Valuing diversity, promoting equity and evaluating quality – how can the OECD help?

Barbara IschingerOECD Directorate for Education

European Access NetworkYork, 23 June 2009

Key economic data

• OECD area economic output collapsing

• World trade expected to drop 13%• A highly synchronised recession• Unemployment expected to rise• A social as well as an economic

crisis

Ministerial priorities for equity

• Equity in education matters – even more so in times of economic and social crisis

• Ministers called on OECD to help:– articulate the economic case for

maintaining investments in education– quantify costs of inequalities

• educationtoday: OECD’s education lighthouse for the way out of the crisis

No more failures: ten steps to equity (I)

Design1. Limit early tracking and streaming and

postpone academic selection.2. Manage school choice so as to contain the

risks to equity.3. In upper secondary education, provide

attractive alternatives, remove dead ends andprevent dropout.4. Offer second chances to gain from education.

No more failures: ten steps to equity (I)

Practices5. Identify and provide systematic help to those

who fall behind at school and reduce yearrepetition.6. Strengthen the links between school and

home to help disadvantaged parents help theirchildren to learn7. Respond to diversity and provide for the

successful inclusion of migrants and minoritieswithin mainstream education.

No more failures: ten steps to equity (III)

Resourcing8. Provide strong education for all, giving priority

to early childhood provision and basic schooling.9. Direct resources to the students with the

greatest needs, so that poorer communities have at least the same level of provision as those better-off and schools in difficulty are supported.

10. Set concrete targets for more equity, particularly related to low school attainment and dropouts.

Projected tertiary enrolments in 2025 (2005=100)

Source: OECD, Higher Education 2030, Vol. 1 Demography

Tertiary educational attainment (%) of 25-64 population

Provide effective career guidance and counselling services at the school level

Assess extent and origin of equity issues: Systematic collection of data.

Strengthen the integration of planning, policy and analysis between secondary and tertiary education systems

Diversify the supply of tertiary education to accommodate a more diverse set of learners

Tertiary education for the knowledge society: policy priorities (i)

Intervene much earlier

Raise the profile of equity within national tertiary policy agendas

Source: Tertiary Education for the Knowledge Society (OECD, 2008)

Consider positive discrimination policies for groups whose prior educational disadvantage is well identified

Diversify criteria for admission and give a say to institutions in entrance procedures

Tertiary education for the knowledge society: policy priorities (ii)

Provide incentives for tertiary education institutions to widen participation and provide extra support for students from disadvantaged backgrounds

Special financial incentive for institutions to attract less represented groups; positive discrimination; studies progression support (e.g. tutoring services); adapting the learning environment to account for the diversity of the student body.

Back the overall cost-sharing funding approach with a comprehensive student support system.

• A loan system with income-contingent repayments; a means-tested grants scheme; student aid entitlements to cover living costs

Source: Tertiary Education for the Knowledge Society (OECD, 2008)

Higher Education in regional & city development

2005 – 2007: 14 regions in 12 countries

2008 – 2010: 15 regions in 11 countries

* Reviews are carried out by OECD/ IMHE in co-operation with OECD programmes and directorates and the World Bank.

OECD publication “Higher Education and Regions, Globally Competitive, Locally Engaged”, OECD, 2007

• HE drives growth and innovation in cities and regions and can help them become more innovative and globally competitive

• Reviews of HE in Cities and Regions are OECD’s vehicle to mobilise HEIs for economic social and social development

• They analyse how the HE system impacts on regional and local development and help improve this.

• They draw together HEIs and public and private agencies to identify strategic goals and to work towards them.

• Three rounds of reviews with mounting evidence: Applications now welcome for 2011-2012

Assessing the quality of teaching (AHELO)

• Breaking new ground in comparing what students have learned across countries

• A feasibility study, not a ranking• Looking at both generic skills and

discipline specific skills• Paying attention to the institutional

and individual context• Trying to capture value-added

The educationtoday lighthouse is a new collaborative space to be officially launched at the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting on the 25th of June.The aim is to help the education sector to navigate through the current crisis and shape the post-crisis economy and society, by offering:

• Up-to-the-minute information, evidence and analysis on the impact of the crisis on education, with concrete examples of how governments and institutions in different countries are coping with the crisis.

• Information on high priority issues such as education budgets, education in stimulus packages, how unemployment affects motivation and learning attitudes … and much more.

• An opportunity to contribute to this information sharing platform with other members of the fast-growing OECD social network.

www.oecd.org/edu/lighthouse

To the lighthouse

Thank you

www.oecd.org/edu/higherAnd from 26 June

www.oecd.org/edu/lighthouse