Search

There has been a worldwide growth of interest among governments and international agencies in cross-national studies of the quality of education. However, such studies require careful planning, and have far-reaching implications for all concerned. Ministries of education should only become involved if they are prepared to actively engage in designing the studies and managing the impact of the research. In 2004, UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) and Germany's Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung (InWEnt) joined forces to hold an international policy forum on "Cross-National Studies of the Quality of Education: Planning Their Design and Managing Their Impact," which was attended by 50 experts from both developed and developing countries. Based on the invited papers presented at the Policy Forum and the intensive discussion about these papers that occurred during the "Open Space Sessions" that concluded the Forum, this book looks at a range of aspects, including what to measure and why, how to pay, and how to deal with the results, be they good or bad. The Policy Forum papers cover three main themes: (1) Background issues; (2) Planning the design; and (3) Managing the impact. They also gave rise to many important Policy Forum messages and recommendations, which have been documented in the final chapter of this book, concerning the guidance that should be given to ministries of education so as to ensure that they derive maximal benefits from cross-national studies of the quality of education. Following Chapter (1) entitled "Introduction: The Origins and Content of the Policy Forum" (Kenneth N. Ross, Laura Paviot, and Ilona Jurgens-Genevois), this book is divided into four parts and 15 chapters. Part I, Background Issues for Cross-National Studies of the Quality of Education, presents: (2) What Is the "Quality of Education"? (A UNESCO Perspective) (Mary Joy Pigozzi); (3) What Monitoring Mechanisms Can Be Used for Cross-National (and National) Studies? (Thomas Kellaghan); (4) What Are the Main Cross-National Studies? (Aletta Grisay and Patrick Griffin); (5) What Is a "Good" Cross-National Study? (T. Neville Postlethwaite); and (6) What Do Ministers of Education "Really Think" about Cross-National Studies? (Saul Murimba). Part II, Planning the Design of Cross-National Studies of the Quality of Education, continues with: (7) What Should Be Measured in a Cross-National Study? (Rainer Lehmann); (8) Whom Should Be Measured in a Cross-National Study? (Pierre Foy); and (9) What Are the National Costs for a Cross-National Study? (Maria Teresa Siniscalco). Part III, Managing the Impact of Cross-National Studies of the Quality of Education, contains: (10) How Can Countries Move from Cross-National Research Results to Dissemination, and Then to Policy Reform? (Case Studies from Kenya and Namibia) (Juliana Nzomo and Demus Makuwa); (11) How Can Countries Use Cross-National Research Results to Address "the Big Policy Issues"? (Case Studies from Francophone Africa) (Jean Marc Bernard and Katharina Michaelowa); (12) How Can a Country Manage the Impact of "Excellent" Cross-National Research Results? (A Case Study from Finland) (Pirjo Linnakyla); (13) How Can a Country Manage the Impact of "Poor" Cross-National Research Results? (A Case Study from Germany) (Jeanne Rubner); and (14) How Can International Organizations Work with the Media to Manage the Results of Cross-National Studies? (A Case Study from the OECD) (Andreas Schleicher). Part IV, Conclusion, presents: (15) The "Main Messages" Arising from the Policy Forum (Kenneth N. Ross, Carola Donner-Reichle, Ingrid Jung, Ulrike Wiegelmann, Ilona Jurgens Genevois, and Laura Paviot). Appended is: List of Participants. An index is also included. (Contains 1 table, 9 figures, and 2 boxes.) [Support for this document was provided by Internationale Weiterbildung und Entwicklung, Capacity Building International, Germany (InWEnt), a grant-in-aid offered by UNESCO, and by voluntary contributions made by several Member States of UNESCO.]