Background: A number of countries have had school inspection for many years. The origins of these systems date back to the nineteenth century when mass public schooling was introduced, and education and other emerging public services were required to comply with centrally mandated rules and programmes. In contrast, many countries across the world…

Marc Tucker, President of the National Center on Education and the Economy, presents this compilation of interviews with top Chinese education leaders and international researchers exploring some of the policies and practices behind Shanghai's outstanding performance on PISA 2009 and PISA 2012. The interviews include perspectives from Kai-ming…

Education is an area that is highly devolved in the UK, and the fact that all four constituent countries have pursued very different policies in the recent past provides a good testing ground to undertake a comparative review of the merits or otherwise of the education reforms that have taken place. There is, of course, an important policy context…

This paper provides evidence on the sources of differences in inequality in educational scores and their evolution over time in four European countries. Using Programme for International Student Assessment data from the 2000 and the 2006 waves, the paper shows that inequality decreased in Germany and Spain (two "decentralised" schooling…

The present article discusses the role and impact of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in Finland. PISA has created a new geography of education policies and reforms by shifting global interest away from Anglo-Saxon education systems to Asian countries, as well as to Finland and Canada in the West. The article describes how…

This publication presents a diverse collection written by a well-respected group of speakers and authors which includes government leaders, policy makers, education experts and administrators from all over the higher education world. The papers collected hereunder represent the conference proceedings of the Eurasian Higher Education Leaders' Forum…

This research-based volume presents a substantive, panoramic view of ways in which Australia and countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America engage in educational programs and practices to transform the learning processes and outcomes of their students. It reveals and analyzes national and global trajectories in key areas of…

The paper presents a view of the results and progress of Albania in the Programme for International Students' Assessments 2009 (PISA 2009). The overall goal and objectives of PISA are to offer support and expertise in the field of the evaluation of educational development factors in Albania. One of the methods successfully used for monitoring the…

For decades Japan has remained at or near the top of international assessments of student learning; and in the past decade, students in Japan have become more engaged in learning. However, the government aspires to improve learning outcomes even further. "Strong Performers and Successful Reformers in Education: Lessons from PISA for…