OECD Reviews of School Resources: Denmark 2016

This report for Denmark forms part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Review of Policies to Improve the Effectiveness of Resource Use in Schools (also referred to as the School Resources Review , see for further details). The purpose of the review is to explore how school resources can be governed, distributed, utilised and managed to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education. School resources are understood in a broad way, including financial resources (e.g. expenditures on education, school budget), physical resources (e.g. school infrastructure, computers), human resources (e.g. teachers, school leaders) and other resources (e.g. learning time).

Denmark was one of the countries which opted to participate in the country review strand and host a visit by an external review team. The scope for analysis in this report includes public primary and lower secondary education ( Folkeskole ). Members of the review team were Deborah Nusche (OECD), Thomas Radinger (OECD), Torberg Falch (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), and Bruce Shaw (Ontario Ministry of Education). Deborah Nusche co-ordinated the review between May 2014 and January 2016 and Thomas Radinger co-ordinated the review between February and October 2016. The biographies of the members of the review team are provided in . This publication is the report of the review team. It provides, from an international perspective, an independent analysis of major issues facing the use of school resources in Denmark, current policy initiatives, and possible future approaches. The report serves three purposes: i) to provide insights and advice to the Danish education authorities; ii) to help other countries understand the Danish approach to the use of school resources; and iii) to provide input for the thematic comparative reports of the OECD School Resources Review.

The involvement of Denmark in the OECD review was co-ordinated by Jon Jespersen, Senior Advisor in the Division for Evidence Informed Policy and Practice in Day Care and Education of the Agency for Education and Quality, in collaboration with Jrn Skovsgaard, Senior Advisor in the Division for International Affairs of the Danish Ministry for Children, Education and Gender Equality. An important part of the involvement of Denmark was the preparation of a comprehensive and informative Country Background Report (CBR) on school resources authored by the Danish Institute for Local and Regional Government Research (KORA) for the Danish Ministry for Children, Education and Gender Equality. The OECD review team is very grateful to the main authors of the CBR and to all those who assisted them in providing a high-quality informative document. The CBR is an important output from the OECD project in its own right as well as an important source for the review team. Unless indicated otherwise, the data for this report are taken from the Danish Country Background Report. The CBR follows guidelines prepared by the OECD secretariat and provides extensive information, analysis and discussion in regard to the national context, the organisation of the education system, the use of school resources and the views of key stakeholders. In this sense, the CBR and this report complement each other and, for a more comprehensive view of the effectiveness of school resource use in Denmark, should be read in conjunction.