How does ICT affect school efficiency in Europe? Evidence from OECD PISA 2022

This paper investigates how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) affect school efficiency, drawing on data from the OECD PISA 2022 survey for 5,360 schools across 21 EU countries. While prior literature has examined the relationship between ICT and student performance, limited attention has been given to its impact on school efficiency, defined as the capacity to transform inputs (resources) into educational outcomes (test scores). To address this gap, we adopt a combined methodological approach. First, we estimate school-level efficiency scores using a robust nonparametric order-m model under a meta-frontier framework, distinguishing between local (within-country) and global (cross-country) benchmarks. Our results show a higher average local efficiency (0.87) compared to global efficiency (0.69), with significant variation across countries. We also run a robust conditional efficiency model in which exogenous variables are indicators of ICT availability and use, showing how ICT affects the production model increasing the average efficiency up to 0.85. Furthermore, to enrich the descriptive analysis on the role of ICT, we employ a multilevel random forest model to explore which ICT-related variables best explain efficiency scores. Findings highlight that cognitively engaging digital activities such as student-led research, data analysis, and the use of digital learning games are positively associated with efficiency, especially when used in moderation (i.e., avoiding its excessive use). ICT availability, while necessary, plays a lesser role. These results suggest that the pedagogically-driven integration of ICT, rather than its mere presence, is key to enhancing school efficiency.