A Collaborative Agenda for Improving International Comparative Studies in Education (2000)

Summary: The Board on International Comparative Studies in Education was established in 1988 at the request of the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics and the U.S. National Science Foundation. The board monitors U.S. participation in cross-national comparative studies in education that are funded by its sponsors and provides advice to the sponsoring agencies. This document includes discussion of what the board perceives to be the value of international comparative studies in education and its views on how these studies could be improved. As worldwide arrangements for planning and conducting cross-national research and data collection in education are inadequate, this study also includes a challenge to governments and leaders in education to form alliances to develop the information needed to improve educational outcomes and practices; it also suggests a possible approach to meet the challenge.