The state of education is a long way from where it needs to be to promote high-quality learning. BCG works with K–12 education systems to improve educational outcomes, ensure equity, and prepare students for tomorrow.
To help students master the skills necessary for success in a rapidly changing job market, K–12 education systems must continuously ensure the quality of their teaching workforce and equip schools and teachers with improved curricula—often in the face of budget cuts. The pandemic only heightened these challenges, disrupting K–12 education around the world and exposing deep inequities.
At the same time, however, innovative technologies and approaches are creating new opportunities for K–12 education. Personalized learning, digital tools, and so-called wraparound support programs—with an emphasis on nutrition, after-school tutoring, health and mental health services, and college preparation—are delivering individualized student experiences and ensuring that children have the necessary support to learn and thrive.
Our K–12 transformation framework helps schools rethink how they deliver K–12 education, by combining the drivers that directly impact student outcomes with the enabling elements, such as personalized learning, that create the right context for change. BCG’s K–12 transformation framework defines and enables the advances needed to effectively implement 21st century learning and promote student achievement and graduation rates.
BCG’s framework brings together everyone in the local education ecosystem—school operators, businesses, local and national partners—and creates a team that is committed to improving student outcomes. It then incorporates five elements to create the right context for change:
Riyadh Schools in Saudi Arabia used BCG’s closed-loop instructional system to transform itself from a traditional pen-and-paper school to a 21st-century leader in education. The school quickly realized significant improvement in student engagement and attendance, with 95% of all teachers meeting technology-integration targets during initial assessments.
In India, BCG helped the state leadership of Haryana improve learning outcomes for students while realizing a 15% budgetary savings within its 15,000 schools. BCG delivered a multiyear Quality Improvement Programme for the state that has turned around once-declining literacy and numeracy rates and become a model for other regions.
Seema Bansal is forging a path to public education reform for 15,000 schools in Haryana, India, with an ambitious goal: by 2020, 80% of children should have grade-level knowledge. She's looking to meet this goal by seeking creative, straightforward reforms that will work in every school without additional resources.
An analysis of 13 developed countries’ experiences with three education models for students with disabilities offers practical guidance for policymakers and educators.
The risks children face online are growing, and the current responses aren’t nearly enough. Fixing the problem will require a comprehensive global strategy.
Education is a powerful means of spurring behavioral change and collective action, cultivating green skills, ensuring a just transition to a sustainable economy, and building communities’ adaptive capacity.
