Selected Resources for International Education Statistics

This selective guide identifies major sources for international comparisons of statistical data on national systems of elementary, secondary, and higher education.

General

• Education at a Glance The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's annual statistical compilation of education indicators covers enrollment, literacy, graduation rates, staffing, and educational finance. Additional content varies from year to year, and frequently focuses on a particular education issue.
  1992-1993, 1995-1998, 2000 to present available in print: Gutman Education LB2846.E28 (Latest edition in Reference)
  2007 edition (Note: Full text of most tables and appendices is available online; chapters are briefly summarized but the full text is not available online.)
• EdStats The World Bank's database of education statistics brings together data collected by various national and international organizations. Includes a "Comparative Perspectives" section that allows the comparison of various education indicators (e.g. pupil/teacher ratio) for an individual country with other country groups.
• EURYDICE An information network on education in Europe established by the European Commission and its member states. Publications and the EURYBASE database provide descriptions of national education systems, comparative studies devoted to specific topics, and indicators and statistics.
• International Comparisons in Education Links to data from international comparisons in education, and to various reports compiled from this data by the National Center for Education Statstics.
• OECD Education Database The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's database of key education indicators includes enrollment, graduation rates, staffing, and educational expenditures. Data can be correlated by a number of variables including country, date, educational level, gender, and type of institution.
• Open Doors The Institute of International Education's annual statistical compilation covers international students studying in the U.S. and U.S. students studying abroad. Includes data on total enrollments, national origins, fields of study, host institutions, and more.
  Text and tables from 1954/55 to present available in print: Gutman Education LB2283 .I615 (Latest edition in Reference) or Widener Library Educ 5329.351
  Tables from 2001 to present available online at Open Doors Data Tables
• UNESCO Institute for Statistics Education statistics cover pre-primary, primary, secondary, post-secondary non-tertiary, and tertiary education. Includes education indicators on enrollment, literacy, staff, education expenditures, and gender disparities. Selected tables are available in Excel format or accessible through an interactive web-interface that can be used to construct customized data tables.

By Subject Area

• Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) An assessment of the reading, mathematics, and science literacy of 15-year-olds, conducted every three years. All three subject areas are assessed each time, but one is studied in greater depth; PISA 2000 focused on reading literacy, PISA 2003 focused on mathematics literacy, and PISA 2006 focuses on science literacy.
  List of participating countries.
• Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) An international assessment of the reading literacy of children in the equivalent of grade four in the United States. Thirty-five countries participated in the 2001 asesssment.
  List of participating countries.
• Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) TIMSS (formerly known as the Third International Mathematics and Science Study) provides international trend data on mathematics and science achievement. Data was collected in 1995, 1999, and 2003. Findings are available in various print and online publications. (See: TIMSS 1995, TIMSS 1999 and TIMSS 2003)

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