The OECD School Resources Review aims to help countries make resource decisions that support quality, equity and efficiency in school education. The Review provides country-specific and comparative analysis on the use of financial, physical and human resources in school systems. It offers policy advice on how to govern, distribute and manage resources so that they contribute to achieving countries’ educational objectives. More information on the project and its publications can be found at: http://www.oecd.org/education/school-resources-review/.

1. OECD School Resources Review
Project Update January 2020
OECD School Resources Review,
OECD Directorate for Education and Skills
Deborah Nusche, Project Manager

2. WHAT POLICIES BEST ENSURE THAT
RESOURCES ARE EFFECTIVELY USED
TO IMPROVE STUDENT OUTCOMES?
The OECD School Resources Review
Overarching question

3. 3
School
funding
School
networks
School
professionals
Other
resources
Published Oct. 2018
Published June 2017
School
networks
School
funding
School
professionals
Time
The OECD School Resources Review
Scope
Published Nov 2019

4. 4
The OECD School Resources Review
Oversight and collaboration
• The work of the Review is overseen by the Group of National
Experts (GNE) on School Resources (all OECD Member
countries are members of the GNE on School Resources)
• The GNE is a subsidiary body of the OECD’s Education Policy
Committee (EDPC)
• The Review has been included in the EDPC’s 2019-20
Programme of Work and Budget.
• A strong partnership with the European Commission was
established for this Review.

5. BA C
The OECD School Resources Review
Methodology
Analysis
Analytical framework
Literature reviews
Country background reports
Qualitative data collection
Country reviews
OECD-led review visits
Stakeholder interviews
External experts
Tailored policy advice for
individual countries
Synthesis
Policy conclusions based on
comparative and country-specific
work
3 synthesis reports
- School funding (2017)
- Responsive school systems (2018)
- Human resources (2019)

6. The OECD School Resources Review
Country participation
Austria
Belgium (Flemish Community)
Belgium (French Community)
Chile
Colombia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Iceland
Kazakhstan
Luxembourg
Lithuania
Portugal
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Sweden
Spain
Uruguay
18 Country Background Reports
published
12 OECD Country Reviews
published

7. The team has reviewed research on the effective use of school resources in key areas:
– School Size Policies
– Student Learning Time
– Learning Support Staff
– Budgeting and Accounting in Education Systems
– Regulating Publicly Funded Private Schools
– Learning in Rural Schools: Insights from PISA, TALIS and the literature
In preparation:
– Teacher Absenteeism and Substitute Teachers
– Teachers’ Use of Time
7
The OECD School Resources Review
Background work and literature reviews

8. 1. Funding School
Education
• Imaginez que vous êtes responsable du financement du système scolaire de la ville de Toulouse (toutes les
écoles publiques du primaire et du secondaire): quels critères prenez vous en compte pour déterminer le
niveau de ressources (financières et humaines) que vous allouez à chaque école?
Published 2017

9. Spending per student from the age of 6 to 15 and reading performance at age
15 (PISA 2018)
School funding
Context and motivation

10. • The overall level of funding matters, but allocation
mechanisms play a key role in connecting resources to learning
• Well-designed school funding policies are crucial to achieve
quality, efficiency and equity objectives in school education
• Equity and efficiency can go hand in hand in the allocation of
resources
10
School funding
Context and motivation

11. 11Source: OECD (2016) PISA 2015 Results Vol II: Policies and Practices for Successful Schools, Figure II.4.10.
Governing school funding
How to optimise decision-making about school funding?

12. 12
Returns to investment are highest during the earlier stages of education
Source: James Heckman (www.heckmanequation.org)
Distributing school funding
How to distribute funding across levels of education?

13. 13
Investing in ECEC can increase efficiency and equity: Immigrant students who
attended preschool had higher PISA scores at age 15
Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2015, Chart C2.2, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/888933284199
Distributing school funding
How to distribute funding across levels of education?

14. 14
Per-student expenditure at the pre-primary level remains below the expenditure on
primary and secondary education in most countries (2016), [primary = 1]
Source: OECD Education at a Glance 2019, Tables C1.1 and B2.4
Distributing school funding
How to distribute funding across levels of education?
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
1.8
Pre-primary (ISCED 02) Secondary

15. 15
Area-based funding vs.
school-based funding
Targeted programmes vs.
regular equity funding
Distributing school funding
How to distribute funding across schools and students?

16. • Almost all participating countries have developed
approaches for needs-based funding but evidence on
impact is scarce
• With greater discretion given to schools over use of
funds, there is greater need for adequate
accountability (incl. by school boards) and capacity for
self-evaluation
• Budget transparency will help make inequities in
resource allocation apparent but important to consider
administrative burdens placed on schools
16
Managing school funding
How to monitor effective/equitable use?

17. • System accountability for progress in meeting the
needs of target groups is equally important
• Bringing together information on funding, processes
and outcomes can help communicate goals of
investments in the school system and build consensus
about fiscal efforts for schooling
• Mobilising knowledge generated through research,
evaluation and monitoring will enhance budget planning /
quality of decision making
17
Managing school funding
How to monitor effective/equitable use?

18. 2. Responsive School
Systems
• Imaginez que vous êtes responsable du financement du système scolaire de la ville de Toulouse (toutes les
écoles publiques du primaire et du secondaire): quels critères prenez vous en compte pour déterminer le
niveau de ressources (financières et humaines) que vous allouez à chaque école?
Published 2018

19. 50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Belgium
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
OECD
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025
Lithuania
0 to 4 years 5 to 9 years 10 to 14 years 15 to 19 years
Changing school age populations in many countries
Change in school-age population between 1990 and 2020 (projected)
2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Belgium
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
OECD
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025
Lithuania
0 to 4 years 5 to 9 years 10 to 14 years 15 to 19 years
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Belgium
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
OECD
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025
Lithuania
0 to 4 years 5 to 9 years 10 to 14 years 15 to 19 years
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020
Belgium
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 201
OECD
50
60
70
80
90
100
110
120
1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025
Lithuania
0 to 4 years 5 to 9 years 10 to 14 years 15 to 19 yea
Responsive school systems
Context and motivation

20. Rural and urban schools’ student-teacher ratio and class size (2015)
Small classes and student-teacher ratios can create financial pressures
20
Source: OECD (2016), PISA 2015 Results (Volume II): Policies and Practices for Successful Schools,Tables II.6.29 and II.6.30.
Responsive school systems
Context and motivation

21. 21
Systems must be responsive to provide students
with the right educational offer in the right places
School places,
facilities,
infrastructure
Education
levels, sectors,
programmes
Responsive school systems
Context and motivation

22. System-level steering to promote efficiency and equity in school provision
• Monitoring and forecasting
• School accreditation based on quality and needs assessment
• Design of catchment areas, school choice, student admission
• Incentives through school funding formulas
• Class and school size regulations
A continuum of policy options to adapt school networks to decreasing student
numbers
• Co-operation and resource sharing
• Clustering and shared school administration
• School consolidation
• Effective use of ICT
• Improved transportation
22
Governing School Networks
How to steer and co-ordinate provision?

23. The cost of grade repetition, per student and as a proportion of total expenditure (2009/10)
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
Japan
Korea
Norway
Iceland
Slovenia(1)
UnitedKingdom
Ireland
Finland
Mexico
Denmark
SlovakRepublic
Estonia(1)
Chile
CzechRepublic
Poland
Switzerland
Sweden
NewZealand
Israel(1)
France
Luxembourg
Australia
Canada
UnitedStates
Austria
Italy
Germany
Portugal
Netherlands
Spain
Belgium
%
Total annual costs per student (USD, PPPs)
Total annual costs, relative to total expenditure on primary and secondary education (%)USD, PPPs
Source: OECD (2011), “When Students Repeat Grades or Are Transferred Out of School: What Does it Mean for Education
Systems?”, PISA in Focus, No. 6
Managing the educational offer
Drop-out and grade repetition impose social and individual costs

24. Vertical
co-ordination
Students’ sequential
progression…
• …across school years
• …across education levels
• …into the labour market
Horizontal
co-ordination
Parallel education sectors
and student pathways:
• General <-> VET
• Mainstream <-> SEN
• Tracking and assignment
Managing the educational offer
How to ensure effective transitions?

25. 3. Rethinking human
resource policies for schools
• Imaginez que vous êtes responsable du financement du système scolaire de la ville de Toulouse (toutes les écoles publiques du
primaire et du secondaire): quels critères prenez vous en compte pour déterminer le niveau de ressources (financières et
humaines) que vous allouez à chaque école?
Published 2019

26. Long-standing evidence that teachers have a profound
impact on student learning
• How to strengthen, recognize and preserve this
contribution?
Growing recognition of collective capacity in schools as a key
element of effective schools
• How to support effective collaboration and distribution of
responsibilities?
People are the most important resource in schools
Both individually and collectively
26

27. School systems employ staff in a wide range
of roles and the mix of staff in schools varies
across countries, depending e.g. on:
• Teacher task profiles and responsibilities
• Changing student needs (and inclusion
policies)
• Learning time arrangements
• School responsibilities / decentralisation
19 Country profiles offer comparative
information on school staffing frameworks
27
People are the most important resource in schools
Both individually and collectively

28. -4 000
-3 000
-2 000
-1 000
0
1 000
2 000
3 000
Contribution of theoretical class size
Contribution of teaching time
Contribution of instruction time
Contribution of teachers' salary
Difference of salary cost of teachers per student from OECD average
USD
Contribution of various factors to per-student salary costs of teachers, ISCED 1, 2017
In USD converted using Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) for private consumption.
Source: Education at a Glance 2019, Figure C7.2 (link)
People are the most important resource in schools
Also from a financial perspective

29. I regret that I decided to become a
teacher
I think that the teaching profession is
valued in society
I wonder whether it would have been
better to choose another profession
If I could decide again, I would still
choose to work as a teacher
The advantages of being a teacher
clearly outweigh the disadvantages
Persistent challenges for staff in schools
Low perceived status of school-level professions
Share of lower secondary teachers who "agree" or "strongly agree" with the following statements:
76.0
75.6
33.8
25.8
9.1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
OECD average-31
%
Source: TALIS 2018, Vol. I. Table I.4.34

30. Persistent challenges for staff in schools
Shortages of teachers and leaders
Source: PISA 2015, Vol. II, Table II.6.14
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
To some extent A lot
Percentage of students in schools whose principal reported that the school's capacity
to provide instruction is hindered by a lack of teaching staff
%

31. 31
Efficiency concerns in OECD school systems
The best teachers rarely work in the most difficult schools
Distribution of novice teachers by concentration of students from
socio-economically disadvantaged homes (ISCED 2), 2018
-15
-10
-5
0
5
10
15
Estonia
Turkey
Belgium(Fl.)
France
Alberta(Canada)
UnitedStates
Belgium
Austria
England(UK)
Kazakhstan
NewZealand
Spain
Mexico
OECDaverage-31
Chile
Hungary
Sweden
Japan
Denmark
Lithuania
Portugal
Italy
Israel
Colombia
Percentagepointdifferencebetweenschools
with“morethan”and“lessthanorequalto”
30%ofstudentsfromsocio-economically
disadvantagedhomes
Source: OECD (2019), Working and Learning Together, Figure 3.7, based on TALIS 2018
Less novice
teachers in schools
in low SES context
More novice
teachers in
schools in low
SES context

32. Efficiency concerns in OECD school systems
Limited effectiveness of traditional teacher PD
Source: OECD (2019), TALIS 2018: Vol I, Tables I.5.1., I.5.7 and I.5.15.
Percentage of teachers who took part in professional development activities /
reported that they had a positive impact on their teaching practice
60
65
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
Participated in professional development activities Felt professional development had a positive impact on their teaching practices
%

33. 33
1. Design career structures with opportunities for professional growth
2. Establish salary scales that attract new entrants and reward growing expertise
3. Review the staff mix and working time arrangements
4. Ensure an effective and equitable distribution of school staff
5. Adopt a broad vision of initial preparation for teaching and school leadership
6. Support continuing professional learning and collaboration
6 Policy Approaches to Support Effective
Working Environments in Schools

34. 34
Thank you for your attention!
All publications of the School Resources Review can be found at:
www.oecd.org/edu/school/schoolresourcesreview.htm
For further information:
deborah.nusche@oecd.org