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The main purpose of the OECD's 'Thematic review of tertiary education' is to provide policy makers with information and analysis to assist them in formulating and implementing policies to achieve national social and economic objectives through tertiary education. Its key objectives are to: synthesise research-based evidence on the impact of tertiary education policies and disseminate this knowledge among participating countries; identify innovative and successful policy initiatives and practices; facilitate exchanges of lessons and experiences among countries; and identify future policy options. The review, which involved 24 countries (Australia, Belgium - Flemish Community, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Iceland, Japan, Mexico, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Russian Federation, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), 'examines how the organisation, management and delivery of tertiary education can help countries achieve their economic and social objectives'. As part of the review, each of the participating countries was asked to prepare a country background report. This document is the country background report for the Russian Federation. Its contents are: Introduction: the national context of tertiary education; Overall description of the tertiary education system; The tertiary education system and the labour market; The regional role of tertiary education; The role of tertiary education in research and innovation in Russia; Achieving equity in and through tertiary education; Resourcing the tertiary education system; Planning and regulating of the tertiary education system; Assuring and improving the quality of tertiary education; Internationalization of tertiary education; Conclusion.

Documents from this thematic review are indexed from TD/TNC 89.551 to TD/TNC 89.585. Show less

The increased importance of human capital and the learning that is associated with it has led to a critical need for information about the distribution of knowledge, skills and characteristics that are needed for full participation in modern societies. The OECD, in recognition of this need, initiated the development and implementation of a new international comparative survey of adults named the Survey of Adult Skills, as part of its Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). This document describes the technical aspects of the first phase of the PIAAC cycle.

The contents are as follows: The Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies: an overview / Irwin Kirsch and William Thorn; Section one, 'Assessment and instrument design', contains the following chapters: Assessment design / Irwin Kirsch and Kentaro Yamamoto; The development of the PIAAC cognitive instruments / Mary Louise Lennon and Claudia Tamassia; The development of the PIAAC background questionnaires / Jim Allen, Rolf van der Velden, Susanne Helmschrott, Silke Martin, Natascha Massing, Beatrice Rammstedt, Anouk Zabal and Matthias von Davier; Translation, adaptation, and verification of test and survey materials / Andrea Ferrari, Laura Wayrynen, Dorothee Behr and Anouk Zabal. Section two, 'Platform development', contains: Development of the cognitive items / Britta Upsing, Frank Goldhammer, Maya Schnitzler, Robert Baumann, Roland Johannes, Ingo Barkow, Heiko Roelke, Isabelle Jars, Thibaud Latour, Patrick Plichart, Raynald Jadoul, Christopher Henry and Mike Wagner; Development of technical support tools / Britta Upsing, Frank Goldhammer, Maya Schnitzler, Robert Baumann, Roland Johannes, Ingo Barkow, Heiko Roelke, Isabelle Jars, Thibaud Latour, Patrick Plichart, Raynald Jadoul, Christopher Henry and Mike Wagner; Development of the CAPI questionnaire software / Thibaud Latour, Raynald Jadoul and Mike Wagner; Development of the integrated computer platform / Britta Upsing, Frank Goldhammer, Maya Schnitzler, Robert Baumann, Roland Johannes, Ingo Barkow, Heiko Roelke, Isabelle Jars, Thibaud Latour, Patrick Plichart, Raynald Jadoul, Christopher Henry and Mike Wagner; The TAO platform / Raynald Jadoul, Patrick Plichart, Jerome Bogaerts, Christophe Henry, Thibaud Latour and Henri Tudor.

Section three, 'Field operations and quality control', contains: Field operations / Pat Montalvan and Michael Lemay; Quality control monitoring activities / Pat Montalvan and Michael Lemay; Scoring reliability studies / Claudia Tamassia, Mary Louise Lennon and Kentaro Yamamoto; Data management procedures / Ralph Carstens and Tim Daniel. Section four, 'Sampling and weighting', contains: Sampling design / Leyla Mohadjer, Tom Krenzke and Wendy Van de Kerchove; Survey weighting and variance estimation / Leyla Mohadjer, Tom Krenzke and Wendy Van de Kerchove; Indicators of the quality of the sample data / Leyla Mohadjer, Tom Krenzke and Wendy Van de Kerchove. Section five, 'Data analysis and data products', contains: Scaling PIAAC cognitive data / Kentaro Yamamoto, Lale Khorramdel and Matthias von Davier; Scaling outcomes / Kentaro Yamamoto, Lale Khorramdel and Matthias von Davier; Proficiency scale construction / Kentaro Yamamoto, Lale Khorramdel and Matthias von Davier; Creating simple and complex derived variables and validation of background questionnaire data / Matthias von Davier, Jonathan Weeks, Henry Chen, Jim Allen and Rolf van der Velden; PIAAC proficiency scales / Claudia Tamassia and Mary Louise Lennon; Generating results for PIAAC / Alfred Rogers and John Barone; International database and data analysis tools / Ralph Carstens, Tim Daniel and Eugenio Gonzalez.

Section six, 'Appendices', contains: Appendix 1: PIAAC main study item pool characteristics; Appendix 2: Contrast coding used in conditioning; Appendix 3: Design effect tables; Appendix 4: Changes to questionnaire items from IALS to PIAAC; Appendix 5: Mapping of ISCED levels to years of schooling; Appendix 6: PIAAC Consortium, staff, Expert Groups, National Project Managers and consultants; Appendix 7: Data adjudication in PIAAC / PIAAC Consortium and William Thorn.

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In many OECD countries, tertiary education systems have experienced rapid growth over the last decade. With tertiary education increasingly seen as a fundamental pillar for economic growth, these systems must now address the pressures of a globalising economy and labour market. Within governance frameworks that encourage institutions, individually and collectively, to fulfil multiple missions, tertiary education systems must aim for the broad objectives of growth, full employment and social cohesion. In this context, the OECD launched a major review of tertiary education with the participation of 24 nations. The principal objective of the review is to assist countries in understanding how the organisation, management and delivery of tertiary education can help them achieve their economic and social goals. Iceland is one of 14 countries which opted to host a country review, in which a team of external reviewers carried out an in-depth analysis of tertiary education policies. This report includes: an overview of Iceland's tertiary education system; an account of trends and developments in tertiary education in Iceland; an analysis of the strengths and challenges in tertiary education in Iceland; and recommendations for future policy development.

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With the labour market becoming increasingly selective, relevant work skills are becoming increasingly necessary to combat high youth unemployment in OECD countries. This requires co-ordinated policies linking education to the requirements of the labour market and the provision of appropriate training courses. This report focuses on the Netherlands, and assesses the efficacy of existing measures which aim to improve the school to work transition, as well as providing policy recommendations for further action. Show less

We see the expression ‘sustainable development’ everywhere these days, but what does it mean? Can we really pursue sustainable economic growth without harming our societies and the environment? And if we pursue prosperity today, are we condemning our children and grandchildren to poverty tomorrow? The OECD works on many issues related to sustainable development - climate change, growth in developing countries, corporate social responsibility and much more. Using straightforward language and real-world examples, [this publication] draws on that expertise to explore these vital issues. [It] provides an essential introduction to the complex relationships between the economy, society and the environment. As global inequality and climate change become mainstream concerns, it asks the questions our generation needs to ask in terms everyone can understand.

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Most immigrants have jobs. This benefits both their own economic situation and that of their host countries, which benefit from immigrants' talent and from the taxes they pay. But immigrants and young people from immigrant families could do even better, especially when it comes to meeting their full potential. This brief paper looks at policy approaches that can help migrants find jobs and, especially, jobs that match their skills.

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This review of Local Economic and Employment Development [LEED] policy approaches in OECD countries has been carried out by the OECD LEED Programme in collaboration with the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG). The aim of the review is to identify successful and/or innovative policy initiatives that could be relevant to Wales and regional economic development models that could inspire Wales’s future strategy-making. Given the large volume of material already available on Welsh economic challenges and policies, the focus was not on ‘looking in’ but on ‘looking out’ at initiatives that could inspire Wales from other OECD regions, based on existing understanding of the challenges. The two main objectives of the review have therefore been: (a) identify and analyse innovative and/or successful single policy tools that could potentially be applied in Wales; (b) identify and analyse some broader regional economic strategies and their delivery arrangements that could inspire the overall economic development approach of Wales.

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This paper is part of a series of briefs that highlight specific indicators in OECD's Education at a Glance that are of particular interest to policy makers and practitioners. Adult migrants in all OECD countries are a diverse group, with different profiles and levels of education. Even if they hold tertiary degrees, they are more likely to have poorer labour market outcomes, including lower earnings. Participation in the labour market is more difficult for foreign-born adults who arrived at a later age and acquired their qualifications in another country. It is important that host countries design and implement policies that will help immigrants improve their chances in their labour market, benefitting both the person and the country.

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The structure of education systems varies widely between countries. In order to produce internationally comparable education statistics and indicators, it is therefore necessary to have a framework to collect and report data on education programmes with a similar level of educational content. UNESCO's International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) is the reference classification for organising education programmes and related qualifications by education levels and fields. The basic concepts and definitions of ISCED are intended to be internationally valid and comprehensive of the full range of education systems. ISCED 2011 is the second major revision of this classification (initially developed in the 1970s and first revised in 1997). It was adopted by the UNESCO General Conference in November 2011.

Prepared jointly by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), the OECD and Eurostat, this operational manual provides guidelines and explanatory notes for the interpretation of the revised classification, by each education level. It also includes country examples of programmes and qualifications that have been classified to ISCED 2011. This manual will be useful for national statisticians collecting and reporting data on education to international organisations, as well as for policymakers and researchers interested in better understanding of these data. The contents are as follow: ISCED 2011 overview; ISCED 2011 Level 0: early childhood education; ISCED 2011 Level 1: primary education; ISCED 2011 Level 2: lower secondary education; ISCED 2011 Level 3: upper secondary education; ISCED 2011 Level 4: post-secondary non-tertiary education; Overview of ISCED 2011 tertiary education levels; ISCED 2011 Level 5: short-cycle tertiary education; ISCED 2011 Level 6: Bachelor's or equivalent level; ISCED 2011 Level 7: Master's or equivalent level; ISCED 2011 Level 8: Doctoral or equivalent level.

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OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) provides the first internationally comparative perspective on the conditions of teaching and learning, based on data from over 70,000 teachers and school principals who represent lower secondary teachers in the 23 participating countries. TALIS examines important aspects of professional development; teacher beliefs, attitudes and practices; teacher appraisal and feedback; and school leadership. TALIS looks at these factors through the eyes of teachers and school principals. This innovative approach was chosen in order to examine how the intended school and teacher policies of education systems are actually perceived and implemented in schools and classrooms, recognising that the best intentions will only yield results if effectively and consistently implemented in the frontline. The objective aim is to identify barriers to effective instruction. This report focuses on teachers appraisal and feedback, their professional development, the teaching practices and beliefs and school leadership. The report presents quantitative information for policymakers. Countries participating include: Australia, Austria, Belgium (Flemish Community), Brazil, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Korea, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey.

Published summary from OECD website. Show less