Publications & Documents

This paper explores the state of teenage career development in England. It sets out findings from the 2022 round of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a comparative international survey of young people in secondary education. PISA 2022 provides considerable data related to young people’s engagement in, and perceptions of, career development, including information on occupational and educational intentions and participation in career development activities. This paper compares student responses in England to OECD averages, disaggregated by a range of student characteristics, including gender, socio-economic background, academic proficiency and school type attended. This comprehensive analysis finds that in many ways student career development in England compares well with many other OECD countries, particularly countries identified as providing most relevant comparisons. However, analysis of longitudinal cohort studies show that students in England and across the OECD fail to engage sufficiently in career development by the age of 15. In England, students from lower socio-economic backgrounds engage less consistently in career development than their more socially advantaged peers. As in many countries, low performing students in England demonstrate forms of career development that raise particular concerns. The career expectations of all students align poorly with patterns of labour market demand.

Childhood is changing in ways that we are still unpacking, affected by digitalization, globalization and climate change, as well as shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In many OECD education systems, child empowerment is increasingly an explicit aim of policies and practices. But it is often poorly defined, which risks turning it into a mere slogan. With the advancement of children’s rights, children are increasingly being included as stakeholders in decision-making processes. This report gives examples of how children in OECD countries can and do participate in making decisions about issues that affect them. The report examines children's emotional well-being and physical activity, and the role of schools as a physical space to create and support relationships. It also underlines the untapped potential of media education when it comes to seizing opportunities in childhood. Empowering all children to make the most of digital opportunities starts with further narrowing the gap in terms of access to digital tools and the Internet, where inequalities are persistent and pervasive. So, what does child empowerment mean today? Empowered children have the opportunity and ability to act on issues important and relevant to them, can learn by making mistakes, and are key contributors to democracy.

As AI use grows, so do its benefits and risks. These risks can lead to actual harms ('AI incidents') or potential dangers ('AI hazards'). Clear definitions are essential for managing and preventing these risks. This report proposes definitions for AI incidents and related terms. These definitions aim to foster international interoperability while providing flexibility for jurisdictions to determine the scope of AI incidents and hazards they wish to address.

The COVID-19 pandemic posed significant challenges for education systems and students worldwide, particularly impacting vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. In response, OECD education systems implemented a variety of new policies and practices to address these challenges. As the pandemic subsides, there is an urgent need to evaluate the effectiveness of these measures. This assessment is crucial for guiding education systems beyond the pandemic, identifying which policies are worth sustaining, and addressing remaining challenges. In addition, increasing rates of student absenteeism and dropouts pose significant concerns for education systems across the OECD. For many, this trend has exacerbated since the COVID-19 pandemic. It is vital for education systems to share insights on these challenges, foster discussions about effective strategies to address them, and evaluate the efficacy of current approaches. This Policy Brief draws on evidence from the 2023 'Survey on equity and inclusion in education post COVID-19' developed by the Education for Inclusive Societies Project to address two main questions: • Which policies and practices have been evaluated and maintained by education systems post-pandemic? • Are education systems seeing rises in absences and dropouts? How are they responding to these challenges?

Social and Emotional Skills for Better Lives presents results from the OECD’s Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES) 2023. SSES is the largest international effort to collect data on these skills among 10- and 15-year-old students. The report explores how the following skills differ by socio-demographic groups and how they relate to key life outcomes: task performance skills (persistence, responsibility, self-control and achievement motivation); emotional regulation skills (stress-resistance, emotional control and optimism); engaging with others skills (assertiveness, sociability and energy); open-mindedness skills (curiosity, creativity and tolerance); and collaboration skills (empathy and trust). The results show that students’ social and emotional skills – or 21st century skills – are linked to better life outcomes, including academic success, greater life satisfaction, healthier behaviours, less test and class anxiety, and more ambitious career plans. The Survey also finds that these skills are inequitably distributed among students by age, gender, and socio-economic background. SSES 2023 was conducted in Bulgaria, Chile, Peru, Spain, Mexico, Ukraine, Bogotá (Colombia), Delhi (India), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Emilia-Romagna (Italy), Gunma (Japan), Helsinki (Finland), Jinan (China), Kudus (Indonesia), Sobral (Brazil) and Turin (Italy). Results are compared to SSES 2019, which took place before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This policy brief brings together key reflections from the Policy Dialogues in Focus: International Insights for Digital Education Reform in Brazil. This seminar series from the Education Policy Outlook offered federal and subnational policy makers, civil society actors and researchers in Brazil the opportunity to learn from the experiences of six peer education systems (New South Wales (Australia), Chile, Colombia, Ireland, Korea and Mexico). The seminars also provided insights into other relevant international comparative and empirical work from the OECD. The policy brief builds on the main reflections and insights shared by presenters and participants in the seminars, covering four key topics: digital education governance, infrastructure and resources, capacity building and digital learning resources. The brief proposes pointers for policy makers in Brazil to consider when pursuing the design, implementation and monitoring and evaluation of digital education reforms.

Students face a future filled with uncertainty and change. For education systems to continue to remain relevant, they must empower students to navigate these changes and succeed in the future by equipping them with the requisite knowledge, skills, attitudes and values. Teachers are key enablers of this endeavour, and it is imperative that governments and teacher organisations collaborate to support teachers in exploring and enacting pedagogies, and designing learning environments that support student attainment of future-ready competencies, through policies, processes and teacher professional development.

This evolving paper follows a first paper released in 2021 on 'National or regional curriculum frameworks and visualisations'. It presented a compilation of visualisations of curriculum frameworks, main competences and strategic schemes provided by countries and jurisdictions as part of the OECD Education 2030 curriculum analysis work. This paper presents a compilation of visualisations from conceptual frameworks that align with the OECD Learning Framework – OECD Learning Compass 2030, developed by inter-governmental, international organisations, non-governmental associations, or at the school or local level. The OECD Learning Compass 2030 positions itself as an overarching framework, with a taxonomy that serves as a common language for a multitude of audiences and contexts. The paper is an evolving document: new frameworks will be added and updated on a regular basis, in particular with frameworks of those schools, NPOs and other social partners who become part of the OECD Education 2030 multi-stakeholders’ group.

The choice and diversity of upper secondary education create great potential to respond to the needs of Indigenous learners, and high stakes at this level make it critical to promote learners' success. Having historically been marginalized in educational settings around the world, it is essential that Indigenous students receive a supportive environment and the resources to succeed at this level. This policy brief provides reflections on the topic of supporting Indigenous learners in upper secondary education from a Peer Learning Discussion hosted by the OECD’s Above and Beyond: Transitions in Upper Secondary Education project. In December 2021, the project organised an informal discussion with participants from New Zealand and two provinces in Canada (Alberta and Manitoba), focusing on the systems’ experiences of supporting Indigenous learners at this level. This policy brief presents a summary of insights shared during this informal discussion, as well as background on the issues participants raised.

This Education Spotlight, the second in a series of three, presents key lessons and inspiring examples of policy and practice to inform how traditional higher education programmes, like bachelor’s degrees, can effectively cultivate competencies crucial for green and digital innovation. The Spotlight was prepared by the OECD Higher Education Policy Team as part of the Education and Innovation Practice Community (EIPC), an action of the European Union’s New European Innovation Agenda, flagship 4 on 'Fostering, attracting and retaining deep tech talent'. EIPC seeks to bring together peers from policy and practice to advance understanding of the competencies that can trigger and shape innovation for the digital and green transitions, and the mechanisms through which higher education can contribute to their development in secondary education, higher education, and adult upskilling and reskilling.