A report examined progress against Europe 2020 targets for education in the European Union member states.
Source: Education and Training Monitor 2013, European Commission
Links: Report | Summary | Individual country reports | European Commission press release
Date: 2013-Nov
A report examined higher education drop-out and completion rates across Europe among students from under-represented groups.
Source: Jocey Quinn, Drop-out and Completion in Higher Education in Europe among Students from Under-Represented Groups, Network of Experts on Social Aspects of Education and Training (European Commission)
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Oct
The first findings were published from a survey of adult skills in developed (OECD)countries in 2013. The report outlined the prevalence and application of skills including literacy and numeracy, as well as their socio-demographic distribution.
Source: , OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First results from the Survey of Adult Skills, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Report | OECD press release | BBC report | Northern Ireland Executive press release | CBI press release | AoC press release | NUT press release | IoD press release
Date: 2013-Oct
A paper examined the relationship between labour market conditions and schooling decisions in Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Labour market conditions significantly influenced the choice of post-compulsory secondary education in Italy and the United Kingdom: but responses to such incentives were heterogeneous with respect to housing tenure. In Germany, labour markets did not affect the choice of the secondary school track, whereas they had a significant impact on the transition to tertiary education.
Source: Alberto Tumino, The Effect of Local Labour Market Conditions on Educational Choices: A cross country comparison, ImPRovE Discussion Paper 13/06, Centre for Social Policy (Antwerp University)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Sep
A new book challenged the view that socio-economic background (or class background) had strong and unchanging relationships with education and later socio-economic outcomes in western countries, and that this link was resistant to policy and social change. The influence of socio-economic background for education was moderate and most often declining, and socio-economic background had only very weak impacts on adults' occupation and earnings after taking into account education and cognitive ability.
Source: Gary Marks, Education, Social Background and Cognitive Ability: The decline of the social, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Sep
A paper presented an overview of gender differences in education outcomes in developed (OECD) countries. It described the improvement of educational attainment among women in recent decades, and male under-performance. Possible explanatory factors included incentives provided by changing employment opportunities for women, demographic trends, and the higher sensitivity of boys to disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.
Source: Angelica Salvi del Pero and Alexandra Bytchkov, A Bird's Eye View of Gender Differences in Education in OECD Countries, Employment and Migration Working Paper 149, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Sep
A new book examined lifelong learning In European countries.
Source: Ellu Saar, Odd Bjorn Ure, and John Holford (eds), Lifelong Learning in Europe: National patterns and challenges, Edward Elgar Publishing
Links: Summary
Notes: Chapters included:
John Holford and Thushari Welikala, '"Renaissance" without enlightenment: New Labour s learning age 1997-2010'
Elisabet Weedon and Sheila Riddell, 'Has lifelong learning policy and practice in Scotland promoted social inclusion?'
Date: 2013-Sep
A paper examined the causal relationship between education and health outcomes in developed (OECD) countries. There was evidence that more years of education led to better health for a limited number of health markers. There were lower probabilities of reporting poor health, of having limitations in functional status, and of having been diagnosed with diabetes. There was no evidence of a causal effect of education on other health conditions. The relationship between education and cancer was positive, suggesting that education fostered early detection.
Source: Raquel Fonseca and Yuhui Zheng, The Effect of Education on Health: Cross-Country Evidence, Working Paper 13-25, Centre Interuniversitaire sur le Risque, les Politiques Economiques et l'Emploi (Universite du Quebec, Montreal, Canada)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Sep
Two articles examined policy responses to early school leaving in European countries.
Source: Alistair Ross and Carole Leathwood, 'Problematising early school leaving', European Journal of Education, Volume 48 Issue 3 | Kristof De Witte, Ides Nicaise, Jeroen Lavrijsen, Georges Van Landeghem, Carl Lamote, and Jan Van Damme, 'The impact of institutional context, education and labour market policies on early school leaving: a comparative analysis of EU countries', European Journal of Education, Volume 48 Issue 3
Links: Abstract (1) | Abstract (2)
Date: 2013-Aug
A report examined adult and continuing education in Europe, and the ways in which it could be promoted by policy-makers.
Source: Paolo Federighi, Adult and Continuing Education in Europe: Using public policy to secure a growth in skills, European Commission
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Aug
A paper presented a new methodology for calculating effective tax rates on the marginal return on an investment in skills in developed (OECD) countries. The approach took into account costs such as forgone labour earnings and the direct costs of skills formation, as well as the earnings premium and the return of an alternative investment in capital income. It looked in particular at the effects of personal taxes on incentives to acquire skills, to help policy-makers assess the case for tax breaks for post-secondary education and training.
Source: Bert Brys and Carolina Torres, Effective Personal Tax Rates on Marginal Skills Investments in OECD Countries: A new methodology, Taxation Working Paper 16, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jul
A report examined how structural aspects of childcare and early education provision affected the longer-term educational achievement of children in 15 developed (OECD) countries plus the United Kingdom.
Source: Chris Pascal, Tony Bertram, Sean Delaney, and Carol Nelson, A Comparison of International Childcare Systems, Research Report 269, Department for Education
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Jul
A paper examined recent academic evidence from developed countries on the effect of school resources on student outcomes. Increases in resources were usually, though not ubiquitously, found to be more effective in disadvantaged schools and/or for disadvantaged students at all phases.
Source: Stephen Gibbons and Sandra McNally, The Effects of Resources across School Phases: A summary of recent evidence, DP1226, Centre for Economic Performance (London School of Economics)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jul
A paper examined attempts to co-ordinate national policies and institutions in the European Union in the field of education and training, and the reasons for their limited success. The inconsistency between short-term fiscal consolidation and long-term social investment seemed to be one difficulty. There needed to be a more coherent set of incentives favouring long-term investments, and if necessary greater use of structural funds to support it.
Source: Chiara Agostini and David Natali, The European Governance of Education: Progresses and challenges, European Trade Union Institute
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
A report said that the jobs gap in developed (OECD) countries between well educated young people and those who had left school early had continued to widen during the global economic crisis. Unemployment rates were nearly three times higher among people without an upper secondary education (13 per cent on average) than among those who had a tertiary education (5 per cent). It said that too many youngsters in the United Kingdom dropped out of education and were left without skills needed to get jobs: the UK had one of the lowest percentages of young people aged 16-19 in education among OECD countries. In 2011, young people aged 15-29 in the UK spent on average 2.3 years unemployed, compared with 1.7 years in Germany and 1.1 years in the Netherlands. Almost one-quarter of those in the UK who failed to achieve basic secondary qualifications ended up in the so-called 'Neet' category – not in education, employment or training.
Source: Education at a Glance 2013, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Report | OECD press release | ATL press release | CBI press release | Labour Party press release | NUT press release | Russell Group press release | UCU press release | Universities UK press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2013-Jun
An article examined accountability in education in Europe countries. Accountability was increasingly defined as technical accountability through international and national comparative measures of performance, so that political accountability had been displaced. 'Performativity' contributed to growing problems of diminished trust across and within education systems.
Source: Jenny Ozga, 'Accountability as a policy technology: accounting for education performance in Europe', International Review of Administrative Sciences, Volume 79 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Jun
A new book examined how religious and/or secular beliefs were formed at school and in the family in five countries with very different educational systems (Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Malta, and Scotland).
Source: Emer Smyth, Maureen Lyons, and Merike Darmody (eds), Religious Education in a Multicultural Europe: Children, parents and schools, Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Jun
A report provided an overview of early childhood education and care provision in Scotland, England, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Slovenia, France, and the Netherlands. It considered national frameworks, guiding principles and objectives, governance, types of services, types of providers, funding and costs, systems of quality assurance, and access levels.
Source: Ingela Naumann, Caitlin McLean, Alison Koslowski, Kay Tisdall, and Eva Lloyd, Early Childhood Education and Care Provision: International Review of Policy, Delivery and Funding, Scottish Government
Links: Report | Scottish Government press release
Date: 2013-Jun
An article examined cross-country and cross-period differences in firm-provided training in Europe, in order to explore whether diverse institutional arrangements linked to welfare state regimes could yield discernible cross-country patterns. It highlighted the limits of national skills strategies that were not well embedded in wider institutional environments.
Source: Jorg Markowitsch, Bernd Kapplinger, and Gunter Hefler, 'Firm-provided training in Europe and the limits of national skills strategies', European Journal of Education, Volume 48 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-May
An article examined education systems in European Union countries (and the United States of America), focusing on institutional features that were associated with inequality of educational opportunity.
Source: Anne West and Rita Nikolai, 'Welfare regimes and education regimes: equality of opportunity and expenditure in the EU (and US)', Journal of Social Policy, Volume 42 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-May
A report said that schools could not work alone to disrupt inter-generational cycles of deprivation and tackle educational disadvantage in Europe. A combination of factors beyond schools limited educational opportunities and life-chances. This meant that cross-sector strategies were required, to link what schools could do with what other sectors such as employment, health, finance, justice, housing, youth, and welfare could offer.
Source: Anne Edwards and Paul Downes, Alliances for Inclusion: Cross-sector policy synergies and interprofessional collaboration in and around schools, Network of Experts on Social aspects of Education and Training (European Commission)
Links: Report | NESET press release | European Commission press release
Date: 2013-May
A paper examined the points in the life cycle at which adult learning took place in Europe, and whether it led to a medium or high level of educational attainment. A rise in educational attainment, as well as participation in education and training, happened mostly at the age range of 25-29. However, investment across the life cycle by cohorts older than 25 still occurred: in most countries examined, participation in education and training, as well as educational attainment, increased observably across all cohorts.
Source: Miroslav Beblavy, Anna-Elisabeth Thum, and Galina Potjagailo, When Do Adults Learn? A cohort analysis of adult education in Europe, Working Document 383, Centre for European Policy Studies (Brussels)
Note: Also published as Working Paper D4.3.2, NEUJOBS Research Project (European Commission)
Date: 2013-May
An article examined whether the expansion of higher education led to greater economic growth. Neither the increase nor the initial level of higher education was found to have had a statistically significant relationship with growth rates in developed (OECD) countries. There was some evidence that levels of technical skills at the end of compulsory education did matter; and the employment of higher-level technical skills was also a strong predictor of growth. This gave a possible mechanism linking the output of (some) of the higher education sector with economic growth. However, it did not imply that mass higher education necessarily led to higher growth.
Source: Craig Holmes, 'Has the expansion of higher education led to greater economic growth?', National Institute Economic Review, Volume 224 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-May
A report said that almost 1 in every 5 students in developed (OECD) countries did not reach a basic minimum level of skills. In addition, students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds were twice as likely to be low performers. Lack of fairness and inclusion could lead to school failure, and this meant that 1 in every 5 young adults on average dropped out before completing upper secondary education. The highest-performing education systems across OECD countries combined quality with equity.
Source: Equity and Quality in Education: Supporting disadvantaged students and schools, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Links: Report | Summary | NUT press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report
Date: 2013-Feb
A paper examined the extent to which educational systems fostered or constrained social mobility in European countries. Increasing rates of social mobility were found: but the erosion of the education-occupation linkage presented a threat to this trend. Considering formal credentials only, the most equalitarian educational systems were to be found in the United Kingdom and Ireland: but their ability to allocate individuals in the occupational structure was lower than in the other countries.
Source: Pedro Abrantes and Manuel Abrantes, What is the Impact of Educational Systems on Social Mobility across Europe? A comparative approach, Working Paper 1/2012, Socio-Economics Research Centre at the School of Economics and Management (Technical University of Lisbon)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jan
A report summarized recent research on a wide range of education issues in developed countries.
Source: Education Today 2013: The OECD perspective, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Date: 2013-Jan
A paper examined differences between the United Kingdom and Sweden in the association between parental income and certain education and health/developmental outcomes.
Source: Anders Bjorklund Markus and Jantti Martin Nybom, The Role of Parental Income over the Life Cycle: A comparison of Sweden and the UK, Discussion Paper 7066, Institute for the Study of Labor (Bonn)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jan
