Alexander W. Wiseman

The Uses of Evidence for Educational Policymaking: Global Contexts and International Trends

the past 150 years, educational systems have expanded and become integrally linked with economic, political, and social status in modern nation-states (see Kamens, Meyer, & Benavot, 1996). As the stakes for education have risen, so has the call for more and improved use of scientific evidence as a basis for educational policymaking (Luke, 2003; Slavin, 2002). The rise in the use of scientific evidence for educational policymaking rests on two common beliefs: One is the belief that school knowledge is abstract and universal, and the other is the belief that empirical evidence is an efficient indicator of knowledge and learning. As a result, there are serious educational policymaking consequences for individuals and schools tied to evidence (Olson, 2006). Evidence from averaged scores on international assessments of math and science achievement in particular have become important indicators of national political and economic strength, but there are many different kinds of evidence to consider (LeTendre, Baker, Akiba, & Wiseman, 2001; Wiseman & Baker, 2005). For example, high-stakes consequences resulting from averaged academic achievement scores exist for students and schools in the United States but even more so in other countries, such as Japan (LeTendre, 1999; E. Smith, 2005). However, how and why evidence is used for educational policymaking both in the United States and around the world are the larger questions this chapter addresses. To investigate the uses of evidence for educational policymaking, this volume and this chapter ask two fundamental orienting questions: Why use evidence in educational policymaking? And why is evidence-based educational policymaking a global phenomenon? The answer to the first orienting question serves as a foundation for introducing relevant macrotheoretical perspectives and exploring the motivations and agendas that drive educational policy and decision making. The answer to the

Teachers’ Work: Institutional Isomorphism and Cultural Variation in the U.S., Germany, and Japan

Policy debates in the U.S. are increasingly informed by use of internationally generated, comparative data. Many arguments revolve around whether or not such comparison makes “cultural sense” or whether specific educational activities that appear successful in one nation are “culturally appropriate” in another. These arguments clash with the work of anthropologists and sociologists who demonstrate that global cultural dynamics influence national patterns of schooling around the world. Using both the survey and case study data from the Third International Math-Science Study (TIMSS), we examine the working conditions and beliefs of teachers in Japan, Germany, and the U.S. in order to assess the relative merits of competing theoretical perspectives. We find some differences in how teachers’ work is organized, but similarities in teachers’ belief patterns. We find that core teaching practices and teacher beliefs show little national variation, but that other aspects of teachers’ work (e.g., non-instructional duties) do show variation. We show that models of national cultures of learning or “national teaching scripts” may overemphasize cultural differences and underestimate the impact of institutional isomorphism in schooling. We argue that rather than change values, educational policy will be best served by identifying specific features of teacher work and analyzing how to improve these working conditions.

The Worldwide Explosion of Internationalized Education Policy

Conventional wisdom has it that policymakers rationally approach an ongoing or potential problem, carefully consider the reasons for the problem, and then sensibly debate the information and research on this problem. The final stage of this ideal vision of the educational policymaking process is that the policymakers decide how to solve specific problems based on their consideration of all of the relevant data and possible options (Vickers, 1994). This is rarely, if ever, the case.

ICT-integrated education and national innovation systems in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries

The widespread use and availability of information and communication technologies (ICT) has greatly impacted how nations conceptualize innovation and the ways formal mass education can be used to advance socio-political and economic agendas. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have increasingly focused on the roles of science and technology in building research development and innovation (RDI) capacity to create national innovation systems (NIS). This paper uses evidence from the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the 2009 World Bank Institute Knowledge Economy Index (KEI) to investigate the spread of ICT in national education systems in the GCC countries and the impact of ICT-based learning as a catalyst for NIS and RDI capacity in the region. Previous research suggests that ICT-based instruction has the potential to build capacity in knowledge development, which is a key component in the establishment of national innovation systems. However, the analyses presented here suggest that the ways ICT is used in education in the GCC do not build capacity in knowledge development in youth. Although evidence shows that GCC countries do have institutional capacity in ICT, it is not used for knowledge development in part because of limitations imposed by the cultural contexts for education in the Gulf. The paper concludes with recommendations for ways that GCC teachers can use ICT to create national innovation systems and research capacity through reforms to teacher training and professional development.

Comparative education research framed by neo-institutional theory: a review of diverse approaches and conflicting assumptions

The rise in globalisation studies in comparative education places neo-institutional theory at the centre of many debates among comparative education researchers. However, uncertainty about how to interpret neo-institutional theory still persists among educational comparativists. With this uncertainty comes misinterpretation of its principles, variations and explanatory power. Two problematic misconceptions prevail: (1) the belief that the ‘world culture’ strand is the only version of neo-institutional theory applicable to comparative education research; and (2) the assumption that the global homogenisation of society, culture and schooling is a goal of researchers applying neo-institutional theory to comparative education phenomena. This article addresses these misconceptions, elucidating neo-institutional theory and its applicability to comparative education research. Our findings suggest that neo-institutional frameworks for comparative education research are useful, but that complementary approaches and methods are also necessary.

The Symbiotic Relationship between Empirical Comparative Research on Education and Neo-Institutional Theory

As comparativists of education are well aware, over the second half of the 20th century there was a dramatic increase in the pace of educational expansion around the world. This revolution has made the world a schooled place both in terms of enrollment rates and increased average total years in schooling. What has been particularly noticeable is the degree to which governments in all types of nations have come to see that education plays a central role in the future development of the nations human capital, and in turn governments have become the main providers of schooling. This alone is a significant shift from anything ever seen before the 20th century. Further this remarkable expansion of education has fostered notable homogeneity of goals, aims, and basic organizational forms of elementary and secondary schooling and, more recently, higher education.

The Professionalization of Comparative and International Education: promises and problems

The purpose of this study is to identify, describe, and analyze historical trends in the professionalization of the field of comparative and international education, as indicated by the founding, expansion, and evolution of the professional associations and graduate programs serving the field. Using historical and university data as well as unique membership data from the Comparative and International Education Society, the authors find that (1) professional associations and university programs in comparative and international education contribute to and secure control over expert knowledge, training and credentials; and (2) the merging of ‘comparative’ and ‘international’ education has contributed to the professionalization of the field. In particular, the authors find a simultaneous and complementary process of professionalization and fragmentation occurring within the field of comparative and international education.

Shifting gender effects: Opportunity structures, institutionalized mass schooling, and cross-national achievement in mathematics

Prior research shows that stratification of future adult opportunities influences stratification in the academic performance of students. This perspective is used to generate hypotheses regarding the sources of cross-national gender differences in mathematics performance. These hypotheses are tested using multivariate and multilevel analyses of adult opportunities for women and cross-national differences in mathematics performance by gender. This future opportunity perspective is expanded to take into account the historical incorporation of women in modern nation-states through institutionalized mass schooling emphasizing egalitarian ideals. Results indicate a cross-national shift in the direction of less gender inequality in overall school mathematics performance. However, gender inequality is more evident in the advanced 12th grade mathematics. The results of a more specialized analysis of the advanced 12th grade mathematics are compared with the earlier findings regarding mathematics performance.

Challenges to creating an Arabian Gulf knowledge economy

Abstract This chapter presents a theoretical and evidence-based investigation of the contribution that national educational systems make to the development of and transition to a knowledge economy in the Arabian Gulf, generally, and Saudi Arabia, specifically. The challenges to creating an Arabian Gulf knowledge economy are twofold. One is a functional and structural challenge of developing a knowledge economy-oriented mass education system. The other is a cultural and contextual challenge of aligning Arabian Gulf expectations, traditions, and norms with institutionalized expectations for knowledge economies. The knowledge economy development challenge that is specific to national versus non-national Gulf populations, information and communication technology (ICT), and formal mass education systems is highlighted. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the role that national innovation systems play in knowledge economy development in the Arabian Gulf countries.

Community Colleges: Where are they (Not)?

Evidence suggests that community colleges worldwide adhere to a culturally-embedded institutional charter that celebrates and accommodates local cultural norms and social, political and economic needs in communities around the world. Using this as a foundation, the authors present a dilemma to readers because there are both many communities and nations where the community college model has expanded and established itself while simultaneously many communities and nations around the world where community colleges do not exist or have been resisted. This unique phenomenon of both global expansion and targeted indifference becomes the focus of this chapter and an introduction to the chapters to follow.