Despite the fact that education systems have been heavily investing in technology since the early 1980s, international indicators on technology uptake and use in education are missing. This book aims to provide a basis for the design of frameworks, the identification of indicators and existing data sources, as well as gaps in areas needing further research. The contributions stem from an international expert meeting in April 2009 organised by the Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning, in co-operation with OECD (CERI), on benchmarking technology use and effects in education. The contributions clearly demonstrate the need to develop a consensus around approaches, indicators and methodologies. The book is organised around four blocks: contexts of ICT impact assessment in education, state-of-the-art ICT impact assessment, conceptual frameworks and case studies.

Public policies and services, such as education, health, welfare, infrastructure and sanitation, are increasingly developed and provided via different levels of government (national, regional and local), creating co-ordination and governance challenges. This report describes how Brazil’s 33 courts of accounts can use their oversight function – including audits – to help make such decentralised policies more effective and coherent. It presents the results of a 3-year project to improve how the courts can work together, using the area of education as a pilot for testing the use of indicators in the strategic selection of audits. The report offers a model for audit institutions to assess multi-level governance, and explores governance models for stronger collaboration among the courts of accounts in Brazil. These approaches may inspire and inform other supreme audit institutions with responsibilities for auditing decentralised policies and programmes involving central, regional and local governments.

Many countries are struggling to reconcile greater flexibility in school choice with the need to ensure quality, equity and coherence in their school systems. This report provides an international perspective on issues related to school choice, especially how certain aspects of school-choice policies may be associated with sorting students into different schools. A key question fuelling the school-choice debate is whether greater competition among schools results in more sorting of students by ability or socio-economic status. At the macro level, school segregation can deprive children of opportunities to learn, play and communicate with other children from different social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, which can, in turn, threaten social cohesion. The report draws a comprehensive picture of school segregation, using a variety of indicators in order to account for the diversity of the processes by which students are allocated to schools.

The scope of contemporary higher education is wide, and concerns about the performance of higher education systems are widespread. The number of young people with a higher education qualification is expected to surpass 300 million in OECD and G20 countries by 2030. Higher education systems are faced with challenges that include expanding access, containing costs, and ensuring the quality and relevance of provision. The project on benchmarking higher education system performance provides a comprehensive and empirically rich review of the higher education landscape across OECD countries, taking stock of how well they are performing in meeting their education, research and engagement responsibilities.

This report provides an assessment of both the strengths and potential areas for improvement of the education system of the People’s Republic of China. It articulates the inputs and outputs of China’s education system, brings in up-to-date policies and practices implemented in China, and provides an in-depth analysis on how China’s education system is performing in four overarching dimensions: learning environment, curriculum and teaching practices, student outcomes and education governance. Additionally, this report compares China with other high performing education systems to show the common or divergent patterns between them, offering insights for education systems around the world.

Recognising both the complexity of skills policies and the potential for peer learning, the OECD has developed a global Skills Strategy that helps countries to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their national skills systems, benchmark them internationally, and develop policies that can transform better skills into better jobs, economic growth and social inclusion. This book presents a strategy that will help countries reach the goal of having and making the best use of a high-quality pool of skills. The OECD Skills Strategy shifts the focus from traditional measures of skills, such as years of initial education and training or qualifications attained, to a much broader perspective that includes the skills people can acquire, use and maintain–and also lose–over a whole lifetime. Without sufficient investment in skills, people languish on the margins of society, technological progress does not translate into economic growth, and countries can no longer compete in an increasingly knowledge-based global society. In addition, the book points out that for skills to retain their value, they must be continuously maintained and upgraded throughout life so that people can collaborate, compete and connect in ways that drive economies and societies forward.

Computer-based administration of large-scale assessments makes it possible to collect a rich set of information on test takers, through analysis of the log files recording interactions between the computer interface and the server. This report examines timing and engagement indicators from the Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), both of which indicate large differences across countries and socio-demographic groups, in the amount of time spent by respondents and their levels of disengagement, which reduce the probability of giving a correct answer and consequently reduces measured performance. Such insights can help policy makers, researchers and educators to better understand respondents’ cognitive strategies and the underlying causes of low and high performance. This, in turn, can help improve the design of assessments and lead to more effective training and learning programmes.

This publication aims to identify what works in the policy and practice of adult learning, drawing on the experience of nine OECD countries: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom (England). It defines the features of a desirable system of adult learning, including ways to motivate adults to learn and methods to deliver appropriate services. This book will be indispensable to policy makers and those involved in the practice of adult learning.

Technology is a key driver of educational innovation, and a variety of programmes focusing on investment in infrastructure, equipment, in-service training and digital learning resources have been established to promote its usage in primary and secondary schools. So far, little comparative analytical attention has been devoted to understanding how digital resources improve the quality of learning and to assessing the public policies that support their development and use, and the role played by other stakeholders like publishers, broadcasting companies and increasingly user communities. This publication aims to fill that gap by both reviewing and evaluating the process of systemic innovation. Drawing on case studies from five Nordic countries, the report assembles information on the knowledge bases and policy actors which impact each phase of this innovation process and the main factors which influence its success including governance, financing and user involvement.

This report adds two perspectives on informality. First, it disassembles the mechanics of the deleterious links between informal employment, low-paying work and low skills. It shows that informal employment is highly persistent, and that the vulnerability of informal workers is passed on to their children in the absence of adequate education, skills and social protection policy. Second, the report underscores the double burden of informality and low-paying work that a large share of workers in developing and emerging economies carry, and as such calls for policy solutions that go beyond the formalisation agenda and embrace the goal of social justice.

Australia’s overall performance in the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) ranges from average to very good. However, three million adults, representing one-fifth of the working age population, have low literacy and/or numeracy skills. Building Skills for All in Australia describes the characteristics of the low-skilled and discusses the consequences that low skills have on economic and social development for both individuals and Australian society. The review examines the strengths of the Australian skills system, highlighting the strong basic skills found in the migrant population, widespread proficiency in use of ICT and the positive role of workplaces in skills development. The study explores, moreover, the challenges facing the skills system and what can be done to enhance basic skills through education, training or other workplace measures. One of a series of studies on low basic skills, the review presents new analyses of PIAAC data and concludes with a series of policy recommendations. These include: increasing participation of women in STEM fields, addressing underperformance of post-secondary VET students and preventing drop-out, improving pre-apprenticeships, enhancing mathematics provision within secondary education and tackling poor access to childcare facilities for young mothers.

This report presents the best current evidence about what can make teacher-oriented reforms effective and points to examples of reforms that have produced specific results, show promise or illustrate imaginative ways of implementing change. Its four chapters cover recruitment and initial preparation of teachers; teacher development, support, careers and employment conditions; teacher evaluation and compensation; and teacher engagement in education reform.

In an increasingly digital world, the significance of cyber security for individuals, businesses, and governments has never been greater. Rising cyber attacks are challenging current defence and operational capabilities, highlighting a critical shortage of skilled cyber security professionals. This report delves into the demand for cyber security expertise by analysing online job postings in France, Germany and Poland in between 2018 and 2023. It examines trends in the demand for cyber security professionals, the geographical distribution of job opportunities, and the changing skill requirements in this field. Focusing on France, the report also explores cyber security education and training programmes, the characteristics of the programmes, the demographics of enrolled learners, and their outcomes. Additionally, it reviews French policies and initiatives aimed at broadening the cyber security workforce and enhancing educational opportunities in this field. This comprehensive analysis is part of a larger effort to understand the evolving landscape of cyber security policies and professional experiences worldwide.

As societies become increasingly digital, the importance of cyber security has grown significantly for individuals, companies, and nations. The rising number of cyber attacks surpasses the existing defense capabilities, partly due to a shortage of skilled cyber security professionals. This report delves into the analysis of the demand for cyber security experts in Latin America, using information from online job postings in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. The analysis investigates recent trends in job demand for various cyber security roles, the geographical distribution of cyber security job postings, and the evolving skill requirements in this field. Additionally, the report focuses on the supply side by examining the landscape of cyber security education and training programmes in Colombia. It explores the different types of programmes offered in vocational and higher education, the characteristics of learners enrolled in these programmes, and their outcomes. Lastly, the report examines policies and initiatives implemented in Colombia to enhance the accessibility and relevance of cyber security education and training programmes. This report is part of a broader initiative that examines the evolution of policies and experiences in the cyber security profession around the world.

Education systems can build on school-led micro-innovations during the pandemic to develop more equitable learning. Empowering teachers to be autonomous, actively engaged in designing learning environments, and knowledgeable and dynamic in using multi-modal technology can encourage more peer-to-peer collaboration in schools and enrich pedagogy. This will be crucial in addressing the learning needs of disadvantaged students and boosting science proficiency with the goal of societal equity.

COVID-19 and Well-being: Life in the Pandemic explores the immediate implications of the pandemic for people’s lives and livelihoods in OECD countries. The report charts the course of well-being – from jobs and incomes through to social connections, health, work-life balance, safety and more – using data collected during the first 12-15 months of the pandemic. It also takes stock of what has happened to human, economic, social and natural capital that, beyond their effects on people’s lives today, shape living conditions for years to come. It shows how COVID-19 has had far-reaching consequences for how we live, work and connect with one another, and how experiences of the pandemic varied widely, depending on whether and where people work, their gender, age, race and ethnicity, education and income levels. The report also examines the role that well-being evidence can play in supporting governments’ pandemic recovery efforts. It argues that a well-being lens can prompt policy-makers to refocus on the outcomes that matter the most to people, to redesign policy content from a more multidimensional perspective, to realign policy practice across government silos, and to reconnect people with the public institutions that serve them.