EDUCATION INDICATORS: An International Perspective

Acknowledgments

Education Indicators: An International Perspective was authored by a joint (NCES)/Pelavin Research Institute (PRI) team under the general direction of Thomas M. Smith of the Data Development and Longitudinal Studies Group. Overall direction was provided by Nabeel Alsalam, Director of the Special Studies and Reports Program.

The authors wish to thank all of those who contributed to the production of this report. Special thanks go to Diedra White at PRI who provided valuable contributions to the production of this publication from its conception to end. We'd also like to acknowledge the staff at EEI, including Amy Lenihan, Kathryn Hall, and Kim Agnew, who were responsible for the final design and layout of the publication as well as its preparation for printing. Finally, we'd like to recognize Norberto Bottani from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for his key role in the International Indicators of Education Systems (INES) project, from which many of this publication's indicators originated.

Numerous staff from PRITsze Chan, Bing Deng, Erin Sheehan, Maria Stephens, Scott Brancolini, and Jack Eastonmade important contributions to the preparation of this report. Joel Sherman and Jay Moskowitz provided helpful comments on the draft manuscript. From the American Institutes for Research (AIR), David Baker wrote the sidebar entitled Similarities among national education systems, Keith Tidman coordinated the final layout and production of the publication, and Sally Dillow edited the final draft of the manuscript.

Many thanks are due to NCES staff, whose contributions range from providing general direction at the beginning of the project to helping resolve specific issues along the way. In particular, we would like to thank Sue Ahmed, Marilyn Binkley, Mary Frase, Jeanne Griffith, Marilyn McMillen, Eugene Owen, Lois Peak, and Thomas Snyder for their help.

Several individuals served as invited external peer reviewers of the draft manuscript. These reviewers offered many insightful comments. The peer reviewers were Dorothy Gilford, former Staff Director of the Board on International Comparative Studies in Education of the National Academy of Sciences; Howard Nelson, American Federation of Teachers; Delia Pompa, U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Director for Bilingual Education and Minority Language Affairs; Diane Ravitch, New York University; and Edith M. Rasel, Economic Policy Institute.

Lastly, thanks are due to our colleagues in the G_7 countries who reviewed the matrices of comparative information on countries' education systems for accuracy, and to many others who have generously shared their time and knowledge to help us better understand their countries' education systems.

[Foreword]

[List of Tables]