Project Objectives

Based on its broader goals, the Measuring Innovation in Education project consists of three specific objectives: 1) comparing innovation in education to innovation in other sectors (see Measuring Innovation in Education 2014); 2) reviewing 150 educational practices over the past decade in OECD education systems and the links between innovation and educational performance (see Measuring Innovation in Education 2019); and 3) constructing metrics for countries to independently examine the relationship between their educational innovations and changes in educational outcomes (publication expected in spring 2023).

With support from the European Commission, the project seeks to fill these crucial measurement gaps for policy makers and educators alike.

Main deliverables

• NEW!!! A 2023 book Measuring Innovation in Education 2023 - Tools and Methods for Data-Driven Action and Improvement, that proposes insights and tools to policy makers and education leaders willing to drive change based on data and evidence and new tools and methodologies for education policy makers and institution leaders. Three aspects of innovation are covered: educational innovation at the system level, innovation culture within educational institutions, innovation towards equity in education. A questionnaire to measure educational research and experimental development expenditures and implementation and new methodologies to measure certain aspects of educational innovation and educational research based on big data and bibliometrics are also presented.

• A 2022 brochure, Educational Innovation towards Equity - Tools for Institutional Reflection and Action, which proposes self-reflection questionnaires that primarily aim to support institutional leaders to collect information and engage all stakeholders in a dialogue to review and improve their practices related to equity and which provides policy makers and researchers with a first basis to monitor innovative efforts towards equity at the system level.

• A 2019 book Measuring Innovation in Education – What has changed in the classroom? which reviews 150 educational practices between 2009 and 2019 to cast light on systemic innovation in primary and secondary education as well as the links between innovation and educational performance.

• A 2017 booklet Measuring Innovation in Education – A journey to the future which summarises past and planned OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation work on measuring innovation in the education sector and the potential impact of innovation in educational outcomes.

• A 2014 book Measuring Innovation in Education which compares innovation in education to other sectors, assessing changes in school practices between 1999 and 2011, and reviewing measures of innovation in education.

 Methodology

The two strands of the 2023 report use different methods to perform analyses around innovation measurement. The first strand centered around Twitter data performs social network analyses based on the interactions of experts in educational innovation, and examines how the ideas in their tweets spread across relevant actors and stakeholders. The second survey strand of the project synthesises relevant literature to distill a number of imperative building blocks for innovation in education. It discusses existing innovation surveys and analyses them using such building blocks. The second strand culminates in the creation of three example survey types based on existing surveys, the building blocks, and input from leading experts in the field. 

Research

Taking into account existing innovation surveys, the CERI research team is currently developing three original types of questionnaires on educational innovation. The aim is to enable education policy makers to design their own questionnaires for measuring educational innovation and filling innovation gaps accordingly. The questionnaires illustrate different approaches to measuring innovation and collecting data:

1. Innovation surveys: these serve to collect statistical information on educational institutions, both from the perspective of teaching staff and school leaders.
2. Modules on Innovation Culture: these surveys serve as examples of a module that could be added to the self-reflective EC survey “SELFIE” and cover the innovation climate in educational institutions from the perspective of teaching staff, school leaders, and students.
3. Self-reflective surveys on Equity and Innovation: these serve as an example of subject-specific surveys, in this case focusing on the intersection of (educational) equity and innovation. These surveys cover the perspectives of teaching staff, school leaders, and students, and are part of a proposed implementable workshop.

Furthermore, the CERI research team is engaging with experts to examine the feasibility of using new data sources (i.e. social networks such as Twitter) to quantitatively measure how the education sector obtains and shares knowledge related to innovation. The study aims to determine if and how using visualisation and social network metrics may enable policy makers to understand the structure of digital education innovation networks, including education innovation influencers. The results of the feasibility study have implications on how countries identify and foster innovation trends in the education sector.

Working Document  "How to measure innovation in education" (June 2021). 

Contact

Stéphan Vincent-Lancrin, Senior Analyst and Project Leader

Koen van Lieshout, Policy Analyst