| Summary: | When the responsibility of operating compulsory schools was transferred to municipalities in 1996 (lög um grunnskóla nr. 66/1995 [Act on Primary Education]), they took over the responsibility of counselling and psychological support services for the schools (Börkur Hansen & Ólafur H. Jóhannsson, 2010). The purpose of the services is to strengthen schools as professional institutions that can solve most of the issues that arise in schoolwork. The services are intended to promote the best possible use of pedagogical and psychological knowledge in practice and to provide teachers and principals with access to counselling and support in pedagogical issues as well as in professional development. Additionally, the services are intended to provide parents with guidance in parenting, and to carry out equal prevention work with observations and diagnoses of students who have psychological or social difficulties that affect their education (reglugerð um skólaþjónustu sveitarfélaga við leik- og grunnskóla og nemendaverndarráð í grunnskólum nr. 444/2019 [Regulation on municipal services to preschools and primary schools and student support councils in primary schools]). For schools to become stronger professional institutions, school development must be supported; an organized process of improvement and learning within the school that aims to change its practices and culture in the long term (Fullan, 2016; Hall & Hord, 2015).Research in Iceland has only to a small extent focused on the emphasis and working methods of the school support service and there is little follow-up on how municipalities fulfil the provisions of the law. The few studies that have been conducted indicate that many municipalities have not formulated a policy on school services (Rúnar Sigþórsson, 2013).The aim of the study is to shed light on how municipal school support services fulfil their legal obligations for ensuring teachers’ and principals’ support for professional development and for strengthening schools as professional ...
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