Publications & Documents

Countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia have clear aspirations to strengthen civic participation and increase prosperity for all. A highly skilled and knowledgeable population is critical to achieving these goals, which makes creating and maintaining high quality and equitable education systems a vital part of regional development efforts. Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that learning outcomes in the region have generally improved, but that the improvement has not been equitable. While countries in the region are producing some of the top performing students in the world, many other students are being left behind. This report, jointly developed by OECD and UNICEF, analyses PISA data in detail to identify the strengths, challenges and unique features of education systems in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Drawing upon a rich knowledge base of education policy and practice in the region, it makes recommendations about how systems in the region can provide an excellent education for all students. This report will be of interest to regional policy-makers as well as individuals who wish to learn more about education in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

This Working Paper was developed to assist policy makers, education and Indigenous leaders, as well as education practitioners, to better support Indigenous children’s early learning and well-being. The paper focuses on early years policies and provision in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and Canada. It sets out a synthesis of evidence on children’s early development, with a particular focus on the conditions and approaches that support positive outcomes for Indigenous children. The Working Paper then outlines a set of promising initiatives that seek to create positive early learning environments for Indigenous children. Drawing on the available evidence and promising approaches, the paper presents a framework for strengthening Indigenous children’s early learning and well-being.

This report analyses the pay system in Israel’s public sector, and provides recommendations to align it with the strategic priorities of the government. It recommends ways to simplify job classification and better match pay to market rates, particularly in areas where the public sector has trouble competing for talent. It also identifies opportunities to better reward performance, productivity and job responsibilities. In Israel, no pay reform is possible without the agreement and active collaboration of public sector unions, and so the second part of this report focuses on public sector labour relations and makes recommendations to improve the functioning of the collective bargaining process in Israel’s public sector. This report contributes to the ongoing work of the OECD’s Public Employment and Management working party, to support the implementation of the Recommendation of Council on Public Service Leadership and Capability.

One of a series of studies on vocational education and training, this review assesses vocational education and training (VET) in Thailand and provides policy recommendations. VET has the potential to provide relevant education and training opportunities to young people and adults in Thailand, especially as the demand for technical skills is high. This can be achieved by building on the strengths of the system, including a strong postsecondary vocational system and a small but dynamic dual system. However, it remains an unattractive option for many students in Thailand, because of a poor image among students and parents, quality issues, a hard-to-navigate system and limited progression pathways. Additional efforts are therefore needed to align the mix of provision with the needs of the Thai labour market. This review provides recommendations on how to improve access to programmes, reduce inequalities in access to high-quality institutions and programmes, make better use of skills intelligence to inform education and training policies, and engage employers in the design and delivery of vocational education and training, including work-based learning.

In light of recent education reforms, Brazil is currently considering a series of changes to the purpose and design of its Basic Education Assessment System (Sistema de Avaliação da Educação Básica, SAEB), which has been a critical source of information about student learning outcomes for the past 30 years. To inform these discussions, the OECD was invited to review a set of policy proposals for reforming the current SAEB so that it more closely aligns with Brazil’s new learning standards and provides data to support a range of education actors - from the classroom to the ministry – in their efforts to raise educational performance and reduce inequalities. The findings from this OECD Review are set out in the below policy perspective.

Les systèmes d’éducation du monde entier s’efforcent de rendre la salle de classe plus inclusive pour tous les enfants, quelles que soient leur origine et leurs capacités, afin que chacun d’entre eux ait les mêmes chances de bénéficier d’un apprentissage de qualité. Il est devenu essentiel d’intégrer les élèves ayant des besoins spécifiques dans l’enseignement formel classique, et ces derniers sont de plus en plus nombreux à fréquenter des établissements et des classes ordinaires dans l’enseignement primaire. Les classes inclusives posent toutefois des exigences plus nombreuses et spécifiques aux enseignants. Les données de TALIS 2018 nous alertent sur le besoin urgent de soutenir les enseignants en charge d’élèves ayant des besoins spécifiques dans les établissements primaires. Soutenir les élèves ayant des besoins spécifiques constitue une priorité stratégique pour les chefs d’établissement et les enseignants à ce niveau d’enseignement. Le fait que les enseignants doivent adapter leurs cours pour soutenir ces élèves représente pour eux une source de stress particulière, et les enseignants sont nombreux à demander une formation complémentaire pour les aider à enseigner aux enfants ayant des besoins spécifiques.

School accountability is one of the most controversial recent reforms taking place in education systems around the world, but evidence of whether and which accountability practices affect equity and performance in academic achievement has been difficult to isolate and establish. By using data available from several cycles of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2006-2015), this paper assesses the extent to which accountability practices affect equity and performance in academic achievement in high-income-and-low-and-middle-income-countries. We found no conclusive evidence of accountability practices affecting educational outcomes in high-income-countries. However, we found some evidence in low-and-middle-income-countries pointing towards increased performance and increased inequality under accountability regimes in these contexts, although only in mathematics and science, and for one of our preferred specifications. In low-and-middle-income-countries, we found that, under higher levels of accountability, higher school autonomy on curriculum management and assessment could render better academic results in reading, mathematics and science.

Cette édition du rapport du Secrétaire général de l'OCDE aux ministres présente les principales réalisations de l'OCDE en 2020. Elle met l’accent sur les efforts de l’Organisation pour contribuer à la gestion de la crise du COVID-19 et ouvrir la voie à une reprise qui soit à la fois plus forte, plus inclusive, plus résiliente et plus verte. Elle décrit les travaux de l’OCDE dans tout un éventail de domaines essentiels tels que la santé, l’emploi, les inégalités, l'économie, la fiscalité, l'éducation, l'environnement, et bien d’autres encore. Ce rapport présente aussi les activités du Secrétaire général et de son cabinet, ainsi que celles des directions, des Secrétariats des entités appartenant à la famille OCDE et des partenaires sociaux de l'OCDE. L'OCDE s'efforce de trouver des solutions fondées sur des données probantes à toute une série de défis sociaux, économiques et environnementaux, en promouvant « Des politiques meilleures pour une vie meilleure ». L’OCDE constitue l’une des sources les plus importantes et les plus fiables de recherche et de données statistiques comparables au monde. Elle fait office de pionnier pour l’élaboration de nouvelles trames narratives et de nouvelles initiatives à l’échelle mondiale, mais aussi de « laboratoire d’action », prêt à soutenir ses membres et partenaires grâce à ses données, ses normes et ses conseils stratégiques.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have collaborated in the third round of the Survey on National Education Responses to COVID-19 School Closures, administered by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and OECD to Ministry of Education officials. The questions covered four levels of education: preprimary, primary, lower secondary and upper secondary. While the first two rounds of the survey were implemented during the periods May–June and July–October 2020, respectively, the third round was implemented during the period February–June 2021. In total, 143 countries responded to the questionnaire. Thirty-one countries submitted responses to the OECD ('OECD survey') and 112 countries responded to the UIS ('UIS survey'). Seven countries responded to both surveys. In these instances, the more complete set responses were used in analysis.

The Welsh Government asked the OECD to undertake a targeted diagnostic study of Wales’ system for teachers’ Continuing Professional Learning (CPL). Drawing on findings from interviews with Welsh stakeholders and schools, as well as document review, the study team identified strengths and weaknesses of the continuing professional learning system in Wales, as well as opportunities and threats going forward.