ads:
ads:
Livros Grátis
http://www.livrosgratis.com.br
Milhares de livros grátis para download.
President of the Republic
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Minister of Education
Paulo Renato Souza
Chief Executive Secretary
Luciano Oliva Patrício
President of the National Institute for Educational Studies and Research - INEP
Maria Helena Guimarães de Castro
ads:
Maria Helena Guimarães de Castro
National Institute for Educational Studies and Research
Ministry of Education - Brazil
ROLE AND VALUE
OF INTERNATIONAL
EDUCATION INDICATORS
FOR NATIONAL POLICY
DEVELOPMENT
Fourth General Assembly of the OECD
Education Indicators Programme (INES)
11-13 September, 2000 - Tokyo, Japan
The importance of national indicator
in policy-making
The implementation of education reforms in Brazil, where education
systems are characterized by political-institutional decentralization, necessarily
requires sound mechanisms for monitoring and following-up on ongoing actions
and policies. Such managerial instruments help observe how reforms are
progressing and, more importantly, help identify the positive points and those
needing adjustments.
Those mechanisms also provide unquestionable social gains that may
be measured both in terms of greater efficiency and effectiveness, and in terms
of the desirable assurance of transparency and equity in governmental programs.
The use of information in educational management complies,
therefore, with two basic principies of democracy: accountability - through the
wide dissemination of results obtained in surveys and assessments - and
permanent social control.
Last, but not least, educational evaluation and information systems
play a strategic role in the planning and prospective design of Scenarios, for they
contribute in no small way to the formulation of new policies and programs that
may provide answers for new trends.
In order to fulfill these multiple purposes, information systems must
count on uniform and scientifically-based methodologies and survey instruments,
updated and reliable data bases, as well as agile and precise dissemination
mechanisms.
Implementation and development
of educational evaluation, statistics and
indicator systems in Brazil
Until 1995, Brazilian education data were outdated and unsystematic.
Since there was no recent information available, directing government policies in
that area was a challenge as difficult as flying a plane in the midst of a storm
having no guiding instrument on board.
Not only did the lack of updated information jeopardize the decision-
making process, but it also caused a huge waste in the allocation of funds.
Furthermore, in the absence of a national standard system of information and
indicators, several states had their own data gathering and processing systems,
not compatible to each other. For this very reason Brazil could not even provide
international organizations with consistent data on education.
By the beginning of 1995, the latest school census available dated
back to 1989, and the last finished survey was that of 1991. The information
available was, therefore, inadequate to provide Support for the design of actions
directed at improving the education system. From that year on, the Brazilian
educational information system has gradually undergone a complete
reformulation, having acquired an integrated, decentralized and comprehensive
Structure, which includes now all leveis and types, from early childhood to
tertiary education and more advanced programs.
This process was based on government guidelines for the creation of
evaluation mechanisms to monitor the country's education systems. As a matter
of fact, nowadays all programs and projects carried out by the Ministry of
Education are based on diagnoses and recommendations derived from statistical
surveys and assessments on basic and higher education.
Several factors have contributed to the reformulation of the
educational evaluation, statistics and indicators systems in Brazil. In the
domestic context, the strong leadership of the Ministry of Education should be
pointed out, driving this initiative forward in Constant partnership with sub-national
authorities as well as with representatives of the education sector. Growing
public opinion Support to the systematic evaluations of the educational
institutions has also been an extremely relevant factor. In the international
context, the importance of multilateral cooperation should also be stressed, for
the purposes of acquiring knowledge, capacity-building, sharing experiences and
comparisons with other Countries.
Brazil 's participation in
international projects
3.1 The World Education Indicators (WEI) pilot-projet
In 1997, thirteen Countries - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, India,
Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Russian Federation, Paraguay,
Thailand and Uruguay - joined an OECD methodology-based pilot project for the
development of a set of common indicators which would actually reflect the
present state of education in an internationally valid, effective, timely and
comparable manner. Later on, five other Countries - Egypt, Morocco, Sri Lanka,
Tunísia and Zimbabwe - also joined the project.
The indicators included in the project, developed under UNESCO and
OECD coordination and supported by the World Bank, encompass a wide range
of dimensions such as social context, inputs, processes and outcomes of
education systems.
As a result, since 1998, data from the WEI participating Countries have
been included in the annual publication Education at a Glance. The Countries
included in the publication now cover about two thirds of the world population.
Early this year 2000 the first report on the project -- Investing in
Educaton -- was published, containing data on 16 out of the 18 Countries
participating in the WEI initiative.
3.2 Results of Brazil's participation in WEI
Brazil's participation in WEI broughi significant advantages for the
Country. First, the development of technical cooperation in an area that requires
Constant theoretical and methodological refinement. Second, the chance to
compare the performance of the Brazilian education system with other Countries.
Another significant advantage for the Country has been the
appropriation of methodology for the development of internationally comparable
indicators. Participation in WEI gave the National Institute for Educational
Studies and Research (INEP) the great opportunity of getting to know and
develop educational indicators in accordance with technical parameters duly
Consolidated in comparative international surveys. Prior to that, Brazil's
experience in international comparisons had been limited to the contribution of
partial information to the UNESCO Educational Statistics Yearbook.
Furthermore, the development of the more sophisticated indicators
comprised by the WEI project made it necessary for INEP to establish
partnerships with other institutions working in research and statistics related to
education . Therefore, the development of WEI led several agencies to join
efforts, and stimulated the debate about concepts and methodologies for the
development of educational indicators. It further resulted in the inclusion of new
variables into the data collection instruments used by INEP in statistical surveys
and censuses.
The use of indicators for international comparisons motivated the
development of similar indicators at sub-national levei, allowing comparisons
among the 26 states and the Federal District and among them and other
Countries. These indicators have been gathered in a national report about to be
published.
Structuring a comprehensive educational evaluation and statistics
system has produced significant changes on the trends of the educational debate
in the Country, and on the course of public policies for the sector itself.
Fundamental issues such as equity in public funds allocation, supply conditions,
teaching quality, teacher training, school autonomy and school management
models were broughi to the fore.
1
Partnerships were established with the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics - IBGE in order to
obtain data on the social, economic and demographic context, and with the Institute for Applied Economic
Research - IPEA, for the development of a Financial Information System in Education.
3.3 Programme for International Student Assessment
Another comparative study in which Brazil is participating is PISA
2000 (Programme for International Student Assessment), coordinated by OECD.
Besides the 29 OECD member states
2
, Brazil, China, Latvia and the Russian
Federation also participate in this evaluation project that aims to measure literacy
in Reading, Mathematics and Science in 15 year-old students. It is a broad
assessment of the knowledge, Skills and abilities covered by those subject areas.
PISA will be a fundamental instrument for an international comparison of
education systems, not only from a quantitative point of view, but also from a
qualitative one, resulting in the regular and systematic development of
achievement and performance indicators.
Conceived and coordinated by an international Organization, PISA
enables capacity-building and technical qualification in several regions and
Countries, as it is carried out by a consortium selected in a public call for tender,
along with the national coordinating institutions.
3.4 Challenges and results of Brazil s participation in PISA
Participation in PISA poses considerable operational challenges to a
federate Country like Brazil, which has an education system characterized by
huge dimensions and significant complexities. Furthermore, in Brazil, as well as
in all other Countries where the mother tongue is not English, extremely careful
Proceedings are required in translating and adaptating the assessment
instruments, so as to bring the risk of cultural and linguistic biases down to a
minimum.
Still, the major challenge faced by our Country in this project has to do
with the design of the sample to be assessed. The existence of multiple
organizational types of state and local basic education systems, and the high
rate of age/grade gap are complicating elements which cannot be ignored.
Overcoming these challenges brings out the greatest gain for PISA participating
Countries: the enormous learning possibilities derived from active participation in
the development and implementation process of the project. More than simply
ranking the participating Countries, PISA presents an unequaled opportunity for
the appropriation of new concepts, methodologies and procedures, in national
evaluation instruments and Structure. Moreover, the fact that PISA focuses on
developing performance indicators strengthens the perspective for the
construction of briefings and reports specifically addressed to educational policy
makers.
Finally, it is important to point out the enormous value of the networks
for cooperation and exchange of experiences that was established among
2
Austrália, Áustria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Holland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, NewZealand, Norway, Poland,
Portugal, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States of
America.
Brazilian and international experts, both in the field of evaluation and in the
subject areas assessed by PISA.
3.5 Other initiatives
Some other initiatives for the development of integrated educational
indicator systems are being developed in multilateral cooperation fora in which
Brazil participates. The first one Started in 1997 within Mercosul, when a basic
set of common educational indicators was defined. From this starting point,
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay - all WEI participants as well -
have been working in the development of an educational information system for
the region.
Another initiative worth mentioning is an ongoing regional project
involving Mercosul Countries and signatories of the Andres Bello Agreement
3
, for
the development of common educational indicators in South America.
A more ambitious project is being developed under the Summit of the
Americas, involving 34 Countries in the continent. The Action Plan approved by
chiefs of State and Government in Santiago, Chile (1998) includes a specific line
for cooperation in the field of Educational Evaluation and Indicators which is
coordinated by the Brazilian Government.
The experience developed by the Latin American Laboratory for the
Measurement of Educational Quality (LLECE), created in 1994 by UNESCOs
Regional Office of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean - OREALC,
with the participation of 14 Countries
4
has been another very important initiative
for the assessment of student achievement in the region.
5
It is important to stress that such initiatives have to be compatible and
complementary to each other. In fact, we strive to work on an internationally
valid methodology, safeguarding regional differences and national singularities.
4 Concluding remarks
Within the present Scenario of globalization and accelerated change in
technological bases and production processes, education has become the
strategic vector for sustainable and equitable development. In fact, it is widely
accepted today that human capital has become the largest comparative strength
of Countries in order to face international competition. In this sense, education
plays a key-role as a component of policies to decrease social inequalities and
3
Bolívia, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Spain and Venezuela
4
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras,
Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela
5
The tests, administered in October 1997 were aimed at the assessment of elementary students in 3
rd
and
4th grades, in Language and Mathematics.
promote development and citzenship, both at the domestic and the international
levei.
On the one hand, the initiatives related to the strategic importance of
analysing the scope and quality leveis in education, as well as the variables that
influence education outcomes, all converge to this idea..
On the other hand, international comparison is a central tool for
Countries - without losing sight of their own domestic specificities - to identify the
strengths and weaknesses in their education systems, share experiences and,
whenever necessary, reorient their policies.
By taking part in these multilateral projects, we reaffirm our
commitment to structuring an educational information and evaluation system in
which the exchange of experiences and the generation of internationally
comparable Standards and indicators play a central role for the monitoring of the
performance of school systems and the formulation of policies based on equity
and the improvement of educational quality.
Livros Grátis
( http://www.livrosgratis.com.br )
Milhares de Livros para Download:
Baixar livros de Administração
Baixar livros de Agronomia
Baixar livros de Arquitetura
Baixar livros de Artes
Baixar livros de Astronomia
Baixar livros de Biologia Geral
Baixar livros de Ciência da Computação
Baixar livros de Ciência da Informação
Baixar livros de Ciência Política
Baixar livros de Ciências da Saúde
Baixar livros de Comunicação
Baixar livros do Conselho Nacional de Educação - CNE
Baixar livros de Defesa civil
Baixar livros de Direito
Baixar livros de Direitos humanos
Baixar livros de Economia
Baixar livros de Economia Doméstica
Baixar livros de Educação
Baixar livros de Educação - Trânsito
Baixar livros de Educação Física
Baixar livros de Engenharia Aeroespacial
Baixar livros de Farmácia
Baixar livros de Filosofia
Baixar livros de Física
Baixar livros de Geociências
Baixar livros de Geografia
Baixar livros de História
Baixar livros de Línguas
Baixar livros de Literatura
Baixar livros de Literatura de Cordel
Baixar livros de Literatura Infantil
Baixar livros de Matemática
Baixar livros de Medicina
Baixar livros de Medicina Veterinária
Baixar livros de Meio Ambiente
Baixar livros de Meteorologia
Baixar Monografias e TCC
Baixar livros Multidisciplinar
Baixar livros de Música
Baixar livros de Psicologia
Baixar livros de Química
Baixar livros de Saúde Coletiva
Baixar livros de Serviço Social
Baixar livros de Sociologia
Baixar livros de Teologia
Baixar livros de Trabalho
Baixar livros de Turismo
