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Are schools ready to join the technological revolution? (OECD Education Today Blog)

When it comes to technology, education seems stuck in the age of chalkboards. But at an international conference on technology in education, held in Qingdao, China, last week, I got the feeling that educators and education ministers might finally be ready to join the technological revolution.




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Lessons learned in Lyon (OECD Education Today Blog)

At the OECD, we tend to look at French education through the lens of statistics. These show one of the largest gaps between the learning outcomes of children from poor and wealthy families. And the opportunity gap keeps widening.




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No one left behind? (OECD Education Today Blog)

When societies move forward, not everyone benefits in the same way or to the same extent. Some social groups change faster than others, while other groups risk falling behind. Change in education is no exception. In understanding social change it is critically important not only to look at the average change, but also to look at how change affects the entire population.




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It's a matter of trust (OECD Education Today Blog)

Studies show that interpersonal trust is fundamental for promoting the resilience of our societies, but many individuals say that they have little trust in others.




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Are we getting returns on our investments in education? (OECD Education Today Blog)

Countries and economies participating in PISA have invested substantial resources and used a wide variety of strategies during the past ten years to improve the quality of their schools. Have these efforts paid off?




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What computer skills can do for you (OECD Education Today Blog)

Information and communication technologies (ICT) permeate every aspect of our lives, from how we work, to how we “talk” with friends, to how we participate in political processes. But what are the returns to “digital skills” – the capacity to use digital devices and applications to access and manage information and solve problems – on the labour market? Do they help land a job or earn higher wages?




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Are vocational programmes preparing school leavers for a risky job market? (OECD Education Today Blog)

One of the most dramatic consequences of the economic crisis has been the soaring levels of youth unemployment in several OECD countries; and the hesitant recovery of the past years was insufficient to improve the job prospects of young people.




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Easing the learning journey for immigrant students (OECD Education Today Blog)

Between 2003 and 2012, the percentage of students who were raised in immigrant families grew by around 3 percentage points across OECD countries. At the same time, as this month’s PISA in Focus notes, migration policies in some countries became increasingly selective while education outcomes in many countries of origin improved considerably.




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Teachers in the digital world (OECD Education Today Blog)

The use of ICT for students’ projects or class work is an active teaching practice that promotes skills for students’ lifelong success.




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How to help adult learners learn the basics (OECD Education Today Blog)

Research shows that programmes to improve adults’ basic skills need to use awareness-raising measures (like the adult education weeks promoted in Denmark and Finland) and national campaigns (as conducted in France and Luxembourg) to encourage interested, but reluctant adults to participate.




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Breaking down the silo: connecting education to world trends (OECD Education Today Blog)

Did you ever wonder if education has a role to play in stemming the obesity epidemic sweeping across all OECD countries? Or what the impact of increasing urbanisation might be on our schools, families, and communities?




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Future Shock (OECD Education Today Blog)

Education occurs in many forms; it’s not the same as schooling.




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What do youth think? (OECD Education Today Blog)

Interview with Allan Päll - Secretary General of the European Youth Forum




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What are the risks of missing out on upper secondary education? (OECD Education Today Blog)

In just a couple of decades, upper secondary schooling has been transformed from a vehicle towards upward social mobility into a minimum requirement for life in modern societies.




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Education Indicators in Focus No. 34 - What are the advantages today of having an upper secondary qualification?

In most OECD countries, the large majority of adults had at least an upper secondary qualification in 2013, making the completion of upper secondary education the minimum threshold for successful labour market entry and continued employability or the pursuit of further education.




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Denmark: Still worth getting to (OECD Education Today Blog)

An open, liberal economy combined with redistribution and social welfare: The Danish model has largely weathered the storm of the financial and euro crises. Yet, when looking at education and integration, not all is rosy in the Kingdom of Denmark.




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(Learning) time is on their side (OECD Education Today Blog)

Got a minute? How about 218 of them? That’s the average amount of time students in OECD countries spend in mathematics class each week (although to some, it feels like an eternity). Spare a thought, though, for students in Chile: they spend about twice that amount of time (400 minutes, or 6 hours and 40 minutes) each week in maths class. But who’s counting?




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Back – and looking ahead – to school (OECD Education Today Blog)

It’s that time of year; and as sure as there are new pencil cases on desks, pristine notebooks in backpacks and fresh textbooks with nary a wrinkle up their spines, there’s a new batch of OECD reports ready to inform and challenge your thinking about education.




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Students, computers and learning: Where’s the connection? (OECD Education Today Blog)

Totally wired. That’s our image of most 15-year-olds and the world they inhabit. But a new, ground-breaking report on students’ digital skills and the learning environments designed to develop those skills, paints a very different picture.




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Classroom practices and teachers’ beliefs about teaching (OECD Education Today Blog)

Every September, classrooms in the Northern hemisphere reopen to students and teachers for a new school year.




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Spain’s future prosperity depends on skills (OECD Education Today Blog)

Spain is emerging from a challenging period. The good news is that the economy has returned to moderate growth and unemployment rates are falling. Yet Spain’s progress along the path to inclusive growth may well falter if steps are not taken today to boost skills outcomes.




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Are the world’s schools making inequality worse? (OECD Education Today Blog)

The answer appears to be yes. Schooling plays a surprisingly large role in short-changing the most economically disadvantaged students of critical math skills, according to a study published today in Educational Researcher, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association.




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Does social background thwart aspirations for higher education? (OECD Education Today Blog)

Since the mid-1900s, the expansion of higher education systems has opened up opportunities for many students other than those from the elites. Higher education became the main route towards upward social mobility.




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It’s a matter of self-confidence (OECD Education Today Blog)

A sense of self-efficacy is essential if students are to fulfil their potential. Yet too many students, particularly disadvantaged students, do not have confidence in their ability to tackle mathematics tasks.




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The innovation imperative and the design of learning systems (OECD Education Today Blog)

Education has become increasingly important worldwide, including politically. Probably the key driver for this is economic – the fundamental role of knowledge and skills in underpinning and maintaining prosperity.




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Knowledge is power: ensuring quality early childhood education and care provision (OECD Education Today Blog)

The latest report in the OECD’s Starting Strong series reviews the monitoring systems of 24 jurisdictions and reveals that monitoring does not merely encompass regulatory compliance but is moving towards better understanding what is happening inside an ECEC setting and how a child develops in several areas.




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Korea’s future prosperity depends on skills (OECD Education Today Blog)

The Korean economy has seen significant growth in the past decades. However, much of the economic growth has been supported by intensive labour resource utilisation. Korean workers work the second longest hours among OECD countries. This is not sustainable in the long-term because Korea’s working age population is projected to decline from 2017 onwards.




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Now more than ever (OECD Education Today Blog)

It is difficult for us here in Paris to think about much else beside the innocents who lost their lives last week during the senseless, brutal attack that shook our city. Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones; our spirit remains firmly fixed on the values we cherish: liberté, égalité, fraternité.




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How can we compare education systems that are so different? (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Education systems are not static; they change. There have been some important changes at both ends of the education ladder recently: in early childhood or “pre-primary” education, at one end, and in tertiary or higher education at the other.




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The challenges of widening participation in PISA (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Since 2000, the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has been measuring the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in over 70 countries.




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Opening up to Open Educational Resources (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Technology has indeed entered the classroom; but it has not yet changed the ways we teach and learn to the same extent that it has transformed our way of communicating in the outside world.




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What students don’t want to be when they grow up (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Who wants to be a teacher? As this month’s PISA in Focus shows, in many countries the teaching profession is having a hard time making itself an attractive career choice – particularly among boys and among the highest-performing students.




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Backpacks and belonging: What school can mean to immigrant students (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

How school systems respond to immigration has an enormous impact on the economic and social well-being of all members of the communities they serve, whether they have an immigrant background or not.




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The trends shaping the future of education (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

The OECD's work on Trends Shaping Education looks at major social, demographic, economic and technological trends affecting the future of education. The newest edition of the publication will be released on 18 January.




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Is the gender gap in higher education widening? (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

One of the most remarkable consequences of the expansion of education in OECD countries over the past decades is the reversal of the gender gap in education. From outright exclusion and discrimination in educational institutions less than a century ago, girls and young women have conquered schools and colleges.




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Can students be overconnected? (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Most 15-year-olds in OECD countries spend at least some time each day wandering through cyberspace as part of their media diet.




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21st Century Children (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

What is the nature of modern childhood? Released today, the book Trends Shaping Education 2016 looks at major social, demographic, economic and technological trends affecting the future of education




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Joining the battle against extremism (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Whoever has a hammer sees every problem as a nail. Those in the security business tend to see the answer to radicalism and terrorism in military might, and those in the financial business in cutting flows of money.




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Why do we bother with qualifications? (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Qualifications are useful because they make skills visible. It is confidently assumed that the holder of a school-leaving certificate can read and understand instructions, and make calculations, and that those with university degrees can do much more.




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On target for 21st-century learning? The answers (and questions) are now on line. (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

School leaders are calling the PISA-based Test for Schools one of the better indicators out there of how well students are prepared for 21st century learning.




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Are we failing our failing students? (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

A new PISA report, Low-Performing Students: Why They Fall Behind and How to Help Them Succeed, offers an in-depth analysis of low performance at school and recommends ways to tackle the problem.




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Why teacher professionalism matters (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Teacher professionalism is about a teacher’s knowledge, their autonomy and their membership of peer networks. These are the key elements that lead to more effective teaching.




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How much time is spent on maths and science in primary education? (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Primary school is a fundamental stage in children’s education. Yet it is often neglected in education research and policy debates, somehow squeezed between the seemingly more important stages of early childhood education and secondary education.




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Long-term wellbeing of European societies is at stake (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Children and young people are among the biggest losers in the European economic and debt crisis.




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We can do better on educational reform (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

A generation ago, teachers could expect that what they taught would equip their students with the skills needed for the rest of their lives.




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Is international academic migration stimulating scientific research and innovation? (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Today, around 5 million students study and do research in a country other than their own, attracted by the quality of overseas universities and willing to complement their education portfolio with international experience.




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Learning by heart may not be best for your mind (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Students who avoid making an effort to understand mathematics concepts may succeed in some school environments; but a lack of deep, critical and creative thinking may seriously penalise these students later in life when confronted with real, complex problems.




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How far from the tree does the leaf fall? (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Equality of opportunity is a lofty ideal, but some societies get closer to achieving it than others.




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Making literacy everybody’s business (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Ensuring that all people have solid foundation skills has become one of the central aims of the post-2015 development agenda.




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Colombia’s moment of truth (OECD Education&Skills Today Blog)

Over the past 15 years, Colombia’s education system has undergone an extraordinary transformation.