Title page
Contents
1. Introduction 4
Background 4
Overview of the project and methodology 5
2. Scotland's school education and improvement system 7
School education in Scotland - an overview 7
Scotland's school improvement system 14
3. Reflections from the international peer learning event 24
Key principles 24
Further strengthening the school improvement support system 27
Policy options to support the realisation of the proposed multi-level school improvement support system 34
References 44
Annex A. The OECD team 50
Annex B. Agenda of the OECD fact-finding visit 52
Annex C. Peer learning event: country experts and agenda 53
Table 2.1. Structure of education provision in Scotland (United Kingdom) 8
Table 2.2. Selected OECD education indicators for Scotland and peer learning countries 9
Table 2.3. Bodies responsible for school improvement support 15
Table 3.1. Key policy documents guiding school improvement efforts 38
Figure 2.1. Trends in average reading, mathematics and science performance in Scotland and peer countries, PISA 2012-2018 10
Figure 2.2. Organisation of the central education administration in Scotland 11
Figure 2.3. Funding school education in Scotland 13
Figure 3.1. Word cloud for formulating the "key principles" 25
Figure 3.2. Site map of Wales' national resource website 36
Boxes
Box 2.1. Digital platforms and tools to support teaching and student learning in Scotland 18
Box 2.2. Collaborative Improvement in Scotland 20
Box 2.3. Regional Consortia in Wales (United Kingdom) 21
Box 2.4. The Collaborative Improvement initiative 22
Box 2.5. Evaluation of local authorities in Norway and Wales (United Kingdom) 22
Box 3.1. Mobilising the capacity of tertiary education institutions for school improvement support - examples from Scotland, Norway, Wales (United Kingdom) and Ireland 32
Box 3.2. Wales' National Evaluation and Improvement Resource (NEIR) 35
Box 3.3. Gathering students' and teachers' views to (among others) inform professional learning - Example from Norway 42