Summaries of Key Elements of Education & Other Systems that Should be considered when Sustaining Incluve, Equitable and Effective School Systems

This page introduces a list of the elements of systems that need to be considered when school and other systems are being rebuilt, renewed or transformed. There are many items on this list which describes, in detail, the many elements that may need to be modified to create, support and sustain change. We have created these detailed lists because we think it is easier to work on small, specific changes rather than being faced with broad, general statements about transforming systems.
Each of the underlined steps in the text below and listed in the right hand column will be described in a brief summary that explains its importance  as well as providing evidence and examples. If you would like to be involved, in this process, please  contact [email protected]. 

Key Elements in Education & Other Systems 

​This overview of the key elements of school and other systems comes from several well recognized sources including:

• Goal 4: Quality Education. Part of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that include multiple targets and indicators for education and Schooling
• UNESCO (2023) Recommendation on Education for Peace and Human Rights, International Understanding, Cooperation, Fundamental Freedoms, Global Citizenship and Sustainable Development, Paris, Author
• UNESCO (2021) Report from the International Commission on the Futures of Education, Paris, UNESCO
• Jacques Delors et al (1996) Learning: The Treasure Within. Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century, Paris, UNESCO
• OECD (2019) Future of Education and Skills 2030: Conceptual learning framework. Learning Compass 2030, Paris, OECD
• UNICEF (2019) Global Framework on Transferable Skills, New York, Author
• UNESCO, UNICEF, World Bank and others (2016) Incheon Declaration
  and Framework for Action, Incheon, Korea
• Educator Organization (2022) Joint Statement on Rebuilding, Renewing and Transforming School and Other Systems, Surrey, BC, AASA, ASCD, CASSA, ESCW, YCP, IAC, ISNA,  ISPA & GNDE

The key elements of school and other system operations that should be modified and aligned coherently to ensure a student centered, whole child approach promoting inclusion and equity include:

1. Developing, implementing & maintaining a shared government (a) vision, (b) policy and (c) multi-year action plan/strategy for all concerned with the education and overall development of young people (whole child, every child) which includes a (d) vision and (e) mission for education ministries (often described in a multi-year (f) Education Sector Plan/Action Plan with stated priorities) as well as ensuring that the (g) core missions of non-education ministries have defined and are funding school-based or school-linked programs and (h) annual action plans tied to their core mandates for health promotion, public safety, social & child protection, environmental protection and others.
   
   
2. Identifying, agreeing upon, addressing, grounding the school system in the cultural, economic, social, political, contextual foundations of society.
   
   
3. Promoting systems excellence that prioritizes  and monitors inclusion and equity so that every child is included and that every child can succeed and that equitable results for marginalized children are central to the mission of schools.
4. Identifying, agreeing upon and implementing the core educational/pedagogical foundations of their school & other systems
   
   
5. Using a student centred approach that includes student and teacher agency & co-agency (with more emphasis on learning how to work together).
   
   
6. Meeting the needs of the whole child, ensuring that they are fed, safe, healthy, secure, engaged, challenged and ethically, morally, spiritually and socially responsible.
   
   
7. Maintaining a balance among the core purposes/functions of schooling (Learning to be, to do, to live together, to learn over the life course).
8. Providing a (a) broad range of learning opportunities to every child (including UN-neglected subjects such as health & life skills or the arts & music) in the (b) core subjects identified in a (c) national curriculum framework and outside classrooms in (d) extended education activities, authorizing or acquiring (e) textbooks, educational materials and (f) technologies that support (not replace) classroom instruction and informal school-linked learning.
   
   
9. Defining essential (a) student cross-curricular competencies/attributes and a (b) standards-based curriculum  and modifying core curricula & pedagogy accordingly as well as aligning the (c) standards for student achievement across the core curricula as well as describing required criteria & practices in (d)  student assessment, in (e) system/program assessments and student (f) pathways to graduation (student accreditation) with the goals and objectives listed in elements listed above.
   
   
10. These pathways and structures include supports for (a) critical transitions such as preparing young children for primary school ((b) early childhood education) and (c) early start programs, support and policy for (d) including students with special needs, supports for the transition between (e) primary and secondary schooling and successfully making the (f) shift to the world of work through technical-vocational programs or further studies including (g) adult education and/or(h) local, school-linked vocational training programs. Revise policies, procedures and programs on (i) student recruitment/ entrance requirements, (j) student attendance/truancy and (k) student retention/school-dropout prevention accordingly.
    
    
11. The (a) seamless organization of grades and levels of schooling (e.g., establishing middle or junior secondary schools, creating early childhood education programs within K-12 systems) as well as (b) limiting the “streaming” of students into academic or vocational programs, creating (c) alternative schools for troubled, athletic or other types of students, supporting parents who wish to (d) home school their children and providing (e) individualized education programs for students with different or special needs.
    
    
12. Transforming (a) initial teacher education, (b) ongoing teacher/educator development and (c) certification/additional qualifications for other categories of educators and (d) other professionals to promote inclusion and equity.
    
    
13. Sustaining (a) intersectoral partnerships and cross-ministry structures/appointments using the school as the hub by selecting, scaling up, & align selected (b) Intersectoral Policy/Program Coordination Frameworks (IPPCFs) such as healthy schools, safe schools and many others. This includes ensuring that a (c) coordinated set of student services is provided by ministries, agencies and professionals external to school systems as well as by specialized education personnel,  that (d) a defined minimum set of physical conditions and practical resources to promote learning and protect health & safety are present in all schools and that (e) minimum standards in curricula and extended education programs promoting health, safety, personal, social and sustainable development (HSPSSD) are established and monitored.
    
    
14. Models such as Health in All Policies (HiAP) and intersectoral Ambition Loops derived from Implementation and Systems Science or Organizational Development theories & models can strengthen and support negotiated, reciprocal, sustainable on-going and targeted partnerships.
    
    
15. Formal (a) inter-ministry agreements, (b) inter-ministry coordinators, and (c) inter-ministry mechanisms to support coordination should be part of a variety of (d) whole of government strategies, structures and approaches.  (e) Joint sector plans, and (f) joint sector reviews are ways that such partnerships and frameworks can be implemented, monitored and sustained.  
    
    
16. Requiring that formal professional, school and local agency and ministry formal (a) improvement planning based on philosophy, organizational commitment and a well-organized (b) plan for continuous improvement at all levels is the end goal/product of well-designed (c) monitoring, reporting, evaluation and improvement (MREI) systems. Monitoring frameworks and processes should include (d) reliable, multiple indicators used over time and covering relevant social, economic, cultural and family factors (context), student health and development status and behaviours (inputs), ministry, agency, school and professional practices, policies, programs and capacities (processes), equitable student access & success, in-school health, safety and conditions and student learning about a broad range of subjects (outputs) that are relevant to population outcomes over the life course, but such outcomes are affected by conditions and programs occurring later in life. (e) Reporting activities can include regular program reports and updates, school-focused award/accreditation programs, student achievement in several subjects, participation rates in extra-curricular activities,  incident rates and reports on student behaviours in schools and near school facilities, and employee, parent and student satisfaction surveys, external expert reviews on several aspects of schooling,  and periodic policy/program surveys. These MREI systems should be the basis of, guide and inform (f) school administrative handbooks published by education ministries, (g) data systems (EMIS), internally and externally supported (h) surveys, and holistic (i) status reports on overall child/youth development and education. Periodic (j) composite portraits/reports of overall child and youth development and educational inclusion & student learning should be published every few years at the whole of government level based on synthesized reports from these data sources.
    
    
17. Establishing long-term (a) workforce development plans, ongoing (b) professional development programs, and (c) accreditation standards for initial or pre-service education for teachers and (d) several categories of personnel in education, other public agencies, relief/development agencies, and voluntary/philanthropic sectors that work within or with schools.
    
    
18. Ensuring that the (a) daily operations & practices of the school system, local schools, students, & employees, (b) transportation systems/routes, (c) buildings, facilities and grounds are accessible, safe, healthy, and environmentally sustainable.
    
    
19. Providing (a) basic financing is sufficient to meet defined minimum system goals and objectives, aligning (b) categorical funding streams appropriately, requiring (c) transparent, ethical financial and management practices, and ensuring that (d) project/innovation funding is linked directly to established jurisdiction priorities or system capacity-building. Facilitating joint annual and long-term (e) inter-ministry program budgeting beyond specific projects is essential to transformation.   
    
    
20. Enabling and regulating (a) local education authorities to collect taxes or (b) local schools to collect fees for education from their citizens in addition to those collected by national and sub-national governments is another aspect of financing that is often done in decentralized countries or those with a history of private, religious, or community-based schooling. Providing and regulating (c) supplementary or alternatives to public funding to private, religious, or other alternative schools is another variation of this education financing policy. 
    
    
21. Granting or recognizing (a) decentralized governance or varying (b) degrees of autonomy to their respective local school systems for minority, indigenous and other specific communities.
    
    
22. Empowering and supporting (a) autonomous and accountable professionals at all levels across several systems is essential. (b) Professional codes of conduct, (c) school-based management, (d) distributed leadership and use publicly accountable (e) colleges or boards that establish standards of practice & training or other variations in delegation of authority to designated professionals when appropriate.

System Elements

Web links to the brief descriptions of  the many Transformation Elements  listed in the drop-down menu below will be active when one page summary has been prepared
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-  Whole Government Vision
-  Whole Government Policy
-  Government Multi-Year Action Plans
-  Education Ministry Vision
-  Education Ministry Mission
-   Education Sector Plans
-  Stated Education Ministry Priorities
-  Schools in other Ministries Missions
-  School plans in other ministries
-  School missions in country context
-  Core pedagogical foundations
- Student Centered approach
-  Student Agency
- Teacher/educator agency
-  Whole child approach
-  Equity focus for system excellence
-  Balance in school core purposes
-  Range of learning opportunities
-  Balance in required core subjects
-  Holistic  curriculum framework
-  Extended educational activities
-  Authorized textbooks, resources
-  Appropriate use of technologies
-  Generic student competencies
-  Curriculum standards/objectives
-  Student achievement standards
-  Student assessment policies
- System/program assessments
-  Graduation pathways/accreditation
-  Support for critical transitions
-  Early childhood education programs
-  Early/Head Start Programs
-  Including special needs students
-  Transition to secondary school
-  Transition to work programs
-  Adult education programs
-  Technical-vocational programs
-  Out of school/entrance programs
-  Attendance/truancy policies
-  Dropout prevention programs
-  Structures of levels and grades
-  Limited streaming of students
-  Alternative schools
-  Home schooling policies
-  Individual education programs
-  Initial teacher education
-  Ongoing educator development
-  Certification Specialized Educators
-  Certification of other professionals
-  Support Intersectoral Cooperation
-  iPPCF Coordination Frameworks
-  Coordination of student services
-  Minimum school conditions
-  Minimum health/life skills curricula
-  Evidence-based Partnership models
-  Inter-ministry agreements
-  Inter-ministry coordinators
-  Inter-ministry mechanisms
-  Whole of government strategies
-  Joint sector plans
-  Joint sector reviews
-  Formal improvement systems
-  Continuous improvement approach
-  Structured MREI systems
-  Multiple, reliable indicators
-  Range of reporting activities
-  Aligned School Admin Handbooks
-  Aligned data systems (EMIS)
-  Range of policy-program surveys
-  Range of reports on children/youth
-  Periodic composite progress reports
-  Workforce plans for all employees
-  Minimum prof. development for all
-  Accreditation of initial edr. training
-  Accreditation of training for others
-  Basic funding levels for system
-  Appropriate categorical funding
-  Project funding builds systems
-  Inter-ministry program funding
-  Local authority taxation policies
-  Local school fees policies
-  Funding of minority schools
-  Decentralization policies/plans
-  Autonomy for local systems
-  Autonomous. professionals plan
-  Professional codes of conduct
-  School-based Management Policies
-  Distributed leadership approach
-  Delegated monitoring of standards
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