Education Quality and Opportunities for Skills Development in Albania : An Analysis of PISA 2000-2012 Results

Albanian students improved their performance on PIS A1 reading, math, and science assessments between 2000 and 2012, a period over which access to upper secondary education expanded dramatically. The improvements are equivalent to a quarter to half a year of schooling in math and science and more than one year of schooling in reading. The improvements were realized despite substantial increases in enrollment and the attendant changes in the PISA sample composition. The gross enrollment rate in upper secondary education was only about 40 percent in 2000, but increased markedly to 72 percent in 2009 and 83 percent in 2012. A spike in enrollment usually results in lower average student performance due to the inclusion of poorer and traditionally excluded students. In the context of a rapidly expanding education system, it is remarkable that Albania managed to improve its average PISA scores. It is even more notable that the improvement came from significant advancements made by low-achieving students. Albania s improved PIS A scores coincide with the launch of intensive reform efforts in its education sector. The Government of Albania initiated the education sector strategy formulation process in 2002, which resulted in the 2004 passage of the National Education Strategy (NES) and the first attempt to develop a long-term roadmap for the sector. The NES served as the catalyst for a range of reforms, including: improved teacher recruitment, compensation, and management; a revised curriculum for basic and general upper secondary education; enhanced transparency and accountability through reform of the Matura, the national student assessment; reduced price and improved textbook quality through a reformed procurement process; and provision of textbook subsidies to the poorest households. While it is beyond the scope of this report to determine a causal relationship between the range of policy reforms and improved PISA scores, this report shows that socioeconomic variables played an important role. Explanatory analyses show that the effect of education variables cannot be disentangled from the effect of socioeconomic variables. Furthermore, with economic growth averaging 4.9 percent per year from 2000-2012, a viable explanation is that the general improvement in economic conditions helped to raise the tide on all social indicators, including PISA performance.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	World Bank Group
Format:	Working Paper biblioteca
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2012
Subjects:	ABILITY OF STUDENTS, ACCESS TO PRESCHOOL, ASSESSMENT SYSTEM, AVERAGE SCORE, BASIC EDUCATION FOR CHILDREN, BASIC TEXTS, BETTER LEARNING, BETTER SCHOOLS, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, CLASSROOM, CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT, COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT, COGNITIVE SKILLS, COMPETENCIES, COMPULSORY BASIC EDUCATION, COMPULSORY EDUCATION, COMPUTER SOFTWARE, CURRICULAR REFORMS, CURRICULUM, DEGREES, DIASPORA, DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS, DISCIPLINES, DROPOUT RATES, EARLY CHILDHOOD, EARLY EDUCATION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, EDUCATION LEVEL, EDUCATION POLICY, EDUCATION REFORM, EDUCATION SECTOR, EDUCATION STRATEGY, EDUCATION SYSTEM, EDUCATION SYSTEMS, EDUCATION VARIABLES, EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT, EDUCATIONAL PERFORMANCE, EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES, EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS, EFFECT ON STUDENT LEARNING, EFFECTIVE LEARNING, EFFECTIVE TEACHING, END OF GRADE, ENROLLMENT, ENROLLMENT RATE, ENROLLMENT RATES, ENTRANCE AGE, ENTRANCE EXAM, ETHNIC GROUPS, EXAM, FORMAL BASIC EDUCATION, FORMAL SCHOOLING, FUNCTIONAL LITERACY, FUNCTIONALLY ILLITERATE, GENDER DISPARITIES, GENDER GAP, GIRLS, GRADUATION RATE, GROSS ENROLLMENT, GROSS ENROLLMENT RATE, HIGH SCHOOL, HIGHER EDUCATION, INSTRUCTION, INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS, INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT, LABOR FORCE, LABOR MARKET PARTICIPATION, LEARNING, LEARNING OUTCOMES, LEARNING STRATEGIES, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LITERACY, LITERACY ASPECTS, LITERACY THRESHOLD, LITERATURE, LIVING STANDARDS, LOWER SECONDARY, MATH SCORES, MATH SKILLS, MATHEMATICAL CONCEPTS, MATHEMATICAL PROBLEMS, MATHEMATICS, MEASURING EDUCATION QUALITY, MOBILITY, NATIONAL EDUCATION, OLD STUDENTS, OUT-OF-SCHOOL CHILDREN, PARENTAL EDUCATION, PEER INTERACTION, PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS, PERSISTENT INEQUALITIES, PRESCHOOL EDUCATION, PRIMARY EDUCATION, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRINCIPAL EFFECTIVENESS, PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS, PRIVATE SCHOOLS, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, PROFICIENCY, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE, PUBLIC EXPENDITURE ON EDUCATION, PUBLIC EXPENDITURES, PUBLIC EXPENDITURES ON EDUCATION, PUBLIC SCHOOLS, QUALIFIED TEACHERS, QUALITY EDUCATION, QUALITY OF EDUCATION, QUALITY OF LIFE, QUALITY OF TEACHING, QUALITY PRESCHOOL, QUALITY PRESCHOOL EDUCATION, QUALITY SCHOOLS, READERS, READING, READING ACHIEVEMENT, READING SKILLS, REASONING, RURAL AREAS, RURAL DISPARITIES, RURAL SCHOOLS, SCHOOL AUTONOMY, SCHOOL LEVEL, SCHOOL MAPPING, SCHOOL NETWORK, SCHOOL PRINCIPALS, SCHOOL QUALITY, SCHOOL READINESS, SCHOOL STUDENTS, SCHOOL-AGE, SCHOOL-AGE POPULATION, SCHOOLING, SCIENCE LABORATORY EQUIPMENT, SCIENCE STUDY, SECONDARY EDUCATION, SKILL ACQUISITION, SKILLS ACQUISITION, SKILLS DEVELOPMENT, SMALL SCHOOLS, SOCIAL COHESION, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, STUDENT ASSESSMENT, STUDENT DATA, STUDENT ENGAGEMENT, STUDENT GROUPS, STUDENT LEARNING, STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES, STUDENT PERFORMANCE, STUDENT POPULATION, STUDENT SCORES, STUDENT-TEACHER RATIO, SUBJECTS, TEACHER, TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS, TEACHER RECRUITMENT, TEACHING, TEACHING PRACTICE, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE, TERTIARY EDUCATION, TEST SCORES, TEXTBOOK, TEXTBOOK SUBSIDIES, TEXTBOOKS, UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, UPPER SECONDARY, UPPER SECONDARY EDUCATION, VISUAL RESOURCES, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, WORKERS, YOUNG PEOPLE,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/01/20214469/education-quality-opportunities-skills-development-albania-analysis-pisa-2000-2012-results http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20424
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