Synergies for Better Learning (Summary in Spanish)

Abstract

Education systems are placing a stronger focus on measuring student outcomes, allowing comparisons of performance between schools and regions and over time. Most countries now have national databases on education, and issue education statistics and indicators. International benchmarking is also increasingly common and is informing national education debates. Results are being put to varied usesResults are being used to identify where schools are performing well and where they may need to improve. They are also being used to hold policy makers, school leaders and teachers accountable. For example, many countries now publish national tables of school results for use by, among others, parents, government officials and the media. Rising reliance on educational standardsMany countries now set educational standards for what students should know and what they should be able to do at different stages of the learning process. This has encouraged monitoring to determine if students are meeting these standards. Challenges and directionsCountries have different traditions in evaluation and assessment and take different approaches. Nevertheless, there are some clear policy priorities: