Annex A. The OECD Review of Policies to Improve the Effectiveness of Resource Use in Schools
The OECD Review of Policies to Improve the Effectiveness of Resource Use in Schools (also referred to as the School Resources Review) is designed to respond to the strong interest in the effective and equitable use of school resources evident at national and international levels. It provides analysis and policy advice on how to govern, distribute and manage resources so that they contribute to achieving countries’ educational objectives. School resources are understood in a broad way, including financial resources (e.g. monetary transfers, school funding mechanisms), human resources (e.g. distribution of teachers, school leaders, education administrators), physical resources (e.g. organisation of buildings and places, school networks and clusters), and other resources (e.g. learning and teaching time).
Eighteen education systems are actively engaged in the review. These cover a wide range of economic and social contexts, and among them they illustrate quite different approaches to the use of resources in school systems. This allows a comparative perspective on key policy issues. Participating countries prepare a detailed background report, following a standard set of guidelines. Some of the participating countries have also opted for a detailed review, undertaken by a team consisting of members of the OECD Secretariat and external experts. The participating countries are (in bold those that have opted for an individual review): Austria, Belgium (Flemish Community), Belgium (French Community), Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Uruguay.
Thematic comparative reports synthesise the project’s major findings on school resource policies. These reports bring together evidence from research and country practice to explore policy options for governments to consider. The first thematic report, The Funding of School Education: Connecting Resources and Learning published in 2017 systematically analyses school funding policies. The second thematic report, Responsive School Systems: Connecting Facilities, Sectors and Pathways for Student Success will be published in autumn 2018.
The project is overseen by the Group of National Experts on School Resources, which was established as a subsidiary body of the OECD Education Policy Committee in order to guide the methods, timing and principles of the review.
More details are available from the website dedicated to the review: www.oecd.org/education/schoolresourcesreview.htm.