Details
- Publication date
- 16 November 2012
- Authors
- Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture | European Expert Network on Economics of Education (EENEE)
- Geographical scope
- European Union
- Level of education focus
- Early childhood education and care (ECEC)
- Higher education
- School education
- Thematic areas covered
- Educational attainment and participation in education
- Educational effectiveness and efficiency
- Governance of education
- Investment in education, economic impact of education
- Learning for sustainability (learning for the green transition)
- Monitoring and quality assurance
- Quality and inclusive education for all
- Skills development
- Teachers and trainers
- Whole-school and whole-system approaches and partnerships in education
Description
This report provides a framework for understanding how national policies can best promote key cognitive skills in education. It emphasizes that policy effectiveness depends heavily on a country’s institutional, economic, and social context.
The study reviews evidence on five major policy areas: accountability, school autonomy, school choice, early tracking, and early childhood education. Cross-country comparisons using PISA data show that systems combining accountability and autonomy tend to perform better, especially in developed contexts. Early tracking is linked to higher inequality, while early childhood education helps reduce it—particularly for disadvantaged or migrant students. Tailored policy recommendations are offered for each EU Member State, based on their performance, equity, and development stage.
The report calls for context-sensitive education reforms rather than one-size-fits-all solutions.
Author
Susanne Link
Cite as
Link, S., Woessmann, L. (2012), Institutional Setups That Promote Student Achievement, EENEE Policy Briefing no. 5/2012.
