By Yuri Belfali, Head of Early Childhood and Schools, OECD, Robbie Dean, Senior Director, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning at Teach For All and the Global Institute for Shaping a Better Future, Olivier Bréchard, Director of International Relations at Learning Planet Institute and Molade Adeniyi, CEO of Teach For Nigeria
Rapid technological change and the rise of AI are reshaping how we live, work, learn and engage with the world around us. For young people, that signals new opportunities as well as major challenges. Preparing for the future requires the ability to adapt to shifting circumstances and solve increasingly complex problems. That’s one of the reasons the PISA 2025 results were a wake-up call for many countries and education systems. PISA shows that many of the skills students will need to succeed in an AI- and technology driven future continue to decline sharply. While some education systems manage to encourage multi-dimensional outcomes such as adaptability, perseverance and growth mindset, many others do not. This raises vital questions for governments, school systems, teachers and learners: What kinds of student outcomes matter most for young people’s futures? And how do we measure them?
At a recent event hosted by our organisations at Education House in New York, students and education leaders discussed how education systems can create the conditions for schools and teachers to support young people’s social and emotional development alongside academic progress. Understanding the importance of these broader outcomes for students is not new, but now we are seeing growing alignment on the need to define and measure them. The OECD’s Education for Human Flourishing framework emphasises collective agency, persistence and a focus on quality relationships. New insights from a collaborative inquiry on Teach For All’s global network of most transformational classrooms identifies six interconnected outcomes for student and adult development: purpose, wellbeing, awareness, connectedness, agency and expertise.
But despite new frameworks, what we hope to grow in students is often not measured. Raquel Jardim, a Williams College Class of 2027 student reflected on her schooling and experience with assessment as a child: “I wanted to make my community a better place, but throughout my education I was told my only measure of success was to get into college. Instead of being evaluated on problem solving or empathy, I was only prepared for multiple-choice college admission tests.”
Right now, we are learning that it is possible to measure such outcomes and that, by doing so, we can help orient students towards a better future. For example, the PISA framework places core academic domains on an equal footing with multi-dimensional outcomes like student aspirations, use of technology, collective agency, perseverance and sense of belonging. A new study from the Global Institute for Shaping a Better Future shows that, when teachers use measures of holistic student outcomes alongside feedback from their students, coaches, and their own self-reflections, they are more likely to foster positive learning outcomes. Research from the RAND Corporation on Teach for Nigeria highlights how measuring students’ holistic outcomes, including foundational literacy and numeracy, alongside growth mindset, awareness and connectedness helps teachers understand their students’ needs and accelerate learning.
Elsewhere, inspiring alternatives to traditional academic assessment are emerging globally. The Learning Planet Institute is exploring how student-led action research and longitudinal learning portfolios might better demonstrate agency and awareness and provide richer evidence of learners’ trajectories. In Taiwan, learning portfolios have become an important component of university selection systems alongside examination results and other academic records.
Measurement for a better future
In conclusion, we believe that the student outcomes mentioned in this blog must be intentionally developed and assessed in education systems. But we also recognise that doing this well requires clarity about what is being measured, sensitivity to context and children’s developmental stage, and triangulation with multiple sources of evidence. The challenge is therefore not simply to measure more, but to measure what matters. Educators, system leaders and communities have an opportunity now to reconsider what we are preparing students for and to ensure that what we measure reflects the future we want to see.
