Education Policy Outlook 2018
Putting Student Learning at the Centre
Taking the students’ perspective, Education Policy Outlook 2018: Putting Student Learning at the Centre analyses the evolution of key education priorities and key education policies in 43 education systems. It compares more recent developments in education policy ecosystems (mainly between 2015 and 2017) with various education policies adopted between 2008 and 2014. This report includes around 200 policies spanning from early childhood education and care (ECEC) to higher education and lifelong learning on topics such as: improving the quality and access to ECEC, promoting education success for all students, reducing the negative impact of some system-level policies and practices, increasing completion of upper secondary education, developing quality vocational education and training, enhancing the quality of tertiary education, supporting transitions across education pathways and the labour market.
Finland
In PISA 2015, Finland scored among the highest in the OECD in science, with a mean score of 530 points, compared to the OECD average of 493 points. According to evidence from PISA 2015, performance in science in Finland has declined across PISA cycles, with an average score change of -10.6 points, while performance in reading and mathematics has also decreased. Socio-economic status had lower-than-average impact on science performance, explaining 10% of the variance in performance (OECD average: 12.9%), and the impact of ESCS on performance in science has not changed significantly since 2006. Finland’s performance gap between boys and girls was -19 points, compared to the average difference across the OECD of 4 points. Immigrant students make up 4% of the student population of 15-year-olds in Finland, a lower proportion than the OECD average of 12.5%. Performance differences between immigrant and non-immigrant students are among the highest in the OECD.