This is a new relevant report with a strong emphasis on learning – but underneath I would suggest also a strong emphasis on effectieve teaching.

In this summarizing video – and in the report – there is one thing that maybe will scare educators off: the proposed element of measuring. I know this isn’t popular with large groups of the educational world. At the same time: it’s indeed deeply wrong if schooling doesn’t mean learning and it’s important to know if something is learned.

I do think that measuring and monitoring the learning process doesn’t need to mean what Pasi Salhberg has coined as GERM, global educational reform movement.

I also very much agree with this part of the blogpost:

Similarly, there is ambivalent coverage of teachers. Despite the WDR’s resounding conclusion that “education systems perform best when their teachers are respected, prepared, selected based on merit, and supported in their work”, it then draws attention approvingly to the idea that replacing the least effective 7–12% of teachers could help bridge the gap between student performance in the United States and Finland. Treating education as a production process with substitutable inputs is not a good starting point.

I do think there is another, better option. Making sure that the least experienced teachers aren’t getting the most difficult classes to teach (cfr TALIS-report by the OECD) would be a great start.