This report takes stock of processes that promote the systematic use of evidence in decision making in Austria’s education system. It builds on an online survey among over 6500 decision makers, drawing on responses from executives in the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Research; regional education directorates; school supervision and school leaders. The report identifies what it takes to strengthen the opportunity, capability and motivation of decision makers at all levels of the education system to use evidence effectively for their respective practice – including teaching and quality assurance. It assesses respective strengths and weaknesses in current processes and in opportunities available to decision makers. The report develops possible next steps to inform further discussions. The publication is part of OECD work on strategic education governance, which supports countries in identifying the best ways to achieve national objectives in a context of multi-level governance structures and complex environments. The work identifies and promotes effective governance processes in the domains of accountability, capacity, knowledge governance, stakeholder involvement, strategic thinking and adopting a whole-of-system perspective. This publication will be of interest to policy makers, education leaders, the education research community and all those interested in education governance.

This policy profile on education in Austria is part of the Education Policy Outlook series, which presents comparative analysis of education policies and reforms across OECD countries. Building on the OECD's substantial comparative and sectoral knowledge base, the series offers a comparative outlook on education policy by providing analysis of individual countries' educational context, challenges and policies (education policy profiles), analysis of international trends, and insight into policies and reforms on selected topics.

The effective use of school resources is a policy priority across OECD countries. The OECD Reviews of School Resources explore how resources can be governed, distributed, utilised and managed to improve the quality, equity and efficiency of school education. The series considers four types of resources: financial resources, such as public funding of individual schools; human resources, such as teachers, school leaders and education administrators; physical resources, such as location, buildings and equipment; and other resources, such as learning time. This series offers timely policy advice to both governments and the education community. It includes both country reports and thematic studies.

This background report, prepared as upstream work for the Starting Strong V publication, offers a description and analysis of Austria's specific context and policies on the Transitions between ECEC and Primary Education, including : The transition system and its organization, professional continuity, pedagogical continuity, developmental continuity and the related challenges and strategies.

Skills are central to Austria's future prosperity and the well-being of its people. The OECD Skills Strategy Diagnostic Report: Austria identifies 14 skills challenges for Austria. The project and this report build on both the insights from workshops as well as latest international comparative analysis from OECD and national sources. The report provides cases illustrating how other countries have tackled similar challenges, which can be used as input to potential policy options on how to tackle these challenges. The challenges are described under each of the main pillars of the OECD Skills Strategy. The first 11 challenges refer to specific outcomes across the three pillars of developing, activating and using skills. The next three challenges refer to the "enabling" conditions which strengthen the overall skills system. Success in tackling these skills challenges will boost performance across the whole skills system.

This report examines vocational education and training programmes in Austria, covering how they are changing, how they are funded, how they are linked to academic and university programmes and how employers and unions are engaged.

This spotlight report draws upon the OECD report Equity and Quality in Education: Supporting Disadvantaged Students and Schools. The first section reproduces the executive summary of the report. The second section presents a snapshot of some variables on equity in education and school failure in Austria based on the indicators used in the comparative report. It also outlines some recent policy developments and suggested policy options for Austria, which are also informed by the Country Background Report prepared by Austria.

The Country Background Reports provide in-depth analysis of context, key factors and policy responses in individual countries. They provide an invaluable source of information on evaluation and assessment frameworks and greatly facilitate the analysis developed within the OECD Review on Evaluation and Assessment Frameworks for Improving School Outcomes. The Review is using a comparative framework to help countries assess: (i) how to develop a coherent evaluation and assessment framework; (ii) how to strengthen the use of evaluation and assessment results to enhance school practices so student outcomes are improved; and (iii) how to facilitate the implementation of evaluation and assessment policies.

Learning for Jobs is an OECD study of vocational education and training designed to help countries make their VET systems more responsive to labour market needs. It expands the evidence base, identifies a set of policy options and develop tools to appraise VET policy initiatives. Austria has a well developed VET system with a strong dual component integrating learning in schools and workplace training and involving the social partners in design and delivery. The system caters for a broad range of needs and helps to keep youth unemployment low. At the same time the Austrian system confronts several challenges, including a structural anomaly at 9th grade imposing a double transition on some students. Given the large number of individually defined qualifications, more attention could be paid to providing sufficient broad basic skills and good quality career guidance to all. There are some concerns with quality assurance of apprenticeship training and workshop-based dual programmes potentially reducing incentives for employers to provide apprenticeships.

OECD's comprehensive review of migrant education in Austria. It finds that compared to their native Austrian peers, immigrant students, on average, have weaker education outcomes at all levels of education. Austria has introduced measures to promote equity and support the language development of immigrant students in German and their mother tongues. There is scope to improve the quality of the educational and language support offered in early childhood education and care; strengthen and structure the language support offered in compulsory education; provide diversity training to teachers and school leaders; and reinforce co-operation between schools and immigrant parents and communities. For migrant education policies to be effective and sustainable, it is essential to clarify responsibilities for implementation of national strategies and ensure that the different levels of education co-operate; increase the inclusiveness of the education system by overcoming the early sorting of students; and further develop the culture of evaluation in the education system to monitor student progress.

The report provides an overview of school leadership developments and issues in Austria, as a contribution to the OECD's Improving School Leadership Activity. It discusses the national context of schooling, the features of the school system, school governance and leardership, the attractiveness of school leaders' roles, and professional learning of school leaders in the country.

In addition the introduction which forms Chapter 1, the structure of this Country Note is as follows: Chapter 2 provides a rapid overview of Austrian governance, socio-economic context, demographics and the family support system. After a brief introduction to the history of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Austria, Chapter 3 focuses on current policies and provision. In particular, approaches to administration and management, funding, regulation, staffing, and programme regulation are outlined. In Chapter 4, some of the main issues related to policy and practice in ECEC in Austria are explored. Four areas are chosen for comment: expanding the ECEC system, developing educational quality; professionalizing the early childhood sector; promoting research and evaluation in the pre-school sector. The conclusions, in Chapter 5 offer some reflections for consideration by Austrian stakeholders in four domains that have a bearing on the development of ECEC in Austria: the social context; governance and financing; the challenges of access; and means to improve quality.

The main purpose of the thematic review on adult learning is to understand adults' access and participation in education and training and to enhance policies and approaches to increase incentives for adults to undertake learning activities in OECD countries. It is a joint activity undertaken by the OECD Education Committee (EDC) and the Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Committee (ELSAC) in response to the need to make lifelong learning a reality for all, to improve learning opportunities of low skilled and disadvantaged adults and to sustain and increase employability.

This report outlines, in its Section 2, the key contextual social, economic and educational factors shaping teaching and the teacher career in Austria. That section also tries to draw out, from an international perspective, what is distinctive about teaching and teacher policy in Austria. Section 3 then identifies the main strengths of Austrian teacher policies, but also the challenges that the system faces. Section 4 uses the analysis of these issues to discuss priorities for future policy development. Section 5 has some concluding remarks.

In our rapidly changing and globalised society where permanent adaptation to new economic and social standards is a prerequisite for a successful integration in the labour market, the transition from initial education to working life has become of prime importance. It is therefore necessary to focus on the interfaces between education and training and the labour market affecting transition processes and outcomes and the role of guidance and counselling in this process.