Education at a Glance 2002

Abstract

Compelling incentives for individuals, economies and societies to raise levels of education have been the driving force behind increased participation in a widening range of learning activities -by people of all ages, from earliest childhood to advanced adulthood.As the demand for learning spreads and becomes more diverse, the challenge for governments is to ensure that the nature and types of learning opportunities respond in a cost-effective manner to real, dynamic needs.In searching for effective education policies that enhance individuals' social and economic prospects, provide incentives for greater efficiency in schooling and help to mobilise resources in order to meet rising demands for education, governments are paying increasing attention to international comparisons.Through co-operation within the OECD framework, countries are seeking to learn from each other about how to overcome barriers to investment in education and to secure the benefits of education for all, how to foster competencies for the knowledge society, and how to manage teaching and learning in order to promote learning throughout life. …better information on disparities in individual and institutional performance improves the examination of equity …better information on disparities in individual and institutional performance improves the examination of equity issues in the provision and outcomes of education,… issues in the provision and outcomes of education,…A growing proportion of the indicators now looks beyond aggregate country performance and incorporates variations within countries that allow an examination of issues of equity in the provision and outcomes of education on dimensions such as gender, age, socio-economic background, type of institution, or field of education.…and a new organising framework for the indicators makes them easier to use .…and a new organising framework for the indicators makes them easier to use .The OECD education indicators are being progressively integrated into a new framework.This framework:• distinguishes between the actors in education systems: individual learners, instructional settings and learning environments, educational service providers, and the education system as a whole;• groups the indicators according to whether they speak to learning outcomes for individuals and countries, policy levers or circumstances that shape these outcomes, or to antecedents or constraints that set policy choices into context; and• identifies the policy issues to which the indicators relate, with three major categories distinguishing between the quality of educational outcomes and educational provision, issues of equity in educational outcomes and educational opportunities, and the adequacy and effectiveness of resource management.Instructional settings 2. The quality of instructional delivery 6.Pedagogy and learning practices and classroom climate 10.Student learning conditions and teacher working conditions Education providers 3. The output of educational institutions and institutional performance 7. School environment and organisation 11.Characteristics of the service providers and their communities Education system as a whole 4. The overall performance of the education system 8. System-wide institutional settings, resource allocations, and policies 12.The national educational, social, economic, and demographic context• The proportion of individuals in the population who have not completed upper secondary education has been falling in almost all OECD countries, and rapidly in some.In all but five OECD countries, the ratio of upper secondary graduates to the population at the typical age of graduation now exceeds 70 per cent, and in many countries, it exceeds 90 per cent (p.32).• An average of 26 per cent of persons at the typical age of graduation complete the tertiary-type A level of education.This figure ranges from about one-third or more in Australia, Finland, Iceland, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States, to less than 20 per cent in Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy and Switzerland (p.42).• Among older age groups, women have attained lower levels of upper secondary education than men, but for younger people, this pattern is now reversing.Today, graduation rates for women exceed those for men in most countries (p.34).• In the humanities, arts, education, health and welfare, more than two-thirds of the tertiary-type A graduates are women, on average in OECD countries, whereas it is less than one-third in mathematics and science and less than one-quarter in engineering, manufacturing and construction (p.58).• The adult population now possesses a greater stock of university-level skills, but most of this increase is due to significant increases in tertiary graduation rates in a comparatively small number of countries (p.43).• On average, one-third of OECD students drop out before they complete their first tertiary-level degree (p.44).• On average, differences in the performance of 15-year-olds between schools account for 36 per cent of the OECD average variation in student performance, but this proportion varies from 10 per cent in Finland and Sweden to more than 50 per cent in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy and Poland (p.85). …equity in educational opportunities and outcomes… …equity in educational opportunities and outcomes…Students come from a variety of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds.Schools must therefore provide appropriate and equitable opportunities for a diverse student body.Diverse backgrounds and interests can enhance a learning environment but heterogeneous levels of ability and differences in school preparedness increase the challenges of meeting the needs of students from very different socio-economic backgrounds.To pursue this policy issue, Indicators A9 and A10 examine the relationship between student performance in reading literacy and their parents' occupational status, place of birth, and the language spoken at home.Although these characteristics do not lend themselves directly to educational policy, identifying the characteristics of the students most likely to perform poorly can help educators and policymakers locate areas for policy intervention.If it can be shown that some countries find it easier than others to accommodate different background factors, important policy insights can be generated and used in other countries.• 15-year-olds whose parents have higher-status jobs show higher literacy performance on average but the advantage is much greater in some countries than in others, particularly in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland (p.99).• Socio-economic background remains one of the most powerful factors influencing performance.Some countries, however, most notably Canada, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Japan and Korea, demonstrate that high average quality and social equity in educational outcomes can go together (p.99).• In most countries with significant immigrant populations, first-generation 15-year-olds read well below the level of native students even if they were themselves born in the country, but the disadvantage varies widely across countries (p.105).• Not surprisingly, students who do not speak the majority language at home perform much less well than students who do.In all countries, these students are much more likely to score among the lowest quarter of students, but again, the disadvantage varies widely across countries (p.106).…and the returns to education for individuals and society.…and the returns to education for individuals and society.As levels of skill tend to rise with educational attainment, the social costs incurred when those with higher levels of education do not work also rise; and as populations in OECD countries age, higher and longer participation in the labour force can lower dependency ratios and help to alleviate the burden of financing public pensions.Indicators A11 and A12 examine the relationship between educational attainment and labour force activity, comparing rates of participation in the labour force first, and then rates of unemployment.Markets also provide incentives to individuals to develop and maintain appropriate levels of skills through wage differentials, especially through higher earnings for persons completing additional education.Acquiring higher levels of education can also be viewed as an investment in human capital, which includes the stock of skills that individuals maintain or develop, through education or training, and then offer, …the resources that each country invests in education relative to its number of students enrolled… …the resources that each country invests in education relative to its number of students enrolled…Effective schools require the right combination of trained and talented personnel, adequate facilities, stateof-the-art equipment, and motivated students ready to learn.The demand for high-quality education, however, can translate into higher costs per student, and must therefore be weighed against undue burdens for taxpayers.No absolute standards exist for measuring the per student resources needed to ensure optimal returns for individual students or society as a whole.Nonetheless, international comparisons can• As a whole, OECD countries spend US$ 4 229 per primary student, US$ 5 174 per secondary student, and US$ 11 422 per tertiary student.These averages mask a broad range of expenditure across countries, however (p.148).• On average, OECD countries spend 2.3 times as much per student at the tertiary level as at the primary level (p.154).• In some OECD countries, low annual expenditure per tertiary-level student still translates into high overall costs of tertiary education, because of the length of studies (p.154).• At the tertiary level, education spending has not always kept pace with rapidly expanding enrolments.• Lower unit expenditure cannot automatically be equated with poorer quality educational servic

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