Comparative Indicators in Education

Abstract

This article first provides a definition of educational indicators and describes some of the main reasons why countries have supported international work on them since the late 1980s. The following section traces the development of educational indicators both in the context of comparative educational research and of national evaluation and policy-making regarding education systems. This section also includes a description of the relatively recent OECD-INES project and some of its accomplishments, including the revision of the International Standard Classification of Education. The development of educational indicators in Asia-Pacific countries is presented in a third section. An organising framework for the selection of indicators is also given. Finally, some of the main challenges confronting continued work on educational indicators are listed, particularly in so far as these relate to indicators of educational outcomes in the Asia-Pacific region.