edu policy outlook bp jan 2015

1 1

Education Policy Outlook

Making Reforms Happen

January 2014

Mean mathematics performance, by school location,

after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 2 2 Education Policy Outlook in Brief

There are common trends from the more than 450 reforms adopted across countries. With the crisis they are becoming more strategic.

Education policy is not only about design. implementation and follow up are vital for success of reforms.

The Outlook aims to support policy makers and others to make reform happen that translates into better education in our schools and classrooms.

Looks at education reforms across 34 OECD countries that can touch the lives of more than 150 million students…

POLICY OPTIONS FOR BETTER EDUCATION:

Why invest in education reform?


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 4 4 It is possible to achieve both equity and quality

Chile

Hungary

Slovak Republic Portugal Luxembourg

France New Zealand

Belgium

Israel

Germany

Turkey Greece

Spain

United Kingdom

Czech Republic

Denmark

Slovenia

Ireland

Austria

Switzerland

Poland

United States

Netherlands

Estonia Finland

Japan

Sweden

Australia Canada

Iceland

Norway

Mexico

Korea

Italy

350

400

450

500

550

600

051015202530

Mea

n m

ath

emat

ics

sco

re

Percentage of variation in performance explained by the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status

OECD

avera

ge

OECD average

Above-average mathematics performance Below-average equity in education outcomes

Above-average mathematics performance Above-average equity in education outcomes

Below-average mathematics performance Below-average equity in education outcomes

Below-average mathematics performance Above-average equity in education outcomes

Source: OECD (2013), PISA 2012 Results: Excellence through Equity (Volume II): Giving Every Student the Chance to Succeed, Table II.1.2.


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 5 We need education policy reforms that improve outcomes

International trade More diverse communities

The digital society

Greater accountability

Focus on equity and quality

Need to invest in education for better outcomes

5

Global trends shape our education systems …


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 6

6

…at the same time, our education systems today can shape the prosperity of our countries tomorrow…

Better education can shape economic prosperity… Bringing all countries up to the performance of Finland would result in financial gains of USD 260 trillion over the lifetime of those born in 2010.

Societies with skilled individuals are better prepared to respond to the current and future potential crises... • More educated people contribute to more democratic societies and sustainable

economies, are less dependent on public aid and less vulnerable to economic downturns.

• Investing in education for all, in particular for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, is both fair and economically efficient.

Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Database, Figure I.2.23.


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 7 7

Around one in four 15-year-old students does not reach a minimum level of skills, PISA 2012

%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Me

xico

Turk

ey

Gre

ece

Hu

nga

ry

Slo

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Re

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Swe

de

n

Un

ite

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Po

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Spai

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and

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ce

No

rway

OEC

D a

vera

ge…

Ice

lan

d

Cze

ch R

ep

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Au

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Bel

giu

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Au

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Ire

lan

d

Den

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Ne

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lan

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Po

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Can

ada

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and

Fin

lan

d

Jap

an

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rea

% of students below proficiency Level 2 Percentage of students below Level 2 in 2012 Percentage of students below Level 2 in 2003

Distribution of 20-24 year-olds not in education, by work status (2013)

49 47 54

33

46 52

43 45 49

26

45 44

35 30

46

37 33

42

33 35 36 34

21

33

19

29 36 34

28

37 36 32

26 19 22

11

5

7

9

10 5

7 6

4

17

5 6

4 13

5

11 14

7

16 13 10 11

25

8

26

16 8

8

12

4 4 5

5

10 6

15

20 12

27

9 6

12 10 7

17 9 7

19 13

5 8 8 5 5 6 9

7 8

8 7 6 6

8 8 6

6

0 8

4 2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Co

lom

bia

Me

xico

Isra

el

Turk

ey

Un

ite

d…

Au

stri

a

Un

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d S

tate

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Ne

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nd

No

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Ital

y

Au

stra

lia

Can

ada

Ko

rea

Hu

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Swit

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and

Be

lgiu

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Irel

and

Swe

de

n

Slo

vak…

Fran

ce

OEC

D a

vera

ge

Latv

ia

Spai

n

Esto

nia

Gre

ece

Po

rtu

gal

Cze

ch…

Fin

lan

d

Po

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d

Ge

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Ne

ther

lan

ds

Ice

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Den

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Luxe

mb

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rg

Employed Unemployed Inactive

Source: OECD (2015), Education at a Glance Interim Report : Update of Employment and Education Attainment Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, Table 3.3.

%

Almost one in five 20-24 year-olds is NEET

Educational attainment among younger (25-34 year-olds) adults (2013)

52 52

39 39 35 34

27 27 23 21 18 18 18 17 16 15 15 14 14 14 13 13 13 13 12 11 11 10 9 9 9 7 6 6 6 6 6 2

25 23

31

45

24

40 50

33

54

39 39 41

36 43 47

42 41 40 38 38 46

36

60 56

44

64

45 47 46 51

47

35

64

52

65

37

57

31

22 25 29

15

41

26 23

40

22

41 43 41 47

40 37 43 44 46 48 48

41

51

27 31

44

25

45 43 45 40

45

58

30

42

29

57

37

67

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Turk

ey

Me

xico

Po

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gal

Bra

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Spai

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Co

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Ice

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Ch

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Den

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No

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OEC

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Slo

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Below upper secondary Upper secondary or post-secondary non-tertiary Tertiary

Source: OECD (2015), Education at a Glance Interim Report : Update of Employment and Education Attainment Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, Table 1.4.

One in six younger adults have not reached upper secondary education

Source: OECD (2014), Education at a Glance 2014: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, Table B1.5a.


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 11 11 Expenditure in education has continued to increase

80

90

100

110

120

130

Ch

ile

Slo

vak

Rep

ub

lic3

Ko

rea

Po

lan

d2

Cze

ch R

epu

blic

Can

ada3

Au

stra

lia

Ger

man

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2

Po

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ico

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ited

Kin

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, 2

Index of change (2008=100)

Change in expenditure

Change in the number of students (in full-time equivalents)

Change in expenditure per student

Change in expenditure in primary, secondary post-secondary non-tertiary education, 2008-2011


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 12 12 But it is how it is spent that counts

Source: OECD (2013),PISA 2012 Results: What Makes Schools Successful (Volume IV): Resources, Policies and Practices, Figure IV.1.8.

Slovak Republic

Czech Republic

Estonia

Israel

Poland

Korea

Portugal

New Zealand

Canada

Germany

Spain

France

Italy

Finland Japan

Slovenia

Ireland

Iceland

Netherlands

Sweden

Belgium

United Kingdom

Australia

Denmark

United States

Austria

Norway

Switzerland

Luxembourg

Turkey

Mexico

Chile

Hungary

R² = 0.00

400

450

500

550

600

0 50 000 100 000 150 000 200 000

Mat

he

mat

ics

pe

rfo

rman

ce o

n P

ISA

20

12

Average spending per student from the age of 6 to 15 (USD, PPPs)

Spending per student and average math performance, PISA 2012



13

With the crisis, countries’ education policies are focusing on what matters…

Countries see education as a solution to the economic crisis and beyond…

and are investing in education by…

Students: Targeting policies to specific disadvantaged groups and making VET and tertiary education more relevant to labour market needs. Institutions: Investing in improving the teaching profession and curriculum as well as developing more system evaluation & student assessments.

System: Setting clear policy priorities with concrete objectives or using funding strategically.


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 14 14 There are clear common policy trends across countries

Key policies implemented across OECD countries by policy lever, 2008-14 (based on countries’ self reports)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Equity andquality

Preparingstudents for the

future

Schoolimprovement

Evaluation andassessment

Governance Funding

%

Students: Raising Outcomes

Institutions: Enhancing quality

Systems: Governing effectively


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 15 Making effective reforms happen is key

15

Funding

grants

Subsidies for

disadvantaged

schools Reforms in

school leadership

and teachers

Support to

students

from specific

populations

Setting national

priorities for

education

New middle

school reform National

commitment to

ECEC

School

improvement

VET

reforms

Teacher training

reform

OECD countries are using different policy options to improve their education systems…

School

evaluation

reform

Student

funding

But only around 1 in 10 reported evaluation to gauge impact

TRENDS: Common policy patterns

adapted to country challenges



18

Students: Raising Outcomes

1) Investing in equity and quality (16% of reforms reported):

Targeting policies to specific disadvantaged groups (e.g. New

Zealand, England, France), and investing early on in ECEC

(e.g. Australia, Poland and Korea).

2) Preparing students for the future (29% of reforms reported):

Focusing on VET (e.g. Portugal, Denmark and Sweden) & tertiary

education (e.g. Belgium, Fl. & Hungary).



0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

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2.5

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De

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Ratio

Increased likelihood of students in the bottom quarter of the ESCS index scoring in the bottom quarter of the mathematicsperformance distribution

Increased likelihood of immigrant students scoring in the bottom quarter of the mathematics performance distribution

OECD average

Students from disadvantaged or diverse backgrounds face higher risk of low performance

Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Database, Table II.2.4a and Table II.3.4a.

New Zealand: Policies to support Māori

/Pasifika populations (2008-13)

Finland: National Core Curriculum for Instruction Preparing Immigrants

for Basic Education (2009)

France/Portugal: Education Priority Zones

Chile: Law on Preferential

Subsidies (2008)

Austria: New middle

school reform

Germany:

National Action Plan on Integration (2011)

ECEC: Poland, Korea, Australia, Italy,

Nordic Countries, Slovenia, United States….

UK England: Pupil premium



Prioritising vocational education and training (VET)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Can

ada

Me

xico

Ko

rea

Jap

anH

un

gary

Ne

w Z

eal

and

Ch

ileIr

ela

nd

Gre

ece

Ice

lan

dEs

ton

iaU

nit

ed

Kin

gdo

mIs

rae

lP

ort

uga

lTu

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y1Fr

ance

Spai

nO

ECD

ave

rage

De

nm

ark

Po

lan

dG

erm

any

Swe

de

nA

ust

ralia

No

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Ital

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urg

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Cze

ch R

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Au

stri

a

% General Pre-vocational Vocational

Enrolment of upper secondary students in pre-vocational or vocational programmes

Denmark: VET with academic exam

(2010); Better More attractive VET (2014)

Portugal: National Integrated Strategy(2012-14)

Italy: Governance & Higher Technical

Institutes (2011)

New Zealand: Trades Academies(2009)

Germany: Information & transitions into Tertiary

Japan: Guidelines for enhancing provision

Luxembourg: VET Reform (2008)

Canada: Apprenticeship grants (2007-)



21

Institutions: Enhancing quality

3) Supporting school improvement (24% of reforms reported):

Investing heavily in improving the teaching profession (e.g. Finland, France) and revising curricula (Scotland (UK), Japan , Finland)

4) Strengthening evaluation and assessment (12% of reforms reported): Developing more system evaluation (e.g. Italy) & student assessments (e.g. Australia).

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Kore

a

Fin

land

Me

xic

o

Alb

ert

a (

Can

ada

)

Fla

nde

rs (

Belg

ium

)

Ne

therl

and

s

Austr

alia

Engla

nd

(U

K)

Isra

el

Un

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d S

tate

s

Ch

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rage

No

rwa

y

Japa

n

De

nm

ark

Pola

nd

Icela

nd

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nia

Bra

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ly

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epu

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Port

ug

al

Spain

Sw

ede

n

Fra

nce

Slo

vak R

epub

lic

Perc

en

tag

e o

f te

ach

ers


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 22

Improving the quality and delivery of education in schools

22

Percentage of lower secondary teachers who "agree" or "strongly agree" that teaching profession is a valued profession in society, TALIS 2014

22

Netherlands: Teachers’ Programme

2013-20 (2013)

Australia: Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (2010)

Finland: OSAAVA programme

(2010-16)

New Zealand: Teacher standards and Registered

Teacher Criteria (2010-13)

United States: Teacher Quality Partnership

Programme (2012)

France: Reform of teacher training

programmes (2013)

Korea: Evaluation system

(2010) Mexico: Teacher Professional

Service (2013)


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 23 Developing learning environments 23

Students reports of teacher student relations and classrooms conduciveness to learning, PISA 2012

23

-0.5-0.4-0.3-0.2-0.1

00.10.20.30.40.50.60.70.8

Mex

ico

Po

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gal

Can

ada

Icel

and

Un

ited

Sta

tes

Ch

ile

Turk

ey

Un

ited

Kin

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m

Den

mar

k

Au

stra

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Swit

zerl

and

New

Zea

lan

d

Swed

en

Isra

el

Irel

and

OEC

D a

vera

ge

Spai

n

Hu

nga

ry

Luxe

mb

ou

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Esto

nia

Fin

lan

d

Be

lgiu

m

Ko

rea

Gre

ece

No

rway

Au

stri

a

Net

her

lan

ds

Ital

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Jap

an

Fran

ce

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vak

Rep

ub

lic

Ger

man

y

Slo

ven

ia

Po

lan

d

Mean index

Index of teacher-student relations Index of disciplinary climate

Japan: Course of Study

UK: Curriculum for Excellence (Scotland), and National

Literacy and Numeracy (Wales, 2013)

Slovenia: Updated curricula

(2012)

Denmark: National Common Objectives (2009)

Finland: Curriculum reform (2014)

Italy: Curriculum guidelines

(2012)

Sweden: New curriculum

(2011)

France: Redistribution of learning time

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

OEC

D

Gre

ece

10

0

Po

rtu

gal

100

Net

her

lan

ds

99

Po

lan

d 9

9

Fran

ce 9

7

Bel

giu

m 9

7

Ger

man

y 9

6

Can

ada

10

0

Spai

n 9

9

Au

stri

a 9

6

Luxe

mb

ou

rg 9

5

Slo

vak

Rep

ub

lic…

Fin

lan

d 9

9

Slo

ven

ia 9

8

Mex

ico

99

Jap

an 9

9

Ch

ile 1

00

Ital

y 9

9

Swit

zerl

and

94

Esto

nia

99

Isra

el

10

0

Cze

ch R

epu

blic

93

New

Ze

alan

d 1

00

OEC

D a

vera

ge 9

8

Hu

nga

ry

94

Un

ited

Kin

gdo

m…

Au

stra

lia

10

0

Irel

and

1

00

Un

ited

Sta

tes

9

9

Ko

rea

95

Turk

ey

97

Swed

en

94

Icel

and

1

00

Den

mar

k

99

No

rway

9

8

%

To make decisions about students’ retention or promotion % To monitor the school’s progress from year to year To identify aspects of instruction or the curriculum that could be improved

→

Source: OECD, PISA 2012 Database, Table IV.5.5. OECD, PISA 2012 Database, Table IV.5.6.

Most common uses of student assessments according to school principals (2012)



Enhancing evaluation and assessment to improve student outcomes

Australia: NAPLAN Student assessment, My

School, My Skills and My University

Chile: National Quality of Education Agency

National Standardised Assessments: Austria; Czech Republic; Denmark; Ireland;

Italy, Spain, Sweden, UK (Wales

Norway: Assessment for Learning (2010)



25

Systems: Governing effectively

5) Steering policy setting priorities and funding effectively :

Setting clear policy priorities (9%) (e.g. Denmark) with concrete

objectives or using funding strategically (11%) (e.g. Germany, United States).


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 26 26 Steering education systems towards higher performance

Increasingly complex policy-making environments

Central

Austria

Czech Republic

France

Greece

Hungary Israel

Italy

Luxembourg Portugal

Turkey

Central with local

Chile

Denmark

Estonia

Finland Iceland

Japan

Korea Norway

Poland

Slovak Republic Slovenia

Sweden

Central with schools

Ireland Netherlands New Zealand

Shared central agreed with regional

Mexico Spain

Decentralised

Australia Canada Belgium Germany Switzerland United Kingdom United States


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 27 27 Steering education systems towards higher performance

Increasingly complex policy-making environments

Central

Austria

Czech Republic

France

Greece

Hungary Israel

Italy

Luxembourg Portugal

Turkey

Central with local

Chile

Denmark

Estonia

Finland Iceland

Japan

Korea Norway

Poland

Slovak Republic Slovenia

Sweden

Central with schools

Ireland Netherlands New Zealand

Shared central agreed with regional

Mexico Spain

Decentralised

Australia Canada Belgium Germany Switzerland United Kingdom United States

Many countries defined general education strategies or priorities

Estonia: LLL strategy 2014-2010

Denmark:

Denmark that stands together (2011); Folkeskole reform (2013)

Mexico: Pact for Mexico 2012); Constitutional Reform (2012-13)

Canada:

Learn Canada 2020 (2008)

Source: OECD (2014), Education at a Glance 2014: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, Table B1.5a.



Funding education systems: system, institutions and

students

Change in expenditure in tertiary education

80

90

100

110

120

130

140

150

Esto

nia

1

Slo

vak

Re

pu

blic

3

Ch

ile

Hu

nga

ry1

, 2

Ko

rea

Cze

ch R

ep

ub

lic

Fin

lan

d

Slo

ven

ia

Den

mar

k3

Isra

el

Jap

an3

Un

ite

d K

ingd

om

Ital

y

Po

lan

d2

OEC

D a

vera

ge

Ne

ther

lan

ds

Swit

zerl

and

1, 2

Fran

ce

Swe

de

n

Ge

rman

y

Au

stra

lia

Spai

n

No

rway

1

Me

xico

Be

lgiu

m

Po

rtu

gal2

Au

stri

a

Un

ite

d S

tate

s

Irel

and

2

Ice

lan

d

Index of change (2008 = 100) Chile:

Scholarships and subsidies (2912)

Ireland: Bursary Scheme (2012)

US: Pell Grant (2008); Tax Credit (2009)…

Japan: Scholarships Loan Programme

(2912)

Influenced by the

education structure, policy agenda and specific challenges

Varied political and

historical approaches

to policy making

Evaluation of policies and/or follow-up is limited

Varying duration

and type, and a

degree of overlap

29 Highlighting common characteristics across policies

About 450 policies

across 6 policy levers

29

OECD countries have made

education reform happen.


after accounting for socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 30 Making effective reforms happen

30

School

improvement Equity and quality

Preparing students for

the future

Evaluation and

assessment

Governance

Funding

Next steps: to make them

work for all and for good.

Implementation

of reforms

Mean mathematics performance, by school location, after accounting for

socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 32 32

Key factors for effective implementation of

education policy

Placing the student and

learning at the centre

Capacity-building

Leadership and

coherence

Policy evaluation

Reforms are specific to country’s

education system context

Stakeholder

engagement

No single model for success in the implementation of education reforms

Education Policy Trends

• Policy options across different policy levers

Implementation of Reforms

• Key factors to support effective implementation

Country Snapshots

• 34 individual country reform stories

The Education Policy Outlook reviews trends and implementation to help make the policy choices

#OECDEPO @oecd.org

www.oecd.com/edu/policyoutlook.htm 33

Mean mathematics performance, by school location, after accounting for

socio-economic status Fig II.3.3 34

Searching for policies adopted across OECD countries

34

Education Policy Outlook Reforms Finder

contains policies analysed in report from 2008 to 2014:

http://www.oecd.org/edu/reformsfinder.htm

http://www.oecd.org/edu/reformsfinder.htm

Find out more about the Education Policy Outlook Series at

www.oecd.com/edu/policyoutlook.htm

#OECDEPO

@beatrizpont, [email protected]

35

Photo and illustration credits

Cover slide © SashaChebotarev/Shutterstock

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edu policy outlook bp jan 2015

Education

better education

education reforms

education systems

education policy reforms

education policy outlook

average equity

education outcomes source

mean mathematics performance