International Education Indicators: A Time Series Perspective

December 1996

Highlights

International Education Indicators: A Time Series Perspective compares, over time, educational issues across the different Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. The OECD is made up of 26 developed countries dedicated to promoting economic growth and development around the world. The indicators used in this comparative analysis cover the years 1985 to 1991, a seven-year time series to study trends in policy. Those years were a period of change for many countries.

In the United States, the seven years represent a span marked by intense education reform. A Nation at Risk, which many now recognize as the “trigger” for change, highlighted the state of American education and its essential role in the nation’s prosperity. A Time for Results was subsequently published in 1986, supporting findings in A Nation at Risk and giving specific recommendations for the improvement of America’s educational system.

In 1989, the nation’s governors established six National Education Goals, which highlighted improvements that should be made by the year 2000. These publications have focused on the goals relating to education outcomes. For example, goal 2 emphasizes the importance of completing high school, goal 3 stresses achievement in all subjects, and goal 5 sets the stage for the United States to be first in the world in mathematics and science.

The indicators in this report provide data on how close the United States is to meeting its goals, as well as how the country compares to other countries. These indicators also should aid policy makers in determining what changes have been made in the education system in the United States during this period of intense reform.

In addition, we compare changes in the United States during this time period to changes occurring in other countries, as other countries were engaging in their own reform movements. This report allows countries, themselves, to identify similarities and differences among themselves, and to compare trends in their own country to those occurring in other countries.

Highlighted in this publication are the basic components of education, including enrollment, expenditures, and outcomes; and, by initially examining demographic and economic characteristics, the education system of each country is placed in appropriate context. Readers are thus able to review both substantive indicators and the context within which they should be examined. That context, itself, includes an understanding of the education systems and social structures of different countries, factors which have a bearing on a country’s relative position on a given education indicator. Provided with such background, the reader can better understand, and make inferences about, the meaning of the indicators for each country, its students, and its people. Moreover, by comparing trends in the social or economic variables to trends in the education system, the reader can more clearly see the relationship between background variables and education policies.

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For more information about the content of this report, contact Tom Snyder at Tom.Snyder@ed.gov.