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ForewordThe OECD Directorate for Education and Skills helps individuals and nationsto identify and develop the knowledge and skills that drive better jobs andbetter lives, generate prosperity and promote social inclusion. We encouragecountries to compare their experiences and learn from each other, andwe accompany them in the difficult process of policy implementation.Our global metrics help countries to see what is possible in education andto set meaningful aspirations in terms of measurable goals achieved bythe world’s education leaders. Our PISA surveys show how much schoolsystems vary in their progress towards equipping learners with the criticalthinking and creative problem-solving skills that are so crucial at a timewhen the kinds of things that are easy to teach and easy to test arealso easiest to digitise, automate and outsource. Through TALIS, we seekto strengthen the teaching profession and to devise more innovativelearning environments with the 21st-century pedagogies that will shape21st-century learners.Our aspiration is to help every learner, every parent, every teacher and everypolicy maker see that only the sky is the limit to improving education - andthat improving education is the key to a better and fairer society.Andreas SchleicherDirector for Education and Skills, and Special Advisoron Education Policy to the Secretary-General1OECD EDUCATION & SKILLS

Performance & equityMean PISA scorein mathematicsOECDaverageStrength of the relationshipbetween performance andsocio-economic status is abovethe OECD averageStrength of the relationship betweenperformance and socio-economicstatus is not statistically significantlydifferent from the OECD averageStrength of the relationship betweenperformance and socio-economicstatus is below the OECD average600Shanghai-ChinaChinese TaipeiSingaporeHong Kong-China550500450400350KoreaAustriaLiechtensteinSwitzerlandCzech RepublicJapanNetherlandsBelgiumPolandSloveniaGermanyEstoniaDenmarkViet NamFinlandFranceIreland Australia CanadaNew ZealandIcelandUnited KingdomPortugalLatviaSpainItalyNorwayLuxembourgUnitedSwedenSlovak HungaryIsraelLithuaniaStatesCroatiaRussian FederationRepublicTurkeyBulgariaGreeceUnited Arab EmiratesSerbiaRomaniaMalaysiaKazakhstanChileThailandUruguayCosta RicaArgentinaMexicoMontenegroJordanBrazilQatarPeruColombiaTunisiaIndonesiaMacao-ChinaOECDaverage25%20% 15% 10% 5% 0%LessequityPercentage of variation in performance explainedby the PISA index of economic,social and cultural statusGreaterequity

Measuring education and skillsopportunities and outcomesIt is crucial that decisions abouteducation policy are made basedon the best evidence possible.The triennial Programme for International StudentAssessment (PISA) studies the extent to which15-year-old students nearing the end of compulsoryeducation have acquired the key knowledge and skillsthat are essential for full participation in modernsocieties. PISA tests students’ creative and criticalthinking skills and their capacity to apply what theyhave learned in reading, mathematics, science and 21stcentury,real-world skills. It also measures how equitablycountries offer education opportunities to their youngcitizens, and gathers information about students’ socialand emotional skills and students’ attitudes towardslearning. The assessment allows countries to comparetheir education policies and practices with those of thehighest-performing and rapidly improving systems inthe world and to learn from the comparisons.The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECDProgramme for the International Assessmentof Adult Competencies (PIAAC), can be seen asa kind of “PISA for adults”. The survey measuresadults’ proficiency in the key foundation skills –literacy, numeracy and the ability to solve problemsin technology-rich environments – that adults use inthe workplace, at home and in their communities.It also gathers information on the degree to which theseskills, as well as some “soft” skills, like communicatingand working with others, are actually used, and theirrelationship with social and economic outcomes.Analysis of data from the Survey of Adult Skillsgives participating countries a good indication ofthe strengths and weaknesses in their workforce – andwhere their education and training systems have roomfor improvement.Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators offersa snapshot of the state of education in more than40 countries. This annual compendium of statisticscovers the structure, finances and performance ofeducation systems, describes who participates inand benefits from education, and examines the schoolenvironment.7OECD EDUCATION & SKILLS

Teachers’ needs for professional developmentPercentage of lower secondary teachersreporting that they have a high needfor professional development in:18%New technologiesin the workplace19%ICT skills for teaching8%Knowledgeof thecurriculum9%Schoolmanagementand administration9%Knowledge andunderstandingof the subjectfield(s)13%Student behaviourand classroommanagement12%Approachesto individualisedlearning22%Teaching studentswith special needs12%Teaching ina multiculturalor multilingualsetting 11%Student careerguidance andcounselling11%Student evaluationand assessmentpractice10%Teachingcross-curricularskills9%Pedagogicalcompetencies inteaching subjectfield(s)10%Approaches todeveloping crossoccupationalcompetencies forfuture work orfuture studies

Opening the “black box”of learning processesAn understanding of howstudents learn and howteachers teach is at the coreof education policy.The youngest of our citizens deserve the best possiblestart in life. Since many OECD countries have increasedpublic spending on early childhood education andcare in recent years, the Directorate for Education andSkills is investing more to develop data to help countriesevaluate the effectiveness – and cost-effectiveness– of their policies and practices. A staff survey willelicit information on the qualifications, professionaldevelopment, practices and working conditions amongstaff of early childhood education facilities. The OECDis also investigating ways to assess and comparechild outcomes, both cognitive and socio-emotional,internationally. The data from both the staff surveyand the child outcomes work will enable policy makersand others to identify the factors that influence thequality and equity of early education. In addition, thedirectorate offers countries in-depth, customisedreviews of their early childhood education and carepolicies and provision. The current focus is on howwell children make the transition from pre-primary toprimary education.Since the quality of an education system dependslargely on the quality of its teaching, the OECD gathersinformation about today’s teachers with the aimof helping countries build a high-quality teachingprofession. The Teaching and Learning InternationalSurvey (TALIS) examines teachers’ work and attitudes,and the role of school leaders. Teachers and schoolleaders in lower secondary schools in 34 countries andeconomies participated in the most recent survey in2013. Some countries also surveyed teachers in primaryand upper secondary education, and those teachingin the schools that participated in PISA in 2012. TALISis also examining initial teacher preparation acrosscountries, and is developing a video study that aims togo beyond teachers’self-reports to record and measure teaching practicesin the classroom. In addition, the InnovativeTeaching for Effective Learning project is investigatingthe issue of teacher quality by studying teachers’9OECD EDUCATION & SKILLS

Opening the “black box” of learning processespedagogical knowledge base and how new knowledge isincorporated into the teaching profession.Every year since 2011, the OECD, Education International,and OECD and partner countries convene anInternational Summit on the Teaching Professionwhere education ministers, union leaders and otherteacher leaders gather to discuss the kinds of policyresponses required to improve teaching and learning.Much of the discussion is informed by data and analysisfrom TALIS and PISA.The PISA-based Test for Schools is a studentassessmenttool geared for use by schools and networksof schools to support research, benchmarking and schoolimprovementefforts. The assessment allows schoolsto compare themselves with other schools operating insimilar socio-economic environments in their country,as well as with schools in other education systems.It provides descriptive information and analyses about15-year-old students’ skills in reading, mathematicsand science, and about how they apply those skills.The assessment also gathers information about students’socio-economic background, their attitudes towardslearning, and the learning environment in school, andhow all of these are associated with student performance.The aim of the project is to provide local, nationaland international peer-to-peer learning opportunities,including a way of sharing good practices to identify“what works” to improve learning.The Centre for Effective Learning Environments(CELE) Learning Environments EvaluationProgramme (LEEP) produces instruments andanalyses that inform school leaders, researchers, policymakers and others about how investments in thelearning environment, including the physical learningenvironment and technologies, translate into bettereducation, health, social and well-being outcomes, andlead to more efficient use of education resources.Recognising the importance of higher educationin developing highly skilled adults, and the share ofcountries’ public and private resources allocated to thissector, the directorate will begin new work in 2015focused on system-level performance. Among the issuesto be addressed are how to benchmark performance ofhigher education systems, how to respond to emergingtrends, such as MOOCs and globalisation, and how toensure that higher education is relevant to the labourmarket and financially sustainable.OECD EDUCATION & SKILLS 10

The directorate’s work on higher education alsoincludes the Assessment of Higher EducationLearning Outcomes (AHELO) project, which aimsto help countries improve their systems of highereducation by evaluating student performance atthat level across the globe, and the OECD HigherEducation Programme (IMHE), which is a forum inwhich representatives of higher education institutionsexchange experiences and benefit from shared reflectionon the issues that concern them. The Programme’swork includes monitoring and analysing policy making,gathering data, and sharing new ideas.Given shrinking public budgets, shifting demographicsand the growing importance of education in knowledgebasedsocieties, countries also need to consider howto provide the best learning opportunities to achievethe best learning outcomes equitably and efficiently.A major new project on the effective use of resourcesexamines and develops policy advice on the use,distribution and management of resources for educationat the school level.11OECD EDUCATION & SKILLS

Correlation between labour productivityand the use of reading skills at workGDP per hourworked (in USD)The line isthe best linearprediction.3.8NetherlandsGermanyIrelandDenmarkNorwayUnitedStates3.6ItalySpainAustriaSwedenAustraliaFinland3.4Slovak RepublicJapanCanadaEngland/N. Ireland (UK)3.2PolandCzechRepublicEstoniaKoreaLessUse of reading skills at workMore

Assisting countries with policydevelopment and implementationA well-formulated, responsiveeducation policy will not deliverresults if it is not implementedeffectively.OECD and partner countries look to our expertise toreview their education and skills systems and assistthem in developing and implementing policies toimprove those systems. We help in various ways.Our web-based, data-rich EducationGPS gives policymakers, researchers and the general public easy accessto nearly all of our statistics and information oneducation at the click of a mouse. Our Education PolicyOutlook provides systematic comparative analysis oneducation policies and reforms across OECD countries.In combination with national country profiles, it showshow different countries respond to the challenges facingtheir education systems.We also produce country notes that summarise acountry’s performance against certain key indicators.Deeper analysis is offered in individual countryreviews of specific policy areas, such as evaluation andassessment, the effective use of resources, or vocationaleducation and training.On a broader scale, the directorate conducts widerangingdiagnostic reviews of national policy oneducation, using its stock of comparative evidence andexpertise, and co-ordinates the OECD’s collaborationwith countries to build a “whole-of-government”approach to their national skills strategies,formulating and adopting skills policies at national,regional and local levels.Tailor-made reviews are prepared for countries thathave specific requests, such as advice on implementinga new policy, evaluating recent reforms, or helpingto build capacity. While addressing the specific needs ofa given country, this work also builds a shared knowledgebase that benefits all OECD and partner countries.Beyond accompanying countries in their national reformefforts, our Governing Complex Education Systemsprogramme aims to build more adaptable and resilientinstitutions and help education systems becomesmarter and more efficient. It works to reinforce trustand improve equity by building collaborative networksamong all stakeholders in society.And a new pilot project, Transforming Schoolsinto Learning Organisations, aims to examine whyeducation reform is too often unsuccessful, and howto improve schools’ ability to effect change. The pilotproject will focus on two or three education systems,with the aim of expanding the survey to include manymore countries in the coming years.15OECD EDUCATION & SKILLS

Exploring new frontiersand approachesGlobal reach has been anintegral part of the OECDmission from its beginning.Partner countries’ involvementin OECD work is mutuallybeneficial and essential forkeeping the OECD inclusiveand relevant.In the wake of the recent global economic downturn,the OECD launched a new programme to reflect onthe roots of, and lessons learned from, the crisis.The programme, entitled New Approaches toEconomic Challenges (NAEC), seeks to helpcountries identify the trade-offs, complementaritiesand unintended consequences of their policy choices,and improve and better target the OECD’s policyadvice. In the spirit of NAEC, the Education and Skillsdirectorate will use the data gathered by PIAAC tobuild a better understanding of the interrelationshipsamong the skills available – and used – in a country,that country’s productivity and potential forinnovation, and such broader outcomes as socialcohesion and trust.Our Education and Social Progress project aims todevelop a better understanding of how social andemotional skills are shaped. It focuses on the widerbenefits of such skills for both individuals and society,including better jobs, healthier lifestyles, active citizenship,safer societies, and greater life-satisfaction; the powerof social and emotional skills, such as perseverance andresilience, in driving young people’s success in life; andthe role family, school and community play in developingchildren’s skills.After pioneering work on measuring innovationin education, the OECD Centre for EducationalResearch and Innovation (CERI) project, Innovationin Education, will provide countries with a frameworkto assess their progress in developing an innovationecosystem for education, including educational researchand development, a regulatory framework, school andinstitutional organisation, and the use of technology toimprove educational outcomes. CERI’s work on Skillsand Education for Innovation has identified the skillsused by employees holding highly innovative jobs andprovides education policy makers and practitioners withevidence of the effects of different types of curricula,pedagogies and assessments on the development of17OECD EDUCATION & SKILLS

Exploring new frontiers and approachesskills for innovation. After producing reports on how tofoster skills for innovation through arts education, mathand science education, and problem-based learning,the directorate will synthesise this work and beginexploratory work on assessing creative and criticalthinking skills in formal education settings.Our publication Trends Shaping Education offersan overview of key economic, social, demographicand technological trends, and raises questions abouttheir potential impact on education. It aims to informstrategic thinking and stimulate reflection and discussionon the challenges facing education, whether in schools,universities or in programmes for older adults.The Directorate for Education and Skills is exploring newfrontiers geographically too. The OECD engages witha large number of economies outside its membership,which it refers to as partner countries. Many areactively involved in core OECD activities, for example asparticipants or associates in OECD committees, workinggroups or expert groups. Several key partners, namelyBrazil, China, India, Indonesia and South Africa, havecomprehensive relations with the OECD. The Educationand Skills directorate conducts periodic surveys ofthe education systems of partner countries as well asmember countries.In addition, the PISA for Development project aimsto increase participation in the triennial assessmentof 15-year-olds among developing countries. To doso, the OECD is developing enhanced PISA surveyinstruments that are more relevant for the contextsfound in developing countries, but that producescores that can be compared on the same scales asthe main PISA assessment. The pilot project, whichinvolves seven countries from the developing world,several development partners (members of the OECDDevelopment Assistance Committee, the World Bank,UNESCO, UNICEF and other UN bodies and regionalorganisations) and the OECD, is also developing a way toinclude 15-year-olds who are not enrolled in school.OECD EDUCATION & SKILLS 18

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Our staffThe OECD Directoratefor Education andSkills delivers its workthrough four divisionsguided by a commonset of strategicobjectives.Andreas SchleicherDirector for Educationand Skills, and Special Advisoron Education Policy to theSecretary-GeneralYuri BelfaliDivision HeadEarly Childhood and SchoolsThe division aims to enrichthe international evidence base onschools and early childhood settingsin order to develop targeted policyadvice to countries for improvingthe quality, equity and efficiency oflearning opportunities. Key resourcesare the Programme for InternationalStudent Assessment (PISA)and the Teaching and LearningInternational Survey (TALIS).OECD EDUCATION & SKILLS 20

Dirk Van DammeDivision HeadInnovation and MeasuringProgressBringing together the work onmeasuring progress, research andinnovation – mainly organisedthrough the INES (Indicators ofEducational Systems) and CERI(Centre for Educational Researchand Innovation) – the divisionreviews the current state ofeducation, measures progressand innovative developments ineducation, and provides indicatorsand research data upon which otheractivities can be built.Richard YellandDivision HeadPolicy Advice andImplementationDrawing on the data, evidenceand analysis developed by theDirectorate for Education and Skills,the division co-ordinatesthe provision of advice on educationpolicy to OECD members and othercountries, both collectively andindividually, across all sectors ofeducation.Deborah RoseveareDivision HeadSkills Beyond SchoolWith skills now at the forefrontof the OECD policy agenda,the division’s work spans measuringadult skills, policy-relevant analysesof the development and use ofskills among youth and adults, andadvice to countries on building moreeffective skills systems at national,regional and local levels. The divisionalso offers analysis and policyadvice on building skills throughmore effective vocational educationand training and higher education.21OECD EDUCATION & SKILLS

Write to usDirectorate for Education and SkillsOECD2, rue André Pascal 75775Paris Cedex 16 FRANCEedu.contact@oecd.orgVisit our websitewww.oecd.org/eduExplore our data on educationand skillsgpseducation.oecd.orgRead our books on linewww.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/booksSubscribe to our online librarywww.oecd-ilibrary.orgOrder our publicationsOECD online bookshop:www.oecd.org/bookshopConnect with us onEducationtoday: Global perspectives on Educationoecdeducationtoday.blogspot.frTwitter: @OECD_EduSubscribe to our newsletterwww.oecd.org/edu/newsletter.htm