ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on academic performance and school adjustment among internationally adopted children in Norway and is based on outcomes from Norwegian research projects mainly carried out from the 1990s up to the present time. Most of the studies have documented that internationally adopted children lag behind academically compared to non-adopted school mates. At the same time, studies also document a greater variety in performance within the adopted group. The dominating factors influencing academic performance seem to be related to languages skills, social skills, and hyperactive behavior. Since Norway has much in common with other northern countries, research outcomes from these countries are also included. Most of the studies referred to in this chapter are based on children in primary school. One should pay attention especially to adopted children’s language skills, problem behavior, and social skills in early school years to prevent them from developing learning problems at later age stages.
