With the emergence and growth of the global economy, policymakers and educators have turned to international comparisons to assess how well national systems of education are performing. These comparisons shed light on a host of policy issues, from access to education and equity of resources to the quality of school outputs. They provide policymakers with benchmarks to assess their systems' performances, and to identify potential strategies to improve student achievement and system outputs.
Education Indicators: An International Perspective is a compilation of indicators from a multitude of data sources which provides a rich array of information on the current state of education internationally. They are intended to provide snapshots of the U.S. education system in comparison to systems in countries around the world.
Many of the indicators include comparisons between the United States and other industrialized nations with large economies - particularly those that are viewed as our major economic competitors, for example, the Group of Eight (G8) countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The data presented in these indicators are compiled from recent NCES international reports and surveys:
