What can be done to enable more students to complete secondary school? The project GameChanger focuses on the impact that initiatives outside of school can have on students when they are in school.
Despite a slight increase in completion rates, nearly two in ten students who start upper secondary school do not finish within five years, or within six years for vocational tracks.
The project GameChanger focuses on the impact that initiatives outside of school can have on students when they are in school. Flyt and Guttas Campus are two school-supportive programs designed to prevent dropout by enhancing students' self-esteem, sense of belonging, and resilience in the transition from lower to upper secondary school. These programs target 14-15-year-old students in 10th grade.
In the project, Flyt and Guttas Campus serve as methodological entry points to identify factors crucial for a successful intervention and what it takes to implement effective dropout-prevention initiatives.
To ensure broad institutional and political grounding, the study will be conducted in collaboration with the educational authorities in Oslo and Bergen. The potential to be a true gamechanger for both individuals and schools is the foundation of our project.
Flyt and Guttas Campus are part of a broader array of initiatives aimed at combating social exclusion. However, there is still remarkably little knowledge about which measures are effective, especially those with long-term impact.
In GameChanger, we will employ a variety of data sources and methods to answer the following questions:
- What are the effects of supplementary measures outside traditional schools on enabling at-risk youth to complete secondary education?
- How can social entrepreneurs collaborate effectively with schools and school authorities to prevent at-risk youth from dropping out?
More about the project
The project is divided into four main work packages. In Work Package 1, we will use registry data to track the progress of participants in Flyt and Guttas Campus over time, focusing on completion rates and academic performance, while also analyzing the impact of various risk factors.
Work Package 2 centers on the young participants themselves and their experiences in Flyt and Guttas Campus, with a focus on the program's implementation and the institutional conditions needed to ensure its long-term impact.
Work Package 3 is theoretical, examining insights gained from practice and their implications for program theory.
In Work Package 4, we will explore the potential for cooperation between programs, school owners, and social entrepreneurs, discussing the broader applicability of local measures.
The interdisciplinary project team includes researchers from sociology, economics, psychology, and pedagogy, led by Mira Aaboen Sletten and Jon Rogstad at NOVA, OsloMet. In addition to OsloMet, the project partners include NORCE and the Frisch Centre at UiO, along with the educational authorities in Oslo and Bergen and the program owners, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess’ Foundation and Guttas Campus.
The project is funded by The Research Council of Norway.
Participants
Partners
- NORCE
- Frisch Centre, University of Oslo
- The Crown Prince and Crown Princess’ Foundation
- Guttas Campus
- Bergen Municipality
- Oslo Municipality
