Governing complex education systems
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This presentation was given by Tracey Burns of the OECD at the CERI Conference on Innovation, Governance and Reform in Education on 4 November 2014 during the Governing Complex Education Systems (GCES) project session. It looks at trends in governance and provides a detailed overview of the GCES project, explaining its main research questions, analytical model, main findings and outputs.
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Governing complex education systems
- 1. Governing Complex Education Systems Paris, 4 November 2014 Tracey Burns
- 2. Trends in Governance Governance challenges in increasingly complex education systems • Central regulation to decentralisation and deregulation • Increasing school autonomy • Increasing numbers of actors and stakeholders • Parental choice and voice
- 3. Trends in Governance Increasing accountability of performance • Measurable objectives and indicators • Focus on evaluation and quality assurance • Increasing transparency
- 4. GCES Main Research Questions What models of governance are effective in complex education systems? What knowledge system is necessary to support the effective governance of complex education systems?
- 5. GCES Analytical Model Priority setting Steering Accountability Policy Design Implementation Knowledge use Knowledge production
- 6. GCES Core Themes Accountability systems Capacity building Strategic thinking
- 7. GCES Main Findings • There is no one right system of governance. Rather than focussing on structures it is more fruitful to focus on processes. • Effective governance works through building capacity, open dialogue, and stakeholder involvement. • Governance is a balancing act between accountability and trust, innovation and risk-avoidance, consensus building and making difficult choices.
- 8. GCES Main Findings • The central level remains very important (even in decentralised systems) in triggering and steering education reform through strategic vision and clear guidelines and feedback. • There are systemic weaknesses in capacity throughout most educational systems which contribute to today’s governance challenges. • Importance of key principles for system governance (not just agreement on where to go, but how to get there).
- 9. GCES Outputs Thematic conferences Working papers • Governance and Knowledge • Horizontal Accountability • Complexity • Modes of Governance • Trust
- 10. GCES Case Studies Published: • The Netherlands • Norway • Sweden Forthcoming: • Poland • Germany
- 11. Education Governance: The role of data Tallinn, Estonia, 12-13 February 2015 1) What are innovative ways to collect, use and visualise data for education governance? 2) What are the main challenges arising from use of data (trust, accountability, capacity)? 3) What kinds of supports for the use of data are needed at different governance levels?
- 12. Thank you! www.oecd.org/edu/ceri/gces Tracey.Burns@oecd.org
Editor's Notes
- Governance models combination of public regulation and market mechanisms Increasing autonomy: School leadership and management Increasing control over curricula Coordination, alignment, transparency of roles: Multi-level governance issues Trust, equity issues, multiple accountability
- Transparency on input, processes, outputs Evidence informed policy and practice Use of information and feedback systems in education
- Key principles: Open Inclusive Positive Evidence-informed Value stability and improvement Pragmatic but with strong outcomes focus
- The case studies are one of the main GCES project outputs. They are aimed at producing comprehensive empirical research to shed light on the core questions of GCES: How do the various governance levels act and interact in decentralised settings? Which are the strategies central ministries can use to trigger and steer policy changes on the local level? Which knowledge systems and other capacities are needed on the local level to successfully implement reforms? All case studies follow the GCES Case Study Framework developed for this work. This framework outlines the key questions, methodologies, and structural elements of conducting and reporting a case study. It also provides general guidelines on the process, timing, and planning of the reports. The first three cases studies (The Netherlands, Norway, and Poland) were chosen by participating countries in consultation with the Secretariat, as outlined in the Framework. All three case studies have a common focus on assessment and evaluation reforms, although the particular topic and focus of these exercises differs depending on country priority and experience. The methodologies used include reviews of relevant policy documents, in-depth analyses of schools and their responses to reform and/or in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders, and media analyses. The report on The Netherlands looks at a policy introducing risk-based assessment with follow-up measures for schools deemed at risk of failing. The new programme labels these schools at “weak” or “very weak” and invests in special improvement activities that are supported by the Ministry but run by private actors. Schools at risk that do not improve are closed down after two years. The case study showed that the programme was largely successful in reducing the number of weak or very weak schools but also identified undesired effects in a few schools that led to “vicious circles” of continuously worsening performance after being labelled. This report has been published and is distributed at this CERI GB. The case study on Norway focuses on a central policy programme aiming at improving the formative assessment practices in classrooms. The Assessment for Learning programme (AfL) supports schools to develop a better assessment and learning culture and is based on close co-operation between the Directorate for Education and Training with 50 participating municipalities. Main elements are tools for sharing information, such as conferences and learning networks, to build the necessary capacity in schools and local administration. Even though AfL follows a comprehensive approach it does leave freedom of design for the municipalities along broad guidelines. This report has been published and is distributed at this CERI GB. The report on Poland analyses a recent general reform of the school inspection system that brought about new forms of school evaluation including education supervision based on complementary internal and external evaluation. While using a variety of qualitative and quantitative tools to assess education outcomes, dialogue, learning and improvement were introduced as core principles of evaluation. This report will be published in the coming months. In a couple of days, on 1 December, work on the German case study will start. More on this fourth study later. Now let’s look briefly at the first three ones.
- The case studies are one of the main GCES project outputs. They are aimed at producing comprehensive empirical research to shed light on the core questions of GCES: How do the various governance levels act and interact in decentralised settings? Which are the strategies central ministries can use to trigger and steer policy changes on the local level? Which knowledge systems and other capacities are needed on the local level to successfully implement reforms? All case studies follow the GCES Case Study Framework developed for this work. This framework outlines the key questions, methodologies, and structural elements of conducting and reporting a case study. It also provides general guidelines on the process, timing, and planning of the reports. The first three cases studies (The Netherlands, Norway, and Poland) were chosen by participating countries in consultation with the Secretariat, as outlined in the Framework. All three case studies have a common focus on assessment and evaluation reforms, although the particular topic and focus of these exercises differs depending on country priority and experience. The methodologies used include reviews of relevant policy documents, in-depth analyses of schools and their responses to reform and/or in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders, and media analyses. The report on The Netherlands looks at a policy introducing risk-based assessment with follow-up measures for schools deemed at risk of failing. The new programme labels these schools at “weak” or “very weak” and invests in special improvement activities that are supported by the Ministry but run by private actors. Schools at risk that do not improve are closed down after two years. The case study showed that the programme was largely successful in reducing the number of weak or very weak schools but also identified undesired effects in a few schools that led to “vicious circles” of continuously worsening performance after being labelled. This report has been published and is distributed at this CERI GB. The case study on Norway focuses on a central policy programme aiming at improving the formative assessment practices in classrooms. The Assessment for Learning programme (AfL) supports schools to develop a better assessment and learning culture and is based on close co-operation between the Directorate for Education and Training with 50 participating municipalities. Main elements are tools for sharing information, such as conferences and learning networks, to build the necessary capacity in schools and local administration. Even though AfL follows a comprehensive approach it does leave freedom of design for the municipalities along broad guidelines. This report has been published and is distributed at this CERI GB. The report on Poland analyses a recent general reform of the school inspection system that brought about new forms of school evaluation including education supervision based on complementary internal and external evaluation. While using a variety of qualitative and quantitative tools to assess education outcomes, dialogue, learning and improvement were introduced as core principles of evaluation. This report will be published in the coming months. In a couple of days, on 1 December, work on the German case study will start. More on this fourth study later. Now let’s look briefly at the first three ones.