International Education Indicators

Many different subjects that are considered in international education indicators, such as the rates of literacy among 15 year old students throughout the world. Some of the most significant indicators are the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS). One of the organizations responsible for collecting indicator data is the Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD). Challenges are inherent to international education indicators, since it is difficult to determine just how much knowledge a test can assess, and testing itself can detract from student learning.

Keywords Indicator; Literacy; No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB); Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD); Primary education; Tertiary education; UNESCO; United Nations

International Perspectives > International Education Indicators

Overview

The word indicator essentially has to do with a monitoring process and a system for gauging a subject matter or an aspect of something such as the production rate of a corporation. Horsch (2006) states that indicators can evaluate four things:

• Process,

• Inputs,

• Outputs, and

• Outcomes.

For example, an indicator can measure how many care workers a particular charity maintains in Mongolia (input), how many computers a Japanese factory produced in a year (output), how many different venues a non-government organization is involved with in order to reduce poverty in the Appalachians (process), and how many children in Sub-Saharan graduated from high school in 2004 (outcome).

The Globalization of Education

In recent decades, indicators tracking trends and numbers in international education issues have multiplied and received an increasing amount of attention. The reasons for this increase are numerous. First, the past few decades have seen an explosion of interest in education, both at a national and international level. For example, the United Nations has the goal of seeing everyone in the world achieve a primary education by 2015. The United Nations is not the only organization focused on the global spread of education; many charities and non-government organizations understand that education is a fundamental step to helping people move themselves out of poverty and deprivation and improve their lives. Charity focus has increased educational opportunities for people around the globe, and the increase of globalization has also influenced education: in a globalized society, education is necessary for workers to find steady employment. Finally, technology has played a role in the spread of education because it allows for the rapid spread of educational opportunities, ideas, concepts, and innovations across the globe.

Around the world, more children and adults are finding their way into the classroom, and naturally there has been great interest in developing strong, effective educational programs and evaluating present programs to measure results and changes. The increased demand for education has brought about interest in the quality and effectiveness of education. International education indicators monitor not only broad, large-scale issues such as how many adults in Malaysia have at least a primary education; they also focus on smaller, more specific issues such as how education affects the earning potential of adults in a specific region.

Comparing U.S. Education with the World

International education indicators also focus on how U.S. students fare in comparison to their peers in other countries. The U.S has also seen an increased interest in education, particularly at the tertiary level: the National Institute for Education Statistics (2007) reported that in 2005, 69% of America's high school graduates were attending college following graduation compared to only 49% in 1972 ("Highlights from," 2007). U.S.-generated research about education and education models are found throughout the world, and in many ways, the U.S. has an admirable education system. However, in the past decade or so, international education indicators have traced a persistent trend in falling test scores and weakening math, science, and geography skills among U.S. students. In fact, it was these test scores that lead to creation of the No Child Left Behind policy. Thus, international education indicators are concerned with comparing U.S. students to students in other countries in order to measure both successes and failures of the U.S. educational system.

International education indicators track improvements and troublesome issues in education around the globe, allowing for greater awareness of problem areas. Additionally, they help educators judge how effective education is and determine what specific programs and ideas work well. Above all, the presence of international education indicators highlights the growing importance placed on education and gives credit to the numerous organizations and people seeking to improve it.

Applications

Education is affected by an almost limitless number of factors. International education indicators must therefore gauge these different factors to track changes in education around the world, and there are an abundance of indicators which do exactly that.

Types of Indicators

There are many different indicators around the globe that measure international education issues. Two of the best known indicators are Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Math and Science Study (TIMSS). PISA is administered to 15 year old students across the world every three years. PISA measures literacy levels in math, reading, and science with a specific focus (science for example) each time the test is administered. TIMSS is another well-known test which focuses on how well 4th and 8th grade students measure up in math and science in comparison to their peers in other countries.

Monitoring Organizations

These two education indicator studies are carried out through the efforts of several organizations. One such organization is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). OECD is directly responsible for PISA and also maintains other organizations dedicated to tracking trends in education around the globe. OECD also maintains the Centre for Education Research and Innovation (CERI) in order to further educational research and monitoring.

IEA, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (2007) is another big stakeholder in providing international education indicators. Along with being the primary coordinating organization for TIMMS, it also spearheads many other studies such as:

• PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study)

• SISS (Second International Science Study) and

• TEDS (Teacher Education and Development Study) (IEA, 2007).

The Role of UNESCO & WEI

Many education indicator studies are promoted by UNESCO, the United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, one of the largest and most influential education-focused organizations in the world. It is particularly interested in monitoring global trends in education and measuring successes and setbacks in education world wide. Another education indicator UNESCO is part of is the Word Education Indicators program (WEI). WEI is supported by both UNESCO and OECD and highlights the educational achievements of 19 middle-level nations. All together, these 19 nations represent 70% of the world's population (World Education Indicators, 2002). This report is a yearly analysis of the progress of all the countries involved, giving clear evidence about topics such as:

• Student enrollment,

• How much of a priority different countries give to education,

• The use of educational resources, and

• The growth of student enrollment.

UNESCO also provides a yearly Education for All Global Monitoring Report to show how education and literacy are improving in other countries. This very detailed and multi-dimensional report offers information about how much success the United Nations is having with its goal of giving everyone in the world access to a primary education by the year 2015. This report looks at issues such as how many school-age children have mothers who possess an education and how education is being furthered among specific marginalized groups, such as sex slaves (UNESCO, 2004).

Key Factors Monitored

What topics these education indicators study and what information they reveal can be vast. The recent report by Miller, Anindita, Malley, and Owen (2007) is a good example of what sort of factors international education indicators often look for. The authors observed the education programs of the G-8 countries (U.S., U.K, Japan, France, Canada, Germany, Italy, and the Russian Federation). In their report, they focused on five key aspects of education:

• Overall population size and how many students were enrolled in school. This is a common issue that international education indicators focus on, specifically as education has increased in importance.

• Academic performance of students in math, science, and reading; naturally student performance in these key areas is a vital concern.

• The context of learning, such as the size of classroom and how different principals used the results of assessment indicators to make changes within their schools.

• Monetary issues, such as how much money a particular country channels towards education.

• Educational attainment, such as the number of grades students completed and how education attainment affected salaries once students moved into the workforce.

However, education indicators do not stop at these five key areas. It is not enough for education indicators to merely evaluate reading literacy or math scores, for many factors play directly into these larger subjects. Issues such as poverty, the number of children a woman has, employment, parental education level, discrimination, and gender are some of the many areas which directly affect education. Many indicators carefully evaluate these less obvious issues that directly affect education.

School Effectiveness Research

Student performance and outcomes are vitally important to education indicators. Therefore it would seem logical that the school systems of different areas, and not just the students, would receive attention from international education indicators. However, Teddlie and Reynolds (2000) stated that in the 70's, the consensus was that schools did not make any real difference in students' development. Today, educators across the globe agree that schools do affect student learning and that effort should be made to improve schools (p. 3). School Effectiveness Research is taking place across the world, and is benefiting students. For examples, the authors state that in Australia, researchers are seeing a "close link between school effectiveness and school improvement" (Teddlie & Reynolds, 2000, p. 24). Some international education indicators are focused on school systems and how effective they are in transmitting knowledge to their students.

Viewpoints

In a discussion of international education indicators, two questions arise:

• What information do these indicators provide?

• Do the results of these indicators give accurate results of the state of education across the globe?

It is generally agreed that education is both spreading and improving around the world. The OECD (1999) reported that all of the 19 countries participating in WEI have seen younger adults achieve higher levels of education than their elders. In most of these countries, virtually all younger children receive a primary education and many complete a secondary education (OECD, 1999, p. 9). Additionally, UNESCO reported that essentially all children in 47 out of 163 countries have received a primary education. 20 more countries out of 90 are well on their way to achieving Universal Education (UNESCO, 2007).

Additionally, many barriers to education are being removed such as gender discrimination, poverty, lack of technological access, hunger, and high fertility rates. The numerous charities and organizations around the world that work to free child workers and spread democracy are also helping pave the way for education.

Room for Improvement

However, along with these success rates, international education indicators discover a great deal of troublesome information. For example, research from the World Economics Forum indicated that richer countries are sometimes outperformed in the education sector by poorer countries. Out of 125 countries, the US rated 15th place in sense of overall quality of education, topped by Malaysia (10th place) and Taiwan (9th place). Japan placed 19th and the United Kingdom 29th ("Education for the New Economy," 2006).

One does not have to look far to find an abundance of sources detailing failing test scores in the U.S., particularly in comparison to other countries such as China. However, the fact that the World Economics Forum lists Japan below the U.S. in terms of education quality is surprising. While it is relatively easy to see numbers such as these and immediately start making sweeping generalities about the state of education in different countries, other voices caution about making assumptions too quickly.

For example, Riley and Torrance (2003) say that "league tables and performance indicators - as schools well know - are blunt instruments, but increasingly, they are part of the education currency" (p. 420-421). They state that results from education indicators, aside from the large-scale table information, receive little focus from those in charge of education decision-making. Typically, the large numbers and problems receive most of the focus, but smaller issues such as the learning gap between boys and girls receive scant attention (p. 421-422). The difficulty is that usually these small issues greatly affect the larger issues and put too much focus on the symptoms, not the underlying cause, which is not an efficient way to address the problem. Additionally, making a number of conclusions and decisions based on the results of hastily studied statistical evidence can also lead to many problems.

Test Reliability

The tests that are the backbone of educational indicator programs also come under criticism. Riley and Torrance (2003) found that education tests vary, usually because the students tested can be so diverse; student age can fluctuate per grade depending on when the birthdays fall, and the number of students surveyed per country can vary widely. Outside of the number of students tested, other issues can skew results. For example, different countries place higher value on some subjects (math, for example) which can result in overall score differences between countries. Some countries hold international education testing in low value, which will affect the outcomes. Finally, there is the universal problem of testing and just how much it can measure: some students misunderstand test questions or are poor test takers, yet know the material behind the questions (p. 422-423).

It is a common lament in American culture that students are over-tested, often resulting in less classroom instruction time and too much emphasis put upon teaching students how to take the test. This trend seems to be appearing in other cultures. Aside from the valuable classroom time that is lost due to excessive testing, Riley and Torrance (2003) also show that the preparation and structure needed for tests like PISA and TIMMS can come "at the expense of student interest and enjoyment" (p. 424). If indicator tests such as these do indeed provide an incomplete picture and detract from serious learning, then the information they provide may not be worth the problems they create.

In particular, Riley and Torrance (2003) say that what TIMSS and PISA do is "help to create and reinforce a climate that views education as narrow skill preparation for further employment, rather than as a challenging engagement with the knowledge and understanding that constitutes our culture and the democratic processes which future citizens must control" (p. 424). However, this could be less of a fault of tests like TIMSS and more of the result of recent changes in how education is viewed. In an increasingly globalized world, education is becoming crucial for vocational success. Spring (2004) has argued that globalization has made education necessary: it is becoming increasingly more important that one achieve at least a primary education and be able to adapt easily to a changing world in order to achieve employment. However, most would agree that making education largely a vocational preparation program undercuts the very nature of education and care should be taken to keep education a stimulating and challenging process.

Difficulties for the U.S.

International education indicators pose a specific problem for the U.S., mostly because there are often wide gaps between the performance of U.S. students and students in the rest of the world, particularly in industrialized countries. Stewart and Kagan (2005) pointed out that the U.S. is well aware of its failing scores in math, science, and geography, especially in comparison to other countries. However, Zhao (2007) has argued that rather than attempting to find creative, innovative ways of dealing with the problem, the US seems to become even more entrenched in systems and models that have proven to be ineffective. One example is the widely condemned No Child Left Behind Act policy which today has few supporters and has arguably caused more problems than it has corrected.

In contrast to the U.S., Stewart and Kagan (2005) stated that other countries which score well on international exams (such as countries from East Asia) tend to share several characteristics:

• They have only a few, well-defined goals rather than multiple, vague ones.

• Their curriculum is better organized and encourages topic mastery, in comparison to U.S. classrooms that may rush their students from topic to topic.

• There is better unity of standards and more teaching cohesion.

• Teachers are better prepared and there are many specialized teachers, particularly at the secondary level.

• School systems focus more on science, require their students to spend more time in class, and assign more homework (Stewart & Kagan, 2005, p. 243).

At the same time, Stewart and Kagan (2005) also indicated that in many ways the U.S. is a leader in the education arena. American-produced research on early childhood education is used throughout the world. Different works from American scholars and the National Academy of Sciences are routinely translated and used in other parts of the world. Perhaps most importantly, the U.S. education system is admired for the creativity and problem-solving skills it promotes in its students. Other nations gladly send their college students to American universities, some colleges where total enrollment may include a 20% international population (p. 243). While the U.S. may be struggling in some areas, clearly it is seeing great success in others.

Zhao (2007) has also argued that in today's global, fast-paced world, creativity and innovation are the most important resources people can have. The U.S. has historically done an excellent job in training its students to be creative thinkers and tackle problems with innovation. While lower test results are certainly nothing to be proud of, it may pass that the leaders of tomorrow are not those who excelled on their TIMSS tests but those who have the flexibility and creativity to solve problems and devise new ways of furthering technology, commerce, education, and human rights.

Other Indicators

There is a staggering amount of research about different international education concepts. The National Center for Education Statistics offers indicators of such diverse issues as volunteer activity among U.S. 9th graders and the hours worked per year by high school teachers in G-8 countries. Other organizations offer many more results, surveys, and research about international education. However, this information must be judged carefully and used wisely. Surely it is a great benefit to know the amount of children in a given country who are enrolled in primary education, the number of college diplomas a region awards each year, and the increase in monetary expenditure a country has devoted towards education in recent years. However, as teachers around the world find that more of their classroom time must be devoted to standardized tests, as students who struggle with taking tests have increasingly more tests to complete, and as countries worry over numbers that may give an incomplete picture of the true state of education, it is worth asking how much attention should be devoted to numbers and how much should be focused on the enriching and enjoyable process that education truly should be.

Terms & Concepts

Indicator: An evaluation or comparison of a particular subject matter. Indicators track outcomes, process, input, and output.

Literacy: Literacy often refers to reading comprehension, but in a broader concept, it includes the idea of knowledge about a particular topic, such as math.

No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB): A U.S. Law, instituted in 2002, that sought to improve school systems and student learning by making schools more accountable. This law requires standardized testing to judge student performance, improvement of teacher quality, the use of research strategies by schools, and more parental choice over where they send their children.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): This organization works with over 70 countries to make improvements in economic, social, and educational situations.

Primary Education: Consists of the U.S. equivalent of grades 1-6.

Tertiary Education: College-equivalent learning at the bachelor level.

UNESCO: The United Nations Economic, Social, and Cultural Organization, one of the largest humanitarian organizations in the world. It is specifically focused on education.

United Nations: An organization of 192 different countries that works to promote connection between nations to promote understanding, peace, and the advancement of human rights.

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Suggested Reading

Assessing higher education learning outcomes: Summary of the second meeting of experts. (2007, August 10). Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development. Retrieved August 31, 2007, from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/15/7/39117295.pdf

Matheson, N., Salganik, L.H., Phelps, R.P., Perie, M., Alsalam, N. & Smith, T.M. (1996, November) Education indicators: a global perspective. Universidad de Salamanca. Retrieved August 31, 2007, from http://www.usal.es/~mfe/SdE/Archivos/Datos/Education%20indicators.pdf

Perie, M., Sherman, J.D., Phillips, G., & Riggan, M. (2000). Elementary and secondary education: an international perspective. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved September 4, 2007, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2000/2000033.pdf

Snyder, T. D., & Hoffman, C.M. (2001). Digest of Education Statistics, 2000. National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved September 4, 2007, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001034.pdf