School reforms: OECD calls for evidence on what works
Trillions of dollars are spent on education reforms around the world without any effective evaluation to see if changes have worked, says the OECD.
The economic think-tank is warning there is too much political investment in announcing new policies, rather than checking on what they achieve.
Only about one in 10 education reforms launched since 2006 have been assessed for their impact, the OECD says.
The report is being launched at the Education World Forum in London.
This international conference of education ministers and experts is being told that schools policy needs more emphasis on long-term evidence rather than short-term, politically driven changes of direction.
Time to work"Too many education reforms are failing to measure success or failure in the classroom," said Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's director for education and skills.
"While it is encouraging to see a greater focus on outcomes, rather than simply increasing spending, it's crucial that reforms are given the time to work and their impact is analysed."
Only about a tenth of education reforms are ever evaluated, says the OECDEducation is one of the biggest areas of public spending - and across the OECD it represents more than $2.5 trillion in annual expenditure.
Pressure to raise standards has prompted 450 different programmes of reform in the past eight years, says the OECD.
But only about a tenth of these reform programmes have ever been tested for their effectiveness since they were launched, says the think-tank's report.
Implementation of education reforms can take 10 to 15 years, says Mr Schleicher, much longer than is demanded by the political cycle.
It can mean that incoming ministers are under pressure to announce new policies without any clear assessment of the half-completed previous policies they are replacing.
"This valuable investment must be deployed in the most effective way. Reforms on paper need to translate into better education in our schools and classrooms," says Mr Schleicher.
Last week the former head of English education watchdog Ofsted, Sir BBC News - School reforms: OECD calls for evidence on what works:
