National Education Reforms and Learning Outcomes

• In Event: The Idealism of Reform: Trends and Impact of Education Reforms, 1960-2018

Proposal

A global learning crisis, already underway before the COVID-19 pandemic, has now reached catastrophic levels. Over 250 million children around the world, which corresponds to one out of four students, are unable to read or write at their grade level (Angrist and Patrinos, 2019). This learning gap is even more pronounced in lower-income countries where it is estimated that over half of the students are unable to read simple texts (World Bank, 2019). There is a concerted effort by the global community to address this global learning crisis. The aim of our research is to understand whether these efforts are increasing learning outcomes around the world. To test empirically, we combine two novel databases. First, we employ the Harmonized Learning Outcomes (HLOs) Database, which is a cross-national and longitudinal dataset that measures learning outcomes in 164 countries using international and regional assessment data (Angrist et al, 2021). Second, we employ the newly constructed Global Education Reform Database, which consists of more than 9,000 education reforms from 194 countries that were reported in country documents produced by multilateral aid agencies, such as OECD, World Bank, and UNESCO (Bromley et al, 2020). The combined dataset covers 147 countries over the period 2000-2017, reflecting all world regions and levels of economic development. Our analyses consider the impact of reforms on learning outcomes and impact of education reforms on subject-based learning outcomes (e.g. reading, science, and mathematics). We will demonstrate variations across regions and level of economic growth, and consider national factors such as economic growth, political conditions, quality of teachers, years of schooling, and sociolinguistic diversity.

Authors

• Rie Kijima, University of Toronto

• Patricia Bromley, Stanford University