Description:
The 2004 edition of Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators enables countries to see themselves in the light of other countries' performance. It provides a rich, comparable and up-to-date array of indicators on the performance of education systems that represent the consensus of professional thinking on how to measure the current state of education internationally. The focus of this edition of Education at a Glance is on the quality of learning outcomes, the policy levers and contextual factors that shape these outcomes, and the broader private and social returns that accrue to investments in education. For the first time, the publication also provides indicators on how the labour market returns to education have evolved over time as education systems have expanded. The picture is not limited to aggregate country performance, but also incorporates variations within countries. This allows for an examination of issues of equity in the provision and outcomes of education, on dimensions such as gender, age, socio-economic background, type of institution, or field of education. The thematic organization of the volume and the background information accompanying the tables and charts make this publication a valuable resource for anyone interested in analyzing education systems across countries.