The European Union, education governance and international education surveys

Abstract

The European Union - comprising 28 member states with individual sovereignty in the formation and implementation of education policy - has developed research and communication strategies to facilitate the exchange of best practices, gathering and dissemination of education statistics and, perhaps most importantly, advice and support for national policy reform. Additionally, shared programs have been implemented across the union, which have led to the formation of one of the largest transnational policy networks in the world. This paper examines the influence of international education surveys administered by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, outlining the key characteristics of the surveys and the most salient findings. We discuss the contribution of emerging European Union governance for the quality of education while also looking at the challenges ahead. These challenges include developing assessments to include value added, revising assessments to include broader skills and providing assessment feedback to teachers within an EU context in which national and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development assessments become complementary, rather than overlapping, survey measures.