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Leaders and academics can improve the quality of higher education teaching, and thereby the quality of their graduates, by reflecting on institution-wide practices. This book explores the interplay between actors within institutions, organisational structure, commitment of senior leadership, involvement of faculty and students, and evaluation instruments.

Based on an OECD review of 46 quality teaching initiatives in 20 countries, the report highlights the significant impact of the institutions’ environment, trends in the quality of academia, teaching methods and learning conditions. The sample represents 29 higher education institutions, from technological and vocational institutions to business and economic schools, from small undergraduate institutions to multidisciplinary postgraduate universities. 

The book illustrates the following factors with examples from around the world:

• the aims of institutions when fostering quality teaching, their options and the guiding philosophy behind a quality approach;
• concrete ways to apply quality teaching initiatives, challenges to implementing them, and key actors in their dissemination;
• evaluation systems and the impacts of institutional support on teaching, research and quality culture;
• how institution-wide approaches can be combined to enhance quality teaching in a sustainable way.

The book also analyses the effects of quality teaching on institutional leaders, faculty members, quality units and students.

This report focuses on the development of reading proficiency during the transition from adolescence to early adulthood. The span of time between the ages of 15 and 24 is a critical period of development for young people. Once compulsory education is completed, individual decisions about post-secondary education, employment and other life choices have to be made with major consequences for future learning and employment outcomes. A good foundation in reading proficiency facilitates success in specialised education during higher education or during job-related training. Since reading proficiency is not the goal of such specialised or professional learning, reading skills may begin to atrophy. So both learning gains and losses need to be considered as human capital is developed.  

Canada’s investments in PISA, as well as in longitudinal data and reassessment of reading proficiency, provides insights into the importance of individual reading proficiency and later outcomes, such as educational attainment, further learning, employment and earnings. Therefore, this report makes a vital contribution to the understanding of learning gains between the ages of 15 and 24 and their impact on such outcomes, and provides a basis for evidence-based policy and strategic investments by the community of countries participating in PISA

This report presents the first internationally comparable results to OECD's 2003 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Survey of the educational performance of 15-year-olds in reading, mathematics, and science in 25 OECD countries.  This year, the concentration was on mathematics. Beyond the examination of the relative standing of countries in mathematics, science and reading, the report also looks at a wider range of educational outcomes that include students’ motivation to learn, their beliefs about themselves, and their learning strategies. Furthermore, it examines how performance varies between the genders and between socio-economic groups; and it provides insights into some of the factors that influence the development of knowledge and skills at home and at school, how these factors interact and what the implications are for policy development.  Most importantly, the report sheds light on countries that succeed in achieving high performance standards while, at the same time, providing an equitable distribution of learning opportunities.

The report presents a wealth of indicators showing how countries compare in various measures of educational performance and factors that affect that performance.

Across the OECD, attention is focusing increasingly on what has been dubbed the "digital divide" - a term that refers to the gaps in access to information and communication technology (ICT). The stakes are high, as ICT is now integral to the social fabric and is the catalyst for "new economies" to emerge. Exclusion threatens the ICT "have-nots", whether individuals, groups or entire countries. Political awareness of the stakes at issue grows sharply, as indicated by the prominence of the digital divide in G-8 discussions.

Education and learning lie at the heart of these issues and their solutions. They are the lifeblood of our 21st century knowledge societies, and ICT is critical to them. The gaps that define the "learning digital divide" are thus as important as the more obvious gaps in access to the technology itself. Learning is central in the still more fundamental sense that the machines and equipment are useless without the competence to exploit them. Nurturing this competence is in part the job of schools and colleges, in part dependent on the learning that takes place throughout life in homes, communities, and workplaces.

This volume meets an important need in the contemporary international literature on education policy, lifelong learning, and economic and social development. It presents analysis of the "learning digital divide" in different countries - developed and developing - and the policies and specific innovations designed to bridge it. The evidence shows that ICT can be the solution to inequalities rather than their cause - digital diversity and opportunity rather than digital divide.

Enormous investments are being made in computers and Internet connectivity for schools. The aim is to provide high-quality learning and teaching and equip young people for the knowledge society. But how are the benefits of this educational investment to be realised? It calls for much more than installing the hardware, and is not simply a matter of using ICT to do traditional things in different ways. Schools have to learn to change and to change to new ways of learning.

There is an urgent need for quality software and digital materials for use in schools. Teachers - and students - must become discerning and knowledgeable ICT users. The school environment has to be fully supportive of ICT, making available expert assistance and advice to the teacher in this rapidly-changing field. New forms of curriculum and assessment are called for, new ways of organising schools, if the dramatic educational potential of ICT is to be delivered and realised.

Such a demanding "learning to change" agenda is the subject of this international report. It is illuminated by the views of individual students, who used ICT enthusiastically in their own learning, and shared their experiences in an OECD international network. The report looks at the vast educational possibilities arising from the Internet, bringing together the school, the home and the wider community. It examines how ICT, which is the subject of teacher professional development, can largely be the means for its delivery. There are numerous examples of promising practice and principles for the future.

In OECD countries, the number of cities and regions which put learning, education, research and innovation at the heart of their development strategies is rapidly increasing and bringing together governments, the private sector and society. The growing interest in learning cities and regions reflects the fundamental shifts which are taking place. Cities are becoming more knowledge-based and organised as never before around learning and human skills. Today, these factors are central not only to individual success but also to gaining national, regional and urban economic advantage. Comparative advantage is increasingly dependent on human resources, knowledge creation, and continuous, incremental innovation rather than on access to physical capital and raw materials.

This book presents different approaches to regional development based on knowledge and innovation in Andalusia, Spain (and some other countries). Potential applications to areas similar to Andalusia are also given. The study contains a synthesis of the presentations and discussions of the conference held in Malaga, Spain, on the 30th September and 1st October 1999, that focused on the current situation of the region, analysing its evolution over the last twenty years, and evaluating the policies already implemented in the region. A diagnosis of the present socio-economic system has been made in order to measure the applicability of policies that would help Andalusia to develop into a learning region, built on human, social, cultural and "synergetic" capital.

CO2 emissions from energy production and consumption are a major contributor to climate change.  Thus, stabilising CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere by reducing these emissions is an increasingly urgent international necessity.  Carbon capture and storage (CCS) represents one of the most promising potential solutions to contain emissions resulting from continued use of coal and other fossil fuels.  However, challenges such as a lack of legal and regulatory frameworks to guide near-term demonstration projects and long-term technology expansion must be addressed to facilitate the expanded use of CCS. 

 

In October 2006, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum (CSLF) convened with legal experts,to discuss the range of legal issues associated with expanded use of CCS and to identify ways to facilitate further CCS development and implementation  Participants examined gaps and barriers to the deployment of CCS and identified recommendations to guide further development of appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks. 

 

This publication provides policymakers with a detailed summary of the main legal issues surrounding the CCS debate, including up-to-date background information, case studies and conclusions on the best legal and regulatory approaches to advance CCS.  These strategies can be used to enable further development, deployment and demonstration of CCS technology, potentially an essential element in global efforts to mitigate climate change. 

With almost 70% of the operating nuclear power reactors over 30 years of age, countries around the world are assessing whether to allow reactor operation past the 50 60 year mark and potentially up to 80 years. Ensuring a proper legal framework for the long term operation (LTO) of nuclear power reactors is a key component of such considerations.

The aim of this report is to provide insights into the various laws, regulations and policies that contribute to different countries' approaches to LTO. By collecting information from more than 20 NEA member and non member countries, this report highlights both commonalities among approaches as well as possible reasons for variations. Ultimately, the information gathered can serve as a vital resource for future exchanges respecting the legal aspects of LTO, with a view to further development and strengthening of the collective understanding of these issues.

Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) technologies are set to play an important role in putting the global energy system on a path to net zero. Successfully deploying CCUS relies on the establishment of legal and regulatory frameworks to ensure the effective stewardship of CCUS activities and the safe and secure storage of CO2.

Several countries have already developed comprehensive legal and regulatory frameworks for CCUS. These form a valuable knowledge base for the growing number of countries that have identified a role for CCUS in meeting their climate goals, but which are yet to establish a legal foundation for CCUS, and particularly for CO2 storage. Increasingly, existing frameworks are also being tested as more commercial CCUS projects are developed, with important learnings for regulators.

This IEA CCUS Handbook is a resource for policy makers and regulators on establishing and updating legal and regulatory frameworks for CCUS. It identifies 25 priority issues that frameworks should address for CCUS deployment, presenting global case studies and examining how different jurisdictions have approached these issues. The handbook is supported by a webbased legal and regulatory database, and model legislative text that is found at the end of this report.