly between school classes, and was connected to the school's selectiveness in pupil admission. A…

This study compares the strategies and delivery of education for students with special educational needs in the province of Alberta, Canada, and in the country of Finland, in the European Union. The rationale for comparing these two jurisdictions is grounded by the idea that both of these areas have high general standards of living, a…

The dynamic model of educational effectiveness defines school level factors associated with student outcomes. Emphasis is given to the two main aspects of policy, evaluation, and improvement in schools which affect quality of teaching and learning at both the level of teachers and students: a) teaching and b) school learning environment. Five…

Recognising that there is now a globalised educational discourse about "failing boys" circulating in the privileged nations of the global north, this article provides a comparative perspective on educational policy responses to the "boy turn" in Australia and Iceland. Specificities of the responses to the boy turn in the two…