Browse by: "2010"
Index
Title Index
Year Index
What does it mean for education that our societies are increasingly diverse? How is global economic power shifting towards new countries? In what ways are working patterns changing?
Trends Shaping Education 2010 brings together international evidence to address questions like these. To make the content accessible, each trend is presented on a double page, containing an introduction, two charts with brief descriptive text and a set of pertinent questions for education.
The trends presented are based on high quality international data, primarily from the OECD, the World Bank and the United Nations. The charts contain dynamic links so that readers can access the original data. Trends Shaping Education 2010 is organised around five broad themes, each with its own “find out more” section:
- the dynamics of globalisation;
- evolving social challenges;
- the changing world of work;
- transformation of childhood;
- ICT: the next generation.
This book is designed to give policy makers, researchers, educational leaders, administrators and teachers a robust, non-specialist source to inform strategic thinking and stimulate reflection on the challenges facing education, whether in schools, universities or programmes for older adults. It will also be of interest to students and the wider public, including parents.
What do we know about how people learn? How do young people’s motivations and emotions influence their learning? What does research show to be the benefits of group work, formative assessments, technology applications, or project-based learning and when are they most effective? How is learning affected by family background? These are among the questions addressed for the OECD by leading researchers from North America and Europe. This book brings together the lessons of research on both the nature of learning and different educational applications, and it summarises these as seven key concluding principles.
Among the contributors are Brigid Barron, Monique Boekaerts, Erik de Corte, Linda Darling-Hammond, Kurt Fischer, Andrew Furco, Richard Mayer, Lauren Resnick, Barbara Schneider, Robert Slavin, James Spillane, Elsbeth Stern and Dylan Wiliam.
The Nature of Learning: Using Research to Inspire Practice is essential reading for all those interested in knowing what research has to say about how to optimise learning in classrooms, schools and other settings. It aims, first and foremost, to inform practice and educational reform. It will be of particular interest to teachers, education leaders, teacher educators, advisors and decision makers, as well as the research community
This report uses recent economic modelling to relate cognitive skills – as measured by PISA and other international instruments – to economic growth, demonstrating that relatively small improvements to labour force skills can largely impact the future well-being of a nation. The report also shows that it is the quality of learning outcomes, not the length of schooling, which makes the difference. A modest goal of all OECD countries boosting their average PISA scores by 25 points over the next 20 years would increase OECD gross domestic product by USD 115 trillion over the lifetime of the generation born in 2010. More aggressive goals could result in gains in the order of USD 260 trillion.
The OECD’s new Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) has been designed to provide data and analyses on the conditions needed for effective teaching and learning in schools. As the first international survey with this focus, it seeks to fill important information gaps that have been identified at the national and international levels of education systems.
This TALIS Technical Report describes the development of the TALIS instruments and methods used in sampling, data collection, scaling and data analysis phases of the first round of the survey. It also explains the rigorous quality control programme that operated during the survey process, which included numerous partners and external experts from around the world.
The information in this report complements the first international report from TALIS, Creating Effective Teaching and Learning Environments: First Results from TALIS (OECD, 2009) and the User Guide for the TALIS International Database.
Education is a central priority for the State of Santa Catarina. Its policy makers are firmly committed to provide a relevant and efficient education system that responds to the requirements of the global economy and will allow the state to be competitive, both nationally and internationally .
This OECD review gives a brief overview of education in Santa Catarina and its development. It presents an analysis of the system from pre-school to tertiary education and lifelong learning, and identifies key directions for policy reform in light of the challenges encountered by officials, communities, enterprises, educators, parents and students. It concludes with a set of key recommendations concerning the structure of the system and its labour market relevance; access and equity; governance and management; research, development and innovation; internationalisation; and financing.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a highly influential instrument for monitoring the quality of education systems and provides a strong evidence base for informed policy making and education research. PISA also has a proven potential to trigger reforms and stimulate stakeholder involvement in the process.
Notwithstanding the importance of its ranking, the full strength of PISA unfolds when data it delivers is utilised in the national policy domain. Linking PISA outcomes and policy choices, and monitoring the impact on education quality is thereby a demanding task, which requires sound analytical capacity, and also knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the respective education system. The OECD Directorate for Education addresses the demand of non-member economies for policy support in understanding and analysing PISA data in the broader context of education system management and policy formulation.
This report explains the reasons for the dramatically low performance of Kyrgyz students in the 2006 PISA survey, despite significant resources and efforts invested in education by schools, parents and government. The report reveals that a number of policy areas are in need of urgent attention and recommends ways to close the currently existing gap between aspirations and education reform achievement.
This OECD publication reviews the current state of education policies for children with special education needs and those with disabilities in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan. It offers an overview of the respective country backgrounds, education systems and relevant legislation, and takes a critical look at access to education for what is considered to be the most vulnerable group of children in the countries reviewed. Particular attention is paid to inclusive education policies, to the processes of identification and assessment, to overall policy co-ordination for the provision of education services, to integration in mainstream education, as well as to good practices and the role of NGOs and the donor community.
In recent years, the Government of Egypt has driven major reforms for modernising the country. However, Egypt’s higher education system has remained largely unchanged and without fundamental reform of the sector the country will face difficulties in improving its competitiveness.
This independent review of Egypt’s higher education system focuses on areas in need of attention by policy makers and stakeholders, including system steering and institutional governance; student access to higher education; educational quality and effectiveness; research, development and innovation; and finance. It contains an analysis of the system and valuable recommendations which, taken together, represent a major programme of structural and cultural reform of Egyptian higher education over the decade to 2020.
Although learning often takes place within formal settings and designated environments, a great deal of valuable learning also occurs either deliberately or informally in everyday life. Policy makers in OECD countries have become increasingly aware that non-formal and informal learning represents a rich source of human capital.
Policies which recognise this can play a significant role in a coherent lifelong learning framework, and present practices can be improved to make the knowledge and competencies people acquire outside of formal schooling more visible. The challenge for policy makers is to develop processes for recognising such learning, processes that will generate net benefits both to individuals and to society at large.
This report, based on an OECD review in 22 countries, explores the advantages of recognising non-formal and informal learning outcomes, takes stock of existing policies and practices, and recommends how to organise recognition of these learning systems.
Governments are seeking to channel research funds into universities and other institutions in ways that support high-quality research in strategically important areas and bolster effective knowledge diffusion. These issues of steering and funding have even more relevance in light of the current financial crisis and economic downturn which have seen severe fiscal pressures fall on many countries.
This publication presents a collection of papers presented at an OECD workshop on performance-based funding of public research in tertiary education institutions. It takes stock of current thinking and practice around performance-based funding of public research in tertiary education institutions, as a tool to help governments meet their research goals. These funding models are essentially systems of ex-post evaluation of research outputs and outcomes from universities and other tertiary institutions, and are generally based on peer review, bibliometric or other quantitative indicators. Their results are used to inform government decisions about how much and which institutions to fund.
Presents the findings of Canada's Youth in Transition Survey, which complements OECD's PISA survey and offers significant new policy insights in understanding students’ choices at different ages and the impact of these decisions on consequent education and labour market outcomes. YITS is a longitudinal study that tracks 30 000 Canadian students who took part in the PISA 2000 assessment and, with interviews every two years, follows their progress from secondary school into higher education and the labour market.
This report documents the initial step towards an electronically-delivered Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test pioneered by Denmark, Iceland and Korea. In 2006, the PISA assessment of science included for the first time a computer-based test. The results discussed in this report highlight numerous challenges and encourage countries to take the work further.
PISA Computer-Based Assessment of Student Skills in Science describes how the 2006 survey was administered, presents 15-year-olds’ achievement scores in science and explains the impact of information communication technologies on both males’ and females’ science skills. While males outperformed females on the computer-based test in all three countries, females in Iceland and males in Denmark performed better than their counterparts on the paper-and-pencil test. The evidence shows that, overall, males are more confident and use computers more frequently. While females tend to use the Internet more for social networking activities, males tend to browse the Internet, play games and download software.
Readers will also learn how students reacted to the electronic questionnaire and how it compared with pencil-and-paper tests. In general, there were no group differences across test methods buts students enjoyed the computer-based test more than the paper-and-pencil test.
PISA 2009 at a Glance is a companion publication to PISA 2009 Results, the six-volume report on the 2009 survey conducted by the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA assesses the extent to which students near the end of compulsory education have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in modern societies. Its triennial assessments of 15-year-olds focus on reading, mathematics and science.
PISA 2009 at a Glance provides easily accessible data on the some of the main issues analysed in the full report:
- What students know and can do: How do students compare in the knowledge and skills they show at school? Which countries are the best performers? Which perform poorly?
- Overcoming social background: Does a student’s socio-economic background affect his or her performance in school?
- Learning to learn: Are there some types of reading, and some ways of learning, that are better for students than others?
- What makes a school successful?: What traits do high-performing schools have in common?
Each issue is presented on a two-page spread. The left-hand page explains what the issue means both for students and for participating countries and economies, discusses the main findings and provides readers with a roadmap for finding out more in other OECD publications and databases. The right-hand page contains clearly presented charts and tables, accompanied by dynamic hyperlinks (StatLinks) that direct readers to the corresponding data in Excel™ format.
PISA 2009 at a Glance is an ideal introduction to PISA and to the OECD’s rich trove of internationally comparable data on education and learning.
This first volume of PISA 2009 survey results provides comparable data on 15-year-olds' performance on reading, mathematics and science across 65 countries. The volume opens with an introduction explaining what PISA is and how PISA 2009 is different from previous PISA surveys. The introduction also explains what PISA 2009 measures and how. A reader's guide provides information needed to interpret the data. Chapter 2 provides a summary of the findings related to performance in reading, the focus of the 2009 survey. Chapter 3 provides a summary of the findings related to performance in mathematics and science. A final chapter explores policy implications in five areas: low performance, pursuing excellence, strengths and weaknesses in different kinds of reading, student performance in math and science, and the potential to improve performance across the world. Annexes provide detailed statistical data and technical information.
Volume III of PISA 2009 results examines 15-year-olds’ motivation, their engagement with reading and their use of effective learning strategies. The book opens with an introduction to PISA and a reader's guide to help user's understand the findings. Chapter 1 examines how engaging in reading activities and approaching learning positively relates to reading proficiency. Chapter 2 examines how much students read for enjoyment, what they read, and how much they enjoy reading. Chapter 3 examines the extent to which reading and learning habits relate to performance differences between boys and girls. The final chapter discusses the policy implications of the findings. Annexes provide detailed statistical data and technical information.
This book presents the theory behind the development of the 2009 PISA survey. The re-worked and expanded framework for reading literacy includes not only the assessment of reading and understanding printed texts, but also an innovative component to assess how well students read, navigate and understand electronic texts. Additionally, this publication provides the basis for measuring mathematical and scientific competencies. Finally, it presents the theory behind the questionnaires used to gather information from students, schools and parents on students’ home backgrounds, students’ approaches to learning and school learning environments.
Learning for Jobs is an OECD study of vocational education and training (VET) designed to help countries make their VET systems more responsive to labour market needs.
The Czech Republic has done much to improve its VET system through the introduction of a new qualification system and a national standardised exam in apprenticeship programmes, among other initiatives. The Czech VET system is supported by an impressive date base on labour market outcomes of education and training. At the same time, the general skills of apprenticeship graduates are poor and their situation in the labour market is fragile. Students also need better information about career choices, and the provision of workplace training is highly variable.
The OECD review assesses the main challenges faced by the VET system and presents an interconnected package of policy recommendations. For each recommendation, the report describes the challenge, the recommendation itself, supporting arguments, and issues of implementation.