2012 ~ Global perspectives on education

Bridging the skills gap

12:00 AM EAG, education outomes, literacy, numeracy, PISA, skills, skills gap, skills shortage, unemployment

by Kathrin HoeckelAnalyst, Skills Beyond Schools Division, Directorate for EducationIf you were to ask someone which countries tend to bear the brunt of a shortage of skills in this era of globalised trade, you couldn't fault them for thinking of developing countries.While this is certainly true, the problem is by no means limited to poorer countries. Indeed, even in countries at the forefront of the developed world and consistently at the top of...

Women’s outcomes in education and employment: strong gains, but more to do

3:07 AM boys, EAG, education at a glance, education indicators, education indicators in focus, education policies, employment, gender, gender gap, girls, graduates, higher education, outcomes, upper secondary, women

by Éric Charbonnier and Corinne HeckmannInnovation and Measuring Progress Division, Directorate for EducationThere’s no denying it: when it comes to education and employment, women are on a roll, all over the world. As described in the latest issue of the OECD’s new brief series Education Indicators in Focus, the achievement gap between boys and girls has narrowed so much at lower levels of education that the focus of concern is now on the...

Teachers Summit highlights need for collective leadership

5:25 AM International Summit on the Teaching Profession, school leadership, schools, TALIS, teachers

by Kristen WeatherbySenior Analyst, Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)Yesterday was the first day of the International Summit on the Teaching Profession in New York City, co-hosted by the US Department of Education, Education International and the OECD. I was lucky enough to be an attendee, along with government and union representatives, teachers and school leaders from 24 countries around the world.The theme of this year’s summit...

A View from the Teachers’ Summit

1:00 AM International Summit on the Teaching Profession, leadership, schools, teacher policies, teachers, unions

By John BangsSpecial consultant on OECD issues forEducation International, the global body for all teachers’ organisationsI have two hopes for this summit: The fact that thenumber of countries and unions participating in the summit this year is up by athird compared with last year reflects the increasing understanding that it isteacher policies that matter. Their ability, their confidence and theirself-efficacy are crucial. I hope that the kind of...

Lessons in learning, amid the rubble

12:00 AM earthquake, Japan, parents, PISA, skills, strong performers, teachers, Tokohku, tsunami

by Barbara IschingerDirector for EducationA school band played for us. It was the best school band I’ve ever heard—and I’ve heard many. It was the true image of hope, team spirit and positive attitudes. For the students, it was the welcome experience of normality.A brass band playing in the midst of vast devastation; a landscape that reminded me of street scenes from my childhood in Germany after the war. But this was just one week ago, in Japan,...

Knowledge and skills are infinite – oil is not

9:21 AM economy, knowledge, labour market, PISA, schools, skills; human capital, social outcomes, wealth

by Andreas SchleicherDeputy Director and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the OECD's Secretary-GeneralAs the bible notes, Moses arduously led the Jews for 40 years through the desert – just to bring them to the only country in the Middle East that had no oil. But Moses may have gotten it right, after all. Today, Israel has an innovative economy and its population enjoys a standard of living most of its oil-rich neighbours don't offer....

How do we keep new teachers teaching?

12:00 AM International Summit on the Teaching Profession, new teachers, schools, TALIS, teachers

by Kristen WeatherbySenior Analyst, Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)In many countries, we read stories in the media about large numbers of teachers – up to half in some countries – leaving the teaching profession before their first five years of teaching are finished. This statistic, exaggerated or not, is often followed by questions such as these:Why are new teachers leaving the profession – seemingly in droves?Does...

Great (Career) Expectations? A Tale of Two Genders

1:52 AM boys, careers, gender, girls, International Women's Day, PISA, TALIS, teachers

by Marilyn AchironEditor, Directorate for EducationInternational Women’s Day (March 8) is always a great occasion to focus on the obvious: that some women have made great strides in recent decades in fulfilling their potential; that there is still a long way to go before all women enjoy true equality in all societies. This month’s edition of PISA in Focus decided to dig a little deeper: given that girls are doing as well as, if not better than,...

Let’s learn a new language

12:00 AM CERI, culture, diversity, globalisation, language, linguistics

by Lynda HaweCommunications Officer, Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI), Directorate for Education How many of you have experienced while travelling, in a country which hosts a foreign language and a different culture, the desperate need to wholeheartedly express yourself? As frantically you watch your intrigued interlocutor return your inadequate efforts with blank looks of total incomprehension! Then, with the support...

“We do things differently here”: evaluation and assessment in New Zealand schools

12:00 AM accountability, assessments, evaluation, national standards, New Zealand, PISA, rankings, schools, teachers, tests

by Deborah NuschePolicy Analyst, Early Childhood and Schools Division, Directorate for EducationNew Zealand’s consistent high performance in the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has sparked international curiosity about the ingredients of its success.New Zealand’s education system is unique in many ways. It has probably gone furthest among OECD countries in allowing schools to run themselves....

Increasing higher education access: one goal, many approaches

2:00 AM access, degrees, EAG, enrolments, entry rates, equity, financial support, higher education, indicators, INES, loans, outcomes, returns, skills, students, tuition fees

by J.D. LaRockSenior Analyst, Innovation and Measuring Progress Division, Directorate for EducationFew would dispute that having a higher education is more important than ever to help people build positive economic futures and strengthen the knowledge economies of countries. Yet as the second issue of the OECD’s new brief series Education Indicators in Focus explains, OECD countries have adopted dramatically different strategies for increasing higher...

Cooking up success: why Finns learn better

12:18 AM administrators, CELE, communities, learning environments, local businesses, managers, parents, partnerships, regions, school leaders, schools, students, teachers

by Hannah von AhlefeldAnalyst, OECD Centre for Effective Learning EnvironmentsHas well-known Finnish cartoonist B. Virtanen hit on the recipe for success in Finland’s exemplary education system? The OECD / CELE conference in Finland this week will reveal all.Consistently, Finnish students have earned top marks from the OECD’s landmark PISA study, which tests the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in more than 70 countries. Finland...

The Future of the Teaching Profession

7:22 AM

by Kristen WeatherbySenior Analyst, Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)Teachers are the focus of media attention in many countries these days. Governments want to see increases in the achievement levels of their students, so naturally the discussion turns to the quality of the teaching and learning in schools and with that, the effectiveness of teachers.What does all of this focused attention–and the accompanying reforms to teacher...

All that money can’t buy

11:45 PM economy, education expenditure, education systems, GDP, investment, PISA, strong performers, students, teachers, tests

by Marilyn AchironEditor, Directorate for Education We can now add something else to the growing list of things money alone can’t buy: love, happiness–and strong performance in PISA. Results from PISA 2009 show that there is a threshold beyond which a country’s wealth is unrelated to its overall score in PISA.Among moderately wealthy economies...

Tackling inequity

2:15 AM disadvantaged, early childhood, education, education at a glance, equity, PISA, pre-primary, quality, socio-economic status

by Barbara IschingerDirector for EducationWhat struck me most about the international roundtable on early childhood education and care that I attended late last month in Oslo was the simple fact that this topic attracted such intense interest. It probably wouldn’t have happened a decade ago. The fact that it’s happening now, even as most of the countries represented at the meeting are in the midst of an economic crisis, is an encouraging sign. It...

Improving equity in education: a critical challenge

1:38 AM disadvantaged, disadvantaged schools, education, equity, failure, grade repetition, Inequality, policies, policy, quality, school choice, school leadership, schools, students

by Ben LevinProfessor University of Toronto and Canada Research Chair in Education Leadership and PolicyImproving equity in student outcomes remains a critical challenge for every country in the OECD. Even those countries with the lowest levels of inequity must still be concerned with gaps in outcomes that are not related to students’ motivation and capacity, while in other countries the inequities are so large as to pose a fundamental challenge...

Higher education: an insurance policy against global downturns

11:32 PM EAG, economic crisis, education at a glance, education indicators, education indicators in focus, figures, global recession, jobs, statistics, tertiary education, unemployment

by J.D. LaRockSenior Analyst, Innovation and Measuring Progress Division, Directorate for EducationDuring the first two years of the economic crisis, unemployment was higher among adults with less education, on average across the OECD zone.With all the economic turmoil of the past several years, have you ever wished you could buy an insurance policy to protect against the effects of a global recession? Well, such a insurance policy already...

Global perspectives on education