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School Reports: What They Are and Why They Matter

• By Signet Education
• November 19, 2018

Disclaimer: Signet Education does not provide school reports.

Many parts of the college application and admissions process are very visible to students and parents—grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities come to mind. Because of their visibility, these components tend to take on the utmost importance in students’ and parents’ minds.

Don’t get us wrong; these are very important factors. But it’s also important to remember that there are other factors that aren’t directly under your control. For example, teacher recommendations, counselor recommendations, and a student’s context (school, region, state, etc…) are all factors (among many) that play a part in the assessment of an application.

By acknowledging and remembering this, you can take a bit of the burden off of yourself. Whether or not you get into a given school has to do with things that are under as well as out of your control, so focus on controlling what you can and not perseverating on what’s beyond out of your hands.

Today, we’d like to shed some light on one of the most important but least-discussed elements of the college process: the school report. There are technically two school reports that go to colleges. One is a document put together by your high school that gives admissions officers an overview of the school (number of people in a class, breakdown of student demographics, number of advanced/AP classes offered, etc.). If you’re curious, you can likely find this school report right on your school’s website. This report is often submitted with a college application.

The other school report—what we’re going to discuss today—is a portion of the Common Application that is filled out by the school counselor. The two reports contain a lot of the same information. The difference is that one is in a format chosen by the school (so sometimes contains more information), and one is a form that the school counselor fills out within the Common Application.

Today’s article is by Liz Adams, a former Harvard Admissions Officer and one of Signet’s Admissions Consultants. We hope you find it helpful in expanding your understanding of the many factors in the admissions process.

What is a School Report?

By now you’ve probably heard plenty about how crucial essays and teacher recommendations are for college applications. But people rarely talk about one important component: the school report.

The school report is the form that is filled out by your school college counselor (or equivalent). It includes a transcript, a recommendation letter, information about the school’s academic program in general, and how you compare to other students in your class.

The school report serves as both an academic and personal snapshot of a student’s application, and can be a crucial starting point for admissions officers in assessing candidacy. It establishes the “context” against which students are compared—both within their own school and among students from other schools.

Of course, you cannot (and should not!) control what a counselor reports in this section. However, being aware of this piece of the application can be helpful for you in understanding the way admissions officers view your application in the larger context.

So let’s take a closer look!

Anatomy of a School Report

• While some information about  class rank and GPA  is also found on a transcript, having all this information collected in one place is convenient for an admissions officer. This section also allows for additional information to let an admissions officer calibrate what class rank and GPA mean at this particular school, which ensures that you are not being judged against the standards of another school.
• The  percentage of graduating students immediately attending two- or four-year institutions  helps an admissions officer get a feel for the context of the school as a whole. A school sending 100% of students to 4-year institutions is likely quite a different setting from a school sending 29% to 4-year institutions. This setting is crucial for admissions officers to understand up front, so that students are being appropriately assessed in context.
• Information on the  number of advanced courses offered and how demanding a student’s course load is  serves as an at-a-glance benchmark for how rigorous your academic work has been. This is particularly useful in familiarizing an admissions officer with the more atypical features of a school’s curriculum. Perhaps your school doesn’t offer AP or IB classes. Perhaps only a few students per year are selected to take AP European History. Perhaps it is impossible for a student to take AP Physics and AP Calculus in the same year. Admissions officers can read a lot of information in the few questions here to ensure that they fully understand what each student’s curriculum means.
• Understanding  how long a counselor has known this student  is important in evaluating the context of this recommendation. At some schools, counselors work with their students for all four years, while in others, they meet only a few times right before college applications are due. This information ensures that students who attend schools where the counselors are overloaded are not being penalized for that, and vice versa.
• These  student ratings  don’t necessarily say a lot to an admissions officer, but they are a good reminder to parents and students that counselors cannot recommend everyone equally! An admissions officer will be much less likely to trust the judgment of a counselor who marks every single student as “One of the top few I’ve encountered in my career,” so it’s in both your and your counselor’s best interest for these rankings to be an honest assessment.

  So there you have it: the anatomy of the school report! But what does it actually mean for your application?

How Does an Admissions Officer Use This Information?

The school report serves as a heuristic for the context of an applicant. In other words, it helps to interpret your transcript, and thus provide a basis for a deep understanding of where a student comes from. For example, let’s consider two different students, each of whom has taken the  same three AP classes .

The first student has a 3.7 GPA (out of 4.0) at a school that doesn’t rank, but has a graduating class of 53 students. 100% of students at this school go on to a 4-year college immediately after graduating, and the school offers 20+ AP courses. The counselor has indicated that their course load is “demanding” and the other check marks all fall into the range of “Excellent.”

The second student has a 3.6 GPA and is ranked 13th in a class of 835. This school offers only 3 AP courses; 18% of students immediately attend 4-year colleges. The counselor has indicated that this student’s course load is “most demanding” and the other ratings are all “One of the top few in my career.”

While the two students have the same number of AP classes under their belt, and the first student’s GPA is slightly higher, the details from the school report create very different portraits. The first student seems to have played it safe; they have done well but not exceptionally, in a pool of about 50 peers. The second student, however, has maximized the available opportunities and managed to stand out to the counselor in a class of over 800 students, a major achievement.

Admissions officers do not make decisions based solely on this little bit of information, of course! They will take this information and combine it with the things that they learn in the rest of the application—especially the teacher recommendations and the essay. But this section is crucial for creating context, and is a good example of how different environments can come across on paper.

While it might seem stressful to think about the parts of the application that are out of your control, we encourage you to look at this as a reminder that the college admissions process is not a referendum on your character. There are many, many factors that play into the assessment of each application. Our advice? Build a diversified school list, put your best foot forward, and try to be zen about what comes next.

This article was co-written with Liz Adams, one of Signet’s Admissions Consultants.

Want more in-depth advice for your college applications? Contact us to get connected to an expert admissions consultant.

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Introduction

The commitment of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) to ensure ‘inclusive and equitable quality education’ and promote ‘lifelong learning for all’ is part of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development pledge to leave no one behind. The agenda promises a ‘just, equitable, tolerant, open and socially inclusive world in which the needs of the most disadvantaged are met’.

Social, economic and cultural factors may complement or run counter to the achievement of equity and inclusion in education. Education offers a key entry point for inclusive societies if it sees learner diversity not as a problem but as a challenge: to identify individual talent in all shapes and forms and create conditions for it to flourish. Unfortunately, disadvantaged groups are kept out or pushed out of education systems through more or less subtle decisions leading to exclusion from curricula, irrelevant learning objectives, stereotyping in textbooks, discrimination in resource allocation and assessments, tolerance of violence and neglect of needs.

Contextual factors, such as politics, resources and culture, can make the inclusion challenge appear to vary across countries or groups. In reality, the challenge is the same, regardless of context. Education systems need to treat every learner with dignity in order to overcome barriers, raise attainment and improve learning. Systems need to stop labelling learners, a practice adopted on the pretext of easing the planning and delivery of education responses. Inclusion cannot be achieved one group at a time (Figure 1). Learners have multiple, intersecting identities. Moreover, no one characteristic is associated with any predetermined ability to learn.

FIGURE 1: The one thing we all have in common is our differences

Inclusion in education is first and foremost a process.

Inclusion is for all. Inclusive education is commonly associated with the needs of people with disabilities and the relationship between special and mainstream education. Since 1990, the struggle of people with disabilities has shaped the global perspective on inclusion in education, leading to recognition of the right to inclusive education in Article 24 of the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). However, as General Comment No. 4 on the article recognized in 2016, inclusion is broader in scope. The same mechanisms exclude not only people with disabilities but also others on account of gender, age, location, poverty, disability, ethnicity, indigeneity, language, religion, migration or displacement status, sexual orientation or gender identity expression, incarceration, beliefs and attitudes. It is the system and context that do not take diversity and multiplicity of needs into account, as the Covid-19 pandemic has also laid bare. It is society and culture that determine rules, define normality and perceive difference as deviance. The concept of barriers to participation and learning should replace the concept of special needs.

Inclusion is a process. Inclusive education is a process contributing to achievement of the goal of social inclusion. Defining equitable education requires a distinction between ‘equality’ and ‘equity’. Equality is a state of affairs (what): a result that can be observed in inputs, outputs or outcomes. Equity is a process (how): actions aimed at ensuring equality. Defining inclusive education is more complicated because process and result are conflated. This Report argues for thinking of inclusion as a process: actions that embrace diversity and build a sense of belonging, rooted in the belief that every person has value and potential, and should be respected, regardless of their background, ability or identity. Yet inclusion is also a state of affairs, a result, which the CRPD and General Comment No. 4 stopped short of defining with precision, likely because of differing views of what the result should be.

INCLUSION IN EDUCATION AS RESULT: START WITH EDUCATION FOR ALL

Poverty and inequality are major constraints. Despite progress in reducing extreme poverty, especially in Asia, it affects 1 in 10 adults and 2 in 10 children – 5 in 10 in sub-Saharan Africa. Income inequality is growing in parts of the world or, if falling, remains unacceptably high among and within countries. Key human development outcomes are also unequally distributed. In 30 low- and middle-income countries, 41% of children under age 5 from the poorest 20% of households were malnourished, more than twice the rate of those from the richest 20%, severely compromising their opportunity to benefit from education.

Progress in education participation is stagnating. An estimated 258 million children, adolescents and youth, or 17% of the total, are not in school (Figure 2). Disparities by wealth in attendance rates are large: Among 65 low-and middle-income countries, the average gap in attendance rates between the poorest and the richest 20% of households was 9 percentage points for primary school-age children, 13 for lower secondary school-age adolescents and 27 for upper secondary school-age youth. As the poorest are more likely to repeat and leave school early, wealth gaps are even higher in completion rates: 30 percentage points for primary, 45 for lower secondary and 40 for upper secondary school completion.

Poverty affects attendance, completion and learning opportunities. In all regions except Europe and Northern America, for every 100 adolescents from the richest 20% of households, 87 from the poorest 20% attended lower secondary school and 37 completed it. Of the latter, for every 100 adolescents from the richest 20% of households, about 50 achieved minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics (Figure 3). Often, disadvantages intersect. Those most likely to be excluded from education are also disadvantaged due to language, location, gender and ethnicity. In at least 20 countries with data, hardly any poor rural young woman completed upper secondary school.

FIGURE 2: A quarter of a billion children, adolescents and youth are not in school

FIGURE 3: There are large wealth disparities in attendance, completion and learning

THE RESULTS OF INCLUSION IN EDUCATION MAY BE ELUSIVE, BUT ARE REAL, NOT ILLUSIVE

While universal access to education is a prerequisite for inclusion, there is less consensus on what else it means to achieve inclusion in education for learners with disabilities and other disadvantaged groups at risk of exclusion.

Inclusion for students with disabilities means more than placement. The CRPD focus on school placement marked a break not just with the historical tendency to exclude children with disabilities from education or to segregate them in special schools but also with the practice of putting them in separate classes for much or most of the time. Inclusion, however, involves many more changes in school support and ethos. The CRPD did not argue special schools violated the convention, but recent reports by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities increasingly point in that direction. The CRPD gave governments a free hand in the form of inclusive education, implicitly recognizing the obstacles to full inclusion. While exclusionary practices by many governments that contravene their CRPD commitments should be exposed, the limits to how flexible mainstream schools and education systems can be should also be acknowledged.

Inclusive education serves multiple objectives. There is a potential tension between the desirable goals of maximizing interaction with others (all children under the same roof and fulfilling learning potential (wherever students learn best. Other considerations include the speed with which systems can move towards the ideal and what happens during transition, and the trade-off between early needs identification and the risk of labelling and stigmatization.

Pursuing different objectives simultaneously can be complementary or conflicting. Policymakers, legislators and educators confront delicate and context-specific questions related to inclusion. They need to be aware of opposition by those invested in preserving segregated delivery but also of the potential unsustainability of rapid change, which can harm the welfare of those it is meant to serve. Including children with disabilities in mainstream schools that are not prepared, supported or accountable for achieving inclusion can intensify experiences of exclusion and provoke backlash against making schools and systems more inclusive.

There can be downsides to full inclusion. In some contexts, inclusion may inadvertently intensify pressure to conform. Group identities, practices, languages and beliefs may be devalued, jeopardized or eradicated, undercutting a sense of belonging. The right for a group to preserve its culture and the right to self-determination and self-representation are increasingly recognized. Inclusion may be resisted out of prejudice but also out of recognition that identity may be maintained and empowerment achieved only if a minority is a majority in a given area. Rather than achieve positive social engagement, in some circumstances inclusion policies may exacerbate social exclusion. Exposure to the majority may reinforce dominant prejudices, intensifying minority disadvantage. Targeting assistance can also lead to stigmatization, labelling or unwelcome forms of inclusion.

Resolving dilemmas requires meaningful participation. Inclusive education should be based on dialogue, participation and openness. While policymakers and educators should not compromise, discount or divert from the long-term ideal of inclusion, they should not override the needs and preferences of those affected. Fundamental human rights and principles provide moral and political direction for education decisions, yet fulfilling the inclusive ideal is not trivial. Delivering sufficient differentiated and individualized support requires perseverance, resilience and a long-term perspective. Moving away from education system design that suits some children and obliges others to adapt cannot easily happen by decree. Prevailing attitudes and mindsets must be challenged. Inclusive education may prove intractable, even with the best will and highest commitment. Some, therefore, argue for limiting the ambition of inclusive education, but the only way forward is to acknowledge the barriers and dismantle them.

Inclusion brings benefits. Careful planning and provision of inclusive education can deliver improvement in academic achievement, social and emotional development, self-esteem and peer acceptance. Including diverse students in mainstream classrooms and schools can prevent stigma, stereotyping, discrimination and alienation. There are also potential efficiency savings from eliminating parallel education structures and using resources more effectively in a single inclusive mainstream system. However, economic justification for inclusive education, while valuable for planning, is not sufficient. Few systems come close enough to the ideal to allow estimation of the full cost, and benefits are hard to quantify, as they extend over generations.

Inclusion is a moral imperative. Debating the benefits of inclusive education is akin to debating the benefits of human rights. Inclusion is a prerequisite for sustainable societies. It is a prerequisite for education in, and for, a democracy based on fairness, justice and equity. It provides a systematic framework for removing barriers according to the principle ‘every learner matters and matters equally’. It also counteracts education system tendencies that allow exceptions and exclusions, as when schools are evaluated along a single dimension and resource allocation is linked to their performance.

Inclusion improves learning for all students. In recent years, a learning crisis narrative has drawn attention to the majority of school-age children in low- and middle-income countries not achieving minimum proficiency in basic skills. However, this narrative may overlook dysfunctional features of education systems in the countries furthest behind, such as exclusion, elitism and inequity. It is not by accident that SDG 4 explicitly exhorts countries to ensure inclusive education. Mechanical solutions that do not address the deeper barriers of exclusion can only go so far towards improving learning outcomes. Inclusion must be the foundation of approaches to teaching and learning.

The 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report asks questions related to key policy solutions, obstacles to implementation, coordination mechanisms, financing channels and monitoring of inclusive education. To the extent possible, it examines these questions in view of change over time. However, an area as complex as inclusion has not yet been well documented on a global scale. This Report collects information on how each country, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, addresses the challenge of inclusion in education. The information is available on a new website, PEER , which countries can use to share experiences and learn from one another, especially at the regional level, where contexts are similar. The profiles can serve as a baseline to review qualitative progress to 2030.

The Report recognizes the different contexts and challenges facing countries in providing inclusive education; the various groups at risk of being excluded from education and the barriers individual learners face, especially when characteristics intersect; and the fact that exclusion can be physical, social (in interpersonal and group relations, psychological and systemic. It addresses these challenges through seven elements in respective chapters, while a short section highlights how these challenges have played out in the context of Covid-19.

Laws and policies

Binding legal instruments and non-binding declarations express international aspirations for inclusion. The 1960 UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education and the 1990 World Declaration on Education for All, adopted in Jomtien, Thailand, called on countries to take measures to ensure ‘equality of treatment in education’ and no ‘discrimination in access to learning opportunities’ for ‘underserved groups’. The 1994 Statement and Framework for Action adopted in Salamanca, Spain, put forward the principle that all children should be at ‘the school that would be attended if the child did not have a disability’, which was endorsed as a right in 2006. These texts have influenced the national laws and policies on which progress towards inclusion hinges.

National definitions of inclusive education tend to embrace a broader scope. Analysis for this Report shows that 68% of countries define inclusive education in laws, policies, plans or strategies. Definitions that cover all marginalized groups are found in 57% of countries. In 17% of countries, the definition of inclusive education covers exclusively people with disabilities or special needs. ( PEER ).

Laws tend to target specific groups at risk of exclusion in education. The broad vision of including all learners in education is largely absent from national laws. Only 10% of countries reflected comprehensive provisions for all learners in their general or inclusive education laws. More commonly, legislation originating in education ministries concerns specific groups. Of all countries, 79% had laws referring to education for people with disabilities, 60% for linguistic minorities, 50% for gender equality and 49% for ethnic and indigenous groups. ( PEER ).

Policies tend to have a broader vision of inclusion in education. About 17% of countries have policies containing comprehensive provisions for all learners. The tendency is much stronger in less binding texts, with 75% of national education plans and strategies declaring an intention to include all disadvantaged groups. Some 67% of countries have policies on inclusion of learners with disabilities, with responsibility for these policies almost equally split between education ministries and other ministries. ( PEER )

Laws and policies differ on whether students with disabilities should be in mainstream schools. Laws in 25% of countries provide for education in separate settings, with shares exceeding 40% in Asia and in Latin America and the Caribbean. About 10% of countries mandate integration and 17% inclusion, the remainder opting for combinations of segregation and mainstreaming. Policies have shifted closer to inclusion: 5% of countries have policy provisions for education in separate settings, while 12% opt for integration and 38% for inclusion. Despite the good intentions enshrined in laws and policies, governments often do not ensure implementation.

Policies need to be consistent and coherent across ages and education levels. Access to early childhood care and education is highly inequitable, conditioned by location and socio-economic status. Quality, especially interactions, integration, and child-centredness based on play, also determines inclusion. Early identification of children’s needs is crucial to designing the right responses, but labels of difference in the name of inclusion can misfire. Disproportionately assigning some marginalized groups to special needs categories can indicate discriminatory procedures, as successful legal challenges over Roma students’ right to education demonstrate.

Preventing early school leaving requires policies on multiple fronts. Education systems face a dilemma. Grade retention appears to increase dropout, but automatic promotion requires systematic approaches to remedial support, which many countries proclaim but fail to implement. Laws and policies may not be consistent with inclusion, e.g. in countries with low child labour or marriage age thresholds. Bangladesh is among the few countries to invest extensively in second-chance programmes, which are indispensable for achieving SDG 4.

Governments are striving to make post-compulsory and adult education policies more inclusive. Technical and vocational education can facilitate labour market inclusion of vulnerable groups, notably young women and people with disabilities. Unlocking its potential requires making learning environments safer and accessible, as in Malawi. Inclusion-oriented tertiary education interventions tend to focus on encouraging access for disadvantaged groups through quotas or affordability measures. Yet only 11% of 71 countries had comprehensive equity strategies; another 11% elaborated approaches only for particular groups. Digital inclusion, especially of the elderly, is a major challenge for countries increasingly dependent on information and communication technology (ICT).

Responses to the Covid-19 crisis, which affected 1.6 billion learners, have not paid sufficient attention to including all learners. While 55% of low-income countries opted for online distance learning in primary and secondary education, only 12% of households in least developed countries have internet access at home. Even low-technology approaches cannot ensure learning continuity. Among the poorest 20% of households, just 7% owned a radio in Ethiopia and none owned a television. Overall, about 40% of low- and lower-middle-income countries have not supported learners at risk of exclusion. In France, up to 8% of students had lost contact with teachers after three weeks of lockdown.

Data on and for inclusion in education are essential. Data on inclusion can highlight gaps in education opportunities and outcomes among learner groups, identifying those at risk of being left behind and the severity of the barriers they face. Using such information, governments can develop policies for inclusion and collect further data on implementation and on less easily observed qualitative outcomes.

Formulating appropriate questions on characteristics associated with vulnerability can be sensitive. Data on education disparity at the population level, collected through censuses and surveys, raise education ministries’ awareness of disparity. However, depending on their formulation, questions on characteristics such as nationality, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity expression can touch on sensitive personal identities, be intrusive and trigger persecution fears.

The formulation of questions on disability has improved. Agreeing to a valid measure of disability has been a long process . The UN Statistical Commission’s Washington Group on Disability Statistics proposed a short set of questions for censuses or surveys in 2006, covering critical functional domains and activities for adults. A child-specific module was then developed with UNICEF. The questions bring disability statistics in line with the social model of disability and resolve serious comparability issues. Their rate of adoption is only slowly picking up.

The evidence that emerges on disability is of higher quality but still patchy. Analysis of 14 countries taking part in the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) in 2017–19 and using the wider child-specific module showed a disability prevalence of 12%, ranging from 6% to 24%, as a result of high anxiety and depression rates. Across these countries, children, adolescents and youth with disabilities accounted for 15% of the out-of-school population. Relative to their peers of primary, lower secondary and upper secondary school age, those with a disability were more likely to be out of school by 1, 4 and 6 percentage points, respectively, and those with a sensory, physical or intellectual disability by 4, 7 and 11 percentage points.

Some school surveys provide deeper insights into inclusion. In the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), one in five 15-year-old students reported feeling like an outsider at school, but the share exceeded 30% in Brunei Darussalam, the Dominican Republic and the United States. In all participating education systems, students of lower socio-economic status were less likely to feel a sense of belonging. Administrative data can be leveraged to collect qualitative evidence on inclusion. New Zealand systematically monitors soft indicators at the national level, including on whether students feel cared for, safe and secure, and on their ability to establish and maintain positive relationships, respect others’ needs and show empathy. Almost half of low- and middle-income countries collect no administrative data on students with disabilities.

Data show where segregation is still taking place. In Brazil, a policy change increased the share of students with disabilities in mainstream schools from 23% in 2003 to 81% in 2015. In Asia and the Pacific, almost 80% of children with disabilities attended mainstream schools, from 3% in Kyrgyzstan to 100% in Timor-Leste and Thailand. Scattered data record schools catering to specific groups, such as girls, linguistic minorities and religious communities. Their contribution to inclusion is ambiguous: Indigenous schools, for instance, can provide an environment where traditions, cultures and experiences are respected, but they can also perpetuate marginality. School surveys such as PISA show high levels of socio-economic segregation in countries including Chile and Mexico, where half of all students would require school reassignment to achieve a uniform socio-economic mix. This type of school segregation barely changed over 2000–15.

Identification of special education needs can be contentious. Identification can inform teachers about student needs so they can target support and accommodation. Yet children could be reduced to labels by peers, teachers and administrators, which can prompt stereotyped behaviours towards labelled students and encourage a medical approach. Portugal recently legislated a non-categorical approach to determining special needs. Low expectations triggered by a label, such as having learning difficulties, can become self-fulfilling. In Europe, the share of students identified with special education needs ranged from 1% in Sweden to 20% in Scotland. Learning disability was the largest category of special needs in the United States but was unknown in Japan. Such variation is mainly explained by differences in how countries construct this category of education: Institution, funding and training requirements vary, as do policy implications.

Governance and finance

Ensuring inclusive education is not the sole responsibility of education policy actors. Integrating services can improve the way children’s needs are considered, as well as services’ quality and cost-effectiveness. Integration can be achieved when one service provider acts as a referral point for access to another. A mapping of inclusive education provision in 18 European countries, mostly with reference to students with disabilities, showed education ministries responsible for teachers, school administration and learning materials; health ministries for screening, assessment and rehabilitation services; and social protection ministries for financial aid.

Sharing responsibility does not guarantee horizontal collaboration, cooperation and coordination. Deep-rooted norms, traditions and bureaucratic working cultures hinder smooth transition away from siloed forms of service delivery. Insufficient resources may also be a factor: In Kenya, one-third of county-level Educational Assessment Resource Centres, set up to expand access to education for children with disabilities, had one officer instead of the multidisciplinary teams envisaged. Clearly defined, measurable standards outlining responsibilities are needed. Rwanda developed standards enabling inspectors to assess classroom inclusivity. In Jordan, various actors used separate standards for licensing and accrediting special education centres; the new 10-year strategy will address this issue.

Vertical integration among government tiers and support to local government are needed. Central governments must fund commitments to local governments fully and develop their capacity. A Republic of Moldova reform to move children out of mostly state boarding schools stumbled because savings were not transferred to the local government institutions and schools absorbing the children. In Nepal, a midterm evaluation of the school sector programme and the first inclusive education workshop showed that, while some central government posts were shifted as part of decentralization, local government capacity to support education service delivery was weak.

Three funding levers are important for equity and inclusion in education. First, governments may or may not compensate for relative disadvantage in allocating resources to local authorities or schools through capitation grants. Argentina’s federal government allocates block grants to provincial governments, taking rural and out-of-school populations into account. Provinces co-finance education from their revenue, whose levels vary greatly, contributing to inequality. Second, education financing policies and programmes may target students and their families in the form of cash (e.g. scholarships) and exemptions from payment (e.g. fees). About one in four countries have affirmative action programmes for access to tertiary education. Third, non-education-specific financing policies and programmes can have a large impact on education. Over the long term, conditional cash transfers in Latin America increased education attainment by between 0.5 and 1.5 years.

Financing disability-inclusive education requires additional focus. A twin-track approach to financing is recommended, complementing general mechanisms with targeted programmes. Policymakers need to define standards for services to be delivered and the costs they will cover. They need to address the challenge of expanding costs as special needs identification rates increase, and design ways to prioritize, finance and deliver targeted services for a wide range of needs. They also need to define results in a way that maintains pressure on local authorities and schools to avoid further earmarking services for children with diagnosed special needs and further segregating settings at the expense of other groups or general financing needs. Finland has been moving in this direction.

Even richer countries lack information on financing education for students with disabilities. A project mapping European countries’ financing of inclusive education found that only 5 in 18 had relevant information. There is no ideal funding mechanism, since countries vary in history, understanding of inclusive education and levels of decentralization. A few countries are moving away from multiple weights (e.g. by type of impairment), which may inflate the number of students identified with special needs, to a simple funding formula for mainstream schools. Many promote networks to share resources, facilities and capacity development opportunities.

Poorer countries often struggle to finance the shift from special to inclusive education. Some countries have increased their budgets to improve inclusion of students with disabilities. The 2018/19 Mauritius budget quadrupled the annual per capita grant for teaching aids, utilities, furniture and equipment for students with special needs.

Curricula, textbooks and assessments

Curriculum choices can promote or obstruct an inclusive and democratic society. Curricula need to reassure all groups at risk of exclusion that they are fundamental to the education project, whether in terms of content or implementation. Using different curricula of differing standards for some groups hinders inclusion and creates stigma. Yet many countries still teach students with disabilities a special curriculum, offer refugees only the curriculum of their home country to encourage repatriation, and tend to push lower achievers onto slower education tracks. Challenges arise in several contexts: internally displaced populations in Bosnia and Herzegovina; gender issues in Peru; linguistic minorities in Thailand; Burundian and Congolese refugees in the United Republic of Tanzania; indigenous peoples in Canada. In Europe, 23 in 49 countries did not address sexual orientation and gender identity expression explicitly.

Inclusive curricula need to be relevant, flexible and responsive to needs. Evidence from citizen-led assessments in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa highlighted large gaps between curriculum objectives and learning outcomes. When curricula cater to more privileged students and certain types of knowledge, implementation inequality between rural and urban areas arises, as a curriculum study of primary mathematics in Uganda showed. Learning in the mother tongue is vital, especially in primary school, to avoid knowledge gaps and increase the speed of learning and comprehension. In India’s Odisha state, multilingual education covered about 1,500 primary schools and 21 tribal languages of instruction. Just 41 countries worldwide recognize sign language as an official language, of which 21 are in the European Union. In Australia, 19% of students receive adjustments to the curriculum. Curricula should not lead to dead ends in education but offer pathways for continuous education opportunities.

Textbooks can perpetuate stereotypes. Representation of ethnic, linguistic, religious and indigenous minorities in textbooks depends largely on historical and national context. Factors influencing countries’ treatment of minorities include the presence of indigenous populations; the demographic, political or economic dominance of one or more ethnic groups; the history of segregation or conflict; the conceptualization of nationhood; and the role of immigration. Textbooks may acknowledge minority groups in ways that mitigate or exacerbate the degree to which they are perceived, or perceive themselves, as ‘other’. Inappropriate images and descriptions that associate certain characteristics with particular population groups can make students with non-dominant backgrounds feel misrepresented, misunderstood, frustrated and alienated. In many countries, females are often under-represented and stereotyped. The share of females in secondary school English language textbook text and images was 44% in Indonesia, 37% in Bangladesh and 24% in Punjab province, Pakistan. Women were represented in less prestigious occupations and as introverted.

Good-quality assessments are a fundamental part of an inclusive education system. Assessments are often organized unduly narrowly, determining admission to certain schools or placement in separate school tracks, and sending conflicting signals about government commitment to inclusion. Large-scale, cross-national summative assessments, for instance, tend to exclude students with disabilities or learning difficulties. Assessment should focus on students’ tasks: how they tackle them, which ones prove difficult and how some aspects can be adapted to enable success. A shift in emphasis from high-stake summative assessments at the end of the education cycle to low-stake formative assessments over the education trajectory underpins efforts to make assessment fit for the purpose of inclusive education. Test accommodations are essential, but their validity has been questioned in that they appear to fit students to a model. The emphasis should instead be on how the assessment can support students with impairments in demonstration of their learning. In seven sub-Saharan African countries, no teacher had minimum knowledge in student assessment.

Various factors need to be aligned for inclusive curricular, textbook and assessment reforms. Capacity needs to be developed so stakeholders can work collaboratively and think strategically. Partnerships need to be in place to enable all parties to own the process and work towards the same goals. Successful attempts to make curricula, textbooks and assessments inclusive entail participatory processes during design, development and implementation.

Teachers and education support personnel

In inclusive education, all teachers should be prepared to teach all students. Inclusion cannot be realized unless teachers are agents of change, with values, knowledge and attitudes that permit every student to succeed. Teachers’ attitudes often mix commitment to the principle of inclusion with doubts about their preparedness and how ready the education system is to support them. Teachers may not be immune to social biases and stereotypes. Inclusive teaching requires teachers to be open to diversity and aware that all students learn by connecting classroom with life experiences. While many teacher education and professional learning opportunities are designed accordingly, entrenched views of some students as deficient, unable to learn or incapable mean teachers may struggle to see that each student’s learning capacity is open-ended.

Lack of preparedness for inclusive teaching may result from gaps in pedagogical knowledge. Some 25% of teachers in the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey reported a high need for professional development in teaching students with special needs. Across 10 francophone sub-Saharan African countries, 8% of grade 2 and 6 teachers had received in-service training in inclusive education. Overcoming the legacy of preparing different types of teachers for different types of students in separate settings is important. To be of good quality, teacher education must cover multiple aspects of inclusive teaching for all learners, from instructional techniques and classroom management to multi-professional teams and learning assessment methods, and should include follow-up support to help teachers integrate new skills into classroom practice. In Canada’s New Brunswick province, a comprehensive inclusive education policy introduced training opportunities for teachers to support students with autism spectrum disorders.

Teachers need appropriate working conditions and support to adapt teaching to student needs. In Cambodia, teachers questioned the feasibility of applying child-centred pedagogy in a context of overcrowded classrooms, scarce teaching resources and overambitious curricula. Teaching to standardized content requirements of a learning assessment can make it more difficult for teachers to adapt their practice. Cooperation among teachers in different schools can support them in addressing the challenges of diversity, especially in systems transitioning from segregation to inclusion. Sometimes such collaboration is absent even among teachers at the same school. In Sri Lanka, few teachers in mainstream classes collaborated with peers in special needs units.

A rise in support personnel accompanied the mainstreaming of students with special needs. Yet, globally, provision is lacking. Respondents to a survey of teacher unions reported that support personnel were largely absent or not available in at least 15% of countries. Classroom learning or teaching assistants can be particularly helpful. However, while their role is to supplement teachers’ work, they are often put in positions that demand much more. Increased professional expectations, accompanied by often low levels of professional development, can lead to lower-quality learning, interference with peer interaction, decreased access to competent instruction, and stigmatization. In Australia, access of students with disabilities to qualified teachers was partly impeded by the system’s overdependence on unqualified support personnel.

Teacher diversity often lags behind population diversity. This is sometimes the result of structural problems preventing members of marginalized groups from acquiring qualifications, teaching in schools once they are qualified and remaining in the profession. Systems should recognize that these teachers can bolster inclusion by offering unique insights and serving as role models to all students. In India, the share of teachers from scheduled castes, which constitute 16% of the country’s population, increased from 9% to 13% between 2005 and 2013.

Inclusion in education requires inclusive schools. School ethos – the explicit and implicit values and beliefs, as well as the interpersonal relationships, that define a school’s atmosphere – has been linked to students’ social and emotional development and well-being. The share of students in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries who felt they ‘belonged’ in school fell from 82% in 2003 to 73% in 2015 due to increasing shares of students with immigrant backgrounds and declining levels of a sense of belonging among natives.

Head teachers can foster a shared vision of inclusion. They can guide inclusive pedagogy and plan professional development activities. A cross-country study of teachers of special needs students in mainstream schools found that those who received more instructional leadership reported lower professional development needs. While head teachers’ tasks are increasingly complex, nearly one-fifth (rising to half in Croatia) had no instructional leadership training. Across 47 education systems, 15% of head teachers (rising to more than 60% in Viet Nam) reported a high need for professional development in promoting equity and diversity.

School bullying and violence cause exclusion. One-third of 11- to 15-year-olds have been bullied in school. Those perceived as differing from social norms or ideals are the most likely to be victimized, including sexual, ethnic and religious minorities, the poor and those with special needs. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex students in New Zealand were three times as likely to be bullied. In Uganda, 84% of children with disabilities versus 53% of those without experienced violence by peers or staff. Classroom management practices, guidance services and policies should identify staff responsibilities and actions to prevent and address bullying and violence. Punitive approaches should not displace student support and cultivation of a respectful atmosphere.

Schools must be safe and accessible. Transit to school, building design and sanitation facilities often violate accessibility, acceptability and adaptability principles. More than one-quarter of girls in 11 African, Asian and Latin American countries reported never or seldom feeling safe on the way to or from school. No schools in Burundi, Niger and Samoa had ‘adapted infrastructure and materials for students with disabilities’. In Slovakia, 15% of primary and 21% of lower secondary schools met such standards. Reliable comparable evidence remains elusive because countries’ standards vary and schools do not meet all elements of a standard; in addition, monitoring capacity is weak and data are not independently verified.

Accessible infrastructure often does not support all. The CRPD called for universal design to increase functionality and accommodate everyone’s needs, regardless of age, size or ability. Incorporating full-access facilities from the outset increases cost by 1%, compared with 5% or more after completion. Aid programmes helped disseminate universal design principles. Indonesian schools built with Australian support included accessible toilets, handrails and ramps; the government adopted similar measures for all new schools.

Assistive technology can determine participation or marginalization. Assistive devices refer to input technology (adapted keyboards and computer input controls, speech input, dictation software) and output technology (screen readers and magnifiers, three-dimensional printers, Braille note-takers). Alternative and augmentative communication systems replace speech. Assistive listening systems improve sound clarity and reduce background noise. Such technology improves graduation rates, self-esteem and optimism, but is often unavailable due to lack of resources or not used effectively due to lack of teacher education.

Students, parents and communities

Take marginalized students’ experiences into account. Documenting disadvantaged students’ views without singling them out is difficult. Their inclusion preferences are shown to depend on their vulnerability, type of school attended, experience at a different type of school, and the level and discreetness of specialized support. Vulnerable students in mainstream schools may appreciate separate settings for the sake of increased attention or reduced noise. Pairing students with peers with disabilities can increase acceptance and empathy, although it does not guarantee inclusion outside school.

Majority populations tend to stereotype minority and marginalized students. Negative attitudes lead to less acceptance, isolation and bullying. Syrian refugees in Turkey felt negative stereotypes led to depression, stigmatization and alienation from school. Stereotypes can lower students’ expectations and self-esteem. In Switzerland, girls internalized the view that they are less suited than boys for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, which discouraged them from pursuing degrees in these fields. Teachers can fight but also perpetuate discrimination in education. Mathematics teachers in São Paulo, Brazil, were more likely to pass white students than their equally proficient and well-behaved black classmates. Teachers in China had less favourable perceptions of rural migrant students than of their urban peers.

Parents drive but also resist inclusive education. Parents may hold discriminatory beliefs about gender, disability, ethnicity, race or religion. Some 15% in Germany and 59% in Hong Kong, China, feared that children with disabilities disturbed others’ learning. Given choice, parents wish to send their vulnerable children to schools that ensure their well-being. They need to trust mainstream schools to respond to their needs. As school becomes more demanding with age, parents of children with autism spectrum disorders may have to look for schools that better meet their needs. In Australia’s Queensland state, 37% of students in special schools had moved from mainstream schools.

Parental school choice affects inclusion and segregation. Families with choice may avoid disadvantaged local schools. In Danish cities, a seven percentage point increase in the share of migrant students was associated with a one percentage point increase in the share of natives attending private school. In Lebanon, the majority of parents favoured private schools along sectarian lines. In Malaysia, private school streams organized by ethnicity and differentiated by quality contributed to stratification, despite government measures to desegregate schools. The potential of distance and online mainstream education for inclusion notwithstanding, parental preference for self-segregation through homeschooling tests the limits of inclusive education.

Parents of children with disabilities often find themselves in a distressing situation. Parents need support in early identification and management of their children’s sleep, behaviour, nursing, comfort and care. Early intervention programmes can help them grow confident, use other support services and enrol children in mainstream schools. Mutual support programmes can provide solidarity, confidence and information. Parents with disabilities are more likely to be poor, less educated and face barriers coming to school or working with teachers. In Viet Nam, children of parents with disabilities had 16% lower attendance rates.

Civil society has been advocate and watchdog for the right to inclusive education. Organizations for people with disabilities, disabled people’s organizations, grassroots parental associations and international non-government organizations (NGOs) active in development and education monitor progress on government commitments, campaign for fulfilment of rights and defend against violations of the right to inclusive education. In Armenia, an NGO campaign resulted in a legal and budget framework for rolling out inclusive education nationally by 2025.

Civil society groups provide education services on government contract or their own initiative. These services may support groups governments do not reach (e.g. street children) or be alternatives to government services. The Ghana Inclusive Education Policy calls on NGOs to mobilize resources, advocate for increased funding, contribute to infrastructure development and engage in monitoring and evaluation. The Afghanistan government supports community-based education, which relies on local people. Yet NGO schools set up for specific groups may promote segregation rather than inclusion in education. They should align with policy and not replicate services or compete for limited funds.

Education in the other SDGs

The goals of gender equality, climate change and partnerships have large and unrealized synergies with education. A review of effective means of combating climate change ranked girls’ and women’s education and family planning sixth and seventh out of 80 solutions. The review estimated that filling the GEM Report-estimated financing gap of US$39 billion a year could yield a reduction of 51 gigatons of emissions by 2050, an ‘incalculable’ return on investment. Indigenous peoples and local communities manage at least 17% of the total carbon stored in forest lands in 52 tropical and subtropical countries, making protecting their knowledge vital. As of 2017, 102 of 195 UNESCO member states had a designated education focal point for Action for Climate Empowerment to support provision of climate change mitigation education.

While gender is a cross-cutting priority in all multi-stakeholder funding partnerships, connections between education and climate change are weaker. There has been no clear targeting from global climate finance in 2015–16 for scaling up education systems and girls’ education, for behavioural changes in food waste and diet, or for indigenous approaches to land use and management.

The World Bank Group is the largest financier of education in the developing world, working in 94 countries and committed to helping them reach SDG4: access to inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030.

Education is a human right, a powerful driver of development, and one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty and improving health, gender equality, peace, and stability. It delivers large, consistent returns in terms of income, and is the most important factor to ensure equity and inclusion.

For individuals, education promotes employment, earnings, health, and poverty reduction. Globally, there is a  9% increase in hourly earnings for every extra year of schooling . For societies, it drives long-term economic growth, spurs innovation, strengthens institutions, and fosters social cohesion.  Education is further a powerful catalyst to climate action through widespread behavior change and skilling for green transitions.

Developing countries have made tremendous progress in getting children into the classroom and more children worldwide are now in school. But learning is not guaranteed, as the  2018 World Development Report  (WDR) stressed.

Making smart and effective investments in people’s education is critical for developing the human capital that will end extreme poverty. At the core of this strategy is the need to tackle the learning crisis, put an end to  Learning Poverty , and help youth acquire the advanced cognitive, socioemotional, technical and digital skills they need to succeed in today’s world. 

In low- and middle-income countries, the share of children living in  Learning Poverty  (that is, the proportion of 10-year-old children that are unable to read and understand a short age-appropriate text) increased from 57% before the pandemic to an estimated  70%  in 2022.

However, learning is in crisis. More than 70 million more people were pushed into poverty during the COVID pandemic, a billion children lost a year of school , and three years later the learning losses suffered have not been recouped .  If a child cannot read with comprehension by age 10, they are unlikely to become fluent readers. They will fail to thrive later in school and will be unable to power their careers and economies once they leave school.

The effects of the pandemic are expected to be long-lasting. Analysis has already revealed deep losses, with international reading scores declining from 2016 to 2021 by more than a year of schooling.  These losses may translate to a 0.68 percentage point in global GDP growth.  The staggering effects of school closures reach beyond learning. This generation of children could lose a combined total of  US$21 trillion in lifetime earnings  in present value or the equivalent of 17% of today’s global GDP – a sharp rise from the 2021 estimate of a US$17 trillion loss. 

Action is urgently needed now – business as usual will not suffice to heal the scars of the pandemic and will not accelerate progress enough to meet the ambitions of SDG 4. We are urging governments to implement ambitious and aggressive Learning Acceleration Programs to get children back to school, recover lost learning, and advance progress by building better, more equitable and resilient education systems.

Last Updated: Mar 25, 2024

The World Bank’s global education strategy is centered on ensuring learning happens – for everyone, everywhere. Our vision is to ensure that everyone can achieve her or his full potential with access to a quality education and lifelong learning. To reach this, we are helping countries build foundational skills like literacy, numeracy, and socioemotional skills – the building blocks for all other learning. From early childhood to tertiary education and beyond – we help children and youth acquire the skills they need to thrive in school, the labor market and throughout their lives.

Investing in the world’s most precious resource – people – is paramount to ending poverty on a livable planet.  Our experience across more than 100 countries bears out this robust connection between human capital, quality of life, and economic growth: when countries strategically invest in people and the systems designed to protect and build human capital at scale, they unlock the wealth of nations and the potential of everyone.

Building on this, the World Bank supports resilient, equitable, and inclusive education systems that ensure learning happens for everyone. We do this by generating and disseminating evidence, ensuring alignment with policymaking processes, and bridging the gap between research and practice.

The World Bank is the largest source of external financing for education in developing countries, with a portfolio of about $26 billion in 94 countries including IBRD, IDA and Recipient-Executed Trust Funds. IDA operations comprise 62% of the education portfolio.

The investment in FCV settings has increased dramatically and now accounts for 26% of our portfolio.

World Bank projects reach at least 425 million students -one-third of students in low- and middle-income countries.

The World Bank’s Approach to Education

Five interrelated pillars of a well-functioning education system underpin the World Bank’s education policy approach:

• Learners are prepared and motivated to learn;
• Teachers are prepared, skilled, and motivated to facilitate learning and skills acquisition;
• Learning resources (including education technology) are available, relevant, and used to improve teaching and learning;
• Schools are safe and inclusive; and
• Education Systems are well-managed, with good implementation capacity and adequate financing.

The Bank is already helping governments design and implement cost-effective programs and tools to build these pillars.

Our Principles:

• We pursue systemic reform supported by political commitment to learning for all children. 
• We focus on equity and inclusion through a progressive path toward achieving universal access to quality education, including children and young adults in fragile or conflict affected areas , those in marginalized and rural communities,  girls and women , displaced populations,  students with disabilities , and other vulnerable groups.
• We focus on results and use evidence to keep improving policy by using metrics to guide improvements.   
• We want to ensure financial commitment commensurate with what is needed to provide basic services to all. 
• We invest wisely in technology so that education systems embrace and learn to harness technology to support their learning objectives.   

Laying the groundwork for the future

Country challenges vary, but there is a menu of options to build forward better, more resilient, and equitable education systems.

Countries are facing an education crisis that requires a two-pronged approach: first, supporting actions to recover lost time through remedial and accelerated learning; and, second, building on these investments for a more equitable, resilient, and effective system.

Recovering from the learning crisis must be a political priority, backed with adequate financing and the resolve to implement needed reforms.  Domestic financing for education over the last two years has not kept pace with the need to recover and accelerate learning. Across low- and lower-middle-income countries, the  average share of education in government budgets fell during the pandemic , and in 2022 it remained below 2019 levels.

The best chance for a better future is to invest in education and make sure each dollar is put toward improving learning.  In a time of fiscal pressure, protecting spending that yields long-run gains – like spending on education – will maximize impact.  We still need more and better funding for education.  Closing the learning gap will require increasing the level, efficiency, and equity of education spending—spending smarter is an imperative.

• Education technology  can be a powerful tool to implement these actions by supporting teachers, children, principals, and parents; expanding accessible digital learning platforms, including radio/ TV / Online learning resources; and using data to identify and help at-risk children, personalize learning, and improve service delivery.

Looking ahead

We must seize this opportunity  to reimagine education in bold ways. Together, we can build forward better more equitable, effective, and resilient education systems for the world’s children and youth.

Accelerating Improvements

Supporting countries in establishing time-bound learning targets and a focused education investment plan, outlining actions and investments geared to achieve these goals.

Launched in 2020, the  Accelerator Program  works with a set of countries to channel investments in education and to learn from each other. The program coordinates efforts across partners to ensure that the countries in the program show improvements in foundational skills at scale over the next three to five years. These investment plans build on the collective work of multiple partners, and leverage the latest evidence on what works, and how best to plan for implementation.  Countries such as Brazil (the state of Ceará) and Kenya have achieved dramatic reductions in learning poverty over the past decade at scale, providing useful lessons, even as they seek to build on their successes and address remaining and new challenges.  

Universalizing Foundational Literacy

Readying children for the future by supporting acquisition of foundational skills – which are the gateway to other skills and subjects.

The  Literacy Policy Package (LPP)   consists of interventions focused specifically on promoting acquisition of reading proficiency in primary school. These include assuring political and technical commitment to making all children literate; ensuring effective literacy instruction by supporting teachers; providing quality, age-appropriate books; teaching children first in the language they speak and understand best; and fostering children’s oral language abilities and love of books and reading.

Advancing skills through TVET and Tertiary

Ensuring that individuals have access to quality education and training opportunities and supporting links to employment.

Tertiary education and skills systems are a driver of major development agendas, including human capital, climate change, youth and women’s empowerment, and jobs and economic transformation. A comprehensive skill set to succeed in the 21st century labor market consists of foundational and higher order skills, socio-emotional skills, specialized skills, and digital skills. Yet most countries continue to struggle in delivering on the promise of skills development. 

The World Bank is supporting countries through efforts that address key challenges including improving access and completion, adaptability, quality, relevance, and efficiency of skills development programs. Our approach is via multiple channels including projects, global goods, as well as the Tertiary Education and Skills Program . Our recent reports including Building Better Formal TVET Systems and STEERing Tertiary Education provide a way forward for how to improve these critical systems.

Addressing Climate Change

Mainstreaming climate education and investing in green skills, research and innovation, and green infrastructure to spur climate action and foster better preparedness and resilience to climate shocks.

Our approach recognizes that education is critical for achieving effective, sustained climate action. At the same time, climate change is adversely impacting education outcomes. Investments in education can play a huge role in building climate resilience and advancing climate mitigation and adaptation. Climate change education gives young people greater awareness of climate risks and more access to tools and solutions for addressing these risks and managing related shocks. Technical and vocational education and training can also accelerate a green economic transformation by fostering green skills and innovation. Greening education infrastructure can help mitigate the impact of heat, pollution, and extreme weather on learning, while helping address climate change. 

Examples of this work are projects in Nigeria (life skills training for adolescent girls), Vietnam (fostering relevant scientific research) , and Bangladesh (constructing and retrofitting schools to serve as cyclone shelters).

Strengthening Measurement Systems

Enabling countries to gather and evaluate information on learning and its drivers more efficiently and effectively.

The World Bank supports initiatives to help countries effectively build and strengthen their measurement systems to facilitate evidence-based decision-making. Examples of this work include:

(1) The  Global Education Policy Dashboard (GEPD) : This tool offers a strong basis for identifying priorities for investment and policy reforms that are suited to each country context by focusing on the three dimensions of practices, policies, and politics.

• Highlights gaps between what the evidence suggests is effective in promoting learning and what is happening in practice in each system; and
• Allows governments to track progress as they act to close the gaps.

The GEPD has been implemented in 13 education systems already – Peru, Rwanda, Jordan, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sierra Leone, Niger, Gabon, Jordan and Chad – with more expected by the end of 2024.

(2)  Learning Assessment Platform (LeAP) : LeAP is a one-stop shop for knowledge, capacity-building tools, support for policy dialogue, and technical staff expertise to support student achievement measurement and national assessments for better learning.

Supporting Successful Teachers

Helping systems develop the right selection, incentives, and support to the professional development of teachers.

Currently, the World Bank Education Global Practice has over 160 active projects supporting over 18 million teachers worldwide, about a third of the teacher population in low- and middle-income countries. In 12 countries alone, these projects cover 16 million teachers, including all primary school teachers in Ethiopia and Turkey, and over 80% in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Vietnam.

A World Bank-developed classroom observation tool, Teach, was designed to capture the quality of teaching in low- and middle-income countries. It is now 3.6 million students.

While Teach helps identify patterns in teacher performance, Coach leverages these insights to support teachers to improve their teaching practice through hands-on in-service teacher professional development (TPD).

Our recent report on Making Teacher Policy Work proposes a practical framework to uncover the black box of effective teacher policy and discusses the factors that enable their scalability and sustainability.

 Supporting Education Finance Systems

Strengthening country financing systems to mobilize resources for education and make better use of their investments in education.

Our approach is to bring together multi-sectoral expertise to engage with ministries of education and finance and other stakeholders to develop and implement effective and efficient public financial management systems; build capacity to monitor and evaluate education spending, identify financing bottlenecks, and develop interventions to strengthen financing systems; build the evidence base on global spending patterns and the magnitude and causes of spending inefficiencies; and develop diagnostic tools as public goods to support country efforts.

Working in Fragile, Conflict, and Violent (FCV) Contexts

The massive and growing global challenge of having so many children living in conflict and violent situations requires a response at the same scale and scope. Our education engagement in the Fragility, Conflict and Violence (FCV) context, which stands at US$5.35 billion, has grown rapidly in recent years, reflecting the ever-increasing importance of the FCV agenda in education. Indeed, these projects now account for more than 25% of the World Bank education portfolio.

Education is crucial to minimizing the effects of fragility and displacement on the welfare of youth and children in the short-term and preventing the emergence of violent conflict in the long-term. 

Support to Countries Throughout the Education Cycle

Our support to countries covers the entire learning cycle, to help shape resilient, equitable, and inclusive education systems that ensure learning happens for everyone. 

The ongoing  Supporting  Egypt  Education Reform project , 2018-2025, supports transformational reforms of the Egyptian education system, by improving teaching and learning conditions in public schools. The World Bank has invested $500 million in the project focused on increasing access to quality kindergarten, enhancing the capacity of teachers and education leaders, developing a reliable student assessment system, and introducing the use of modern technology for teaching and learning. Specifically, the share of Egyptian 10-year-old students, who could read and comprehend at the global minimum proficiency level, increased to 45 percent in 2021.

In  Nigeria , the $75 million  Edo  Basic Education Sector and Skills Transformation (EdoBESST)  project, running from 2020-2024, is focused on improving teaching and learning in basic education. Under the project, which covers 97 percent of schools in the state, there is a strong focus on incorporating digital technologies for teachers. They were equipped with handheld tablets with structured lesson plans for their classes. Their coaches use classroom observation tools to provide individualized feedback. Teacher absence has reduced drastically because of the initiative. Over 16,000 teachers were trained through the project, and the introduction of technology has also benefited students.

Through the $235 million  School Sector Development Program  in  Nepal  (2017-2022), the number of children staying in school until Grade 12 nearly tripled, and the number of out-of-school children fell by almost seven percent. During the pandemic, innovative approaches were needed to continue education. Mobile phone penetration is high in the country. More than four in five households in Nepal have mobile phones. The project supported an educational service that made it possible for children with phones to connect to local radio that broadcast learning programs.

From 2017-2023, the $50 million  Strengthening of State Universities  in  Chile  project has made strides to improve quality and equity at state universities. The project helped reduce dropout: the third-year dropout rate fell by almost 10 percent from 2018-2022, keeping more students in school.

The World Bank’s first  Program-for-Results financing in education  was through a $202 million project in  Tanzania , that ran from 2013-2021. The project linked funding to results and aimed to improve education quality. It helped build capacity, and enhanced effectiveness and efficiency in the education sector. Through the project, learning outcomes significantly improved alongside an unprecedented expansion of access to education for children in Tanzania. From 2013-2019, an additional 1.8 million students enrolled in primary schools. In 2019, the average reading speed for Grade 2 students rose to 22.3 words per minute, up from 17.3 in 2017. The project laid the foundation for the ongoing $500 million  BOOST project , which supports over 12 million children to enroll early, develop strong foundational skills, and complete a quality education.

The $40 million  Cambodia  Secondary Education Improvement project , which ran from 2017-2022, focused on strengthening school-based management, upgrading teacher qualifications, and building classrooms in Cambodia, to improve learning outcomes, and reduce student dropout at the secondary school level. The project has directly benefited almost 70,000 students in 100 target schools, and approximately 2,000 teachers and 600 school administrators received training.

The World Bank is co-financing the $152.80 million  Yemen  Restoring Education and Learning Emergency project , running from 2020-2024, which is implemented through UNICEF, WFP, and Save the Children. It is helping to maintain access to basic education for many students, improve learning conditions in schools, and is working to strengthen overall education sector capacity. In the time of crisis, the project is supporting teacher payments and teacher training, school meals, school infrastructure development, and the distribution of learning materials and school supplies. To date, almost 600,000 students have benefited from these interventions.

The $87 million  Providing an Education of Quality in  Haiti  project supported approximately 380 schools in the Southern region of Haiti from 2016-2023. Despite a highly challenging context of political instability and recurrent natural disasters, the project successfully supported access to education for students. The project provided textbooks, fresh meals, and teacher training support to 70,000 students, 3,000 teachers, and 300 school directors. It gave tuition waivers to 35,000 students in 118 non-public schools. The project also repaired 19 national schools damaged by the 2021 earthquake, which gave 5,500 students safe access to their schools again.

In 2013, just 5% of the poorest households in  Uzbekistan  had children enrolled in preschools. Thanks to the  Improving Pre-Primary and General Secondary Education Project , by July 2019, around 100,000 children will have benefitted from the half-day program in 2,420 rural kindergartens, comprising around 49% of all preschool educational institutions, or over 90% of rural kindergartens in the country.

In addition to working closely with governments in our client countries, the World Bank also works at the global, regional, and local levels with a range of technical partners, including foundations, non-profit organizations, bilaterals, and other multilateral organizations. Some examples of our most recent global partnerships include:

UNICEF, UNESCO, FCDO, USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:  Coalition for Foundational Learning

The World Bank is working closely with UNICEF, UNESCO, FCDO, USAID, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as the  Coalition for Foundational Learning  to advocate and provide technical support to ensure foundational learning.  The World Bank works with these partners to promote and endorse the  Commitment to Action on Foundational Learning , a global network of countries committed to halving the global share of children unable to read and understand a simple text by age 10 by 2030.

Australian Aid, Bernard van Leer Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Canada, Echida Giving, FCDO, German Cooperation, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Conrad Hilton Foundation, LEGO Foundation, Porticus, USAID: Early Learning Partnership

The Early Learning Partnership (ELP) is a multi-donor trust fund, housed at the World Bank.  ELP leverages World Bank strengths—a global presence, access to policymakers and strong technical analysis—to improve early learning opportunities and outcomes for young children around the world.

We help World Bank teams and countries get the information they need to make the case to invest in Early Childhood Development (ECD), design effective policies and deliver impactful programs. At the country level, ELP grants provide teams with resources for early seed investments that can generate large financial commitments through World Bank finance and government resources. At the global level, ELP research and special initiatives work to fill knowledge gaps, build capacity and generate public goods.

UNESCO, UNICEF:  Learning Data Compact

UNESCO, UNICEF, and the World Bank have joined forces to close the learning data gaps that still exist and that preclude many countries from monitoring the quality of their education systems and assessing if their students are learning. The three organizations have agreed to a  Learning Data Compact , a commitment to ensure that all countries, especially low-income countries, have at least one quality measure of learning by 2025, supporting coordinated efforts to strengthen national assessment systems.

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS):   Learning Poverty Indicator

Aimed at measuring and urging attention to foundational literacy as a prerequisite to achieve SDG4, this partnership was launched in 2019 to help countries strengthen their learning assessment systems, better monitor what students are learning in internationally comparable ways and improve the breadth and quality of global data on education.

FCDO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:  EdTech Hub

Supported by the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the EdTech Hub is aimed at improving the quality of ed-tech investments. The Hub launched a rapid response Helpdesk service to provide just-in-time advisory support to 70 low- and middle-income countries planning education technology and remote learning initiatives.

MasterCard Foundation

Our Tertiary Education and Skills  global program, launched with support from the Mastercard Foundation, aims to prepare youth and adults for the future of work and society by improving access to relevant, quality, equitable reskilling and post-secondary education opportunities.  It is designed to reframe, reform, and rebuild tertiary education and skills systems for the digital and green transformation.

Choosing our Future: Education for Climate Action

Bridging the AI divide: Breaking down barriers to ensure women’s leadership and participation in the Fifth Industrial Revolution

Common challenges and tailored solutions: How policymakers are strengthening early learning systems across the world

Compulsory education boosts learning outcomes and climate action

Areas of focus.

Data & Measurement

Early Childhood Development

Financing Education

Foundational Learning

Fragile, Conflict & Violent Contexts

Girls’ Education

Inclusive Education

Skills Development

Technology (EdTech)  

Tertiary Education

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Created by the Great Schools Partnership , the GLOSSARY OF EDUCATION REFORM is a comprehensive online resource that describes widely used school-improvement terms, concepts, and strategies for journalists, parents, and community members. | Learn more »

Aggregate Data

Aggregate data refers to numerical or non-numerical information that is (1) collected from multiple sources and/or on multiple measures, variables, or individuals and (2) compiled into data summaries or summary reports, typically for the purposes of public reporting or statistical analysis—i.e., examining trends, making comparisons, or revealing information and insights that would not be observable when data elements are viewed in isolation. For example, information about whether individual students graduated from high school can be aggregated —that is, compiled and summarized—into a single graduation rate for a graduating class or school, and annual school graduation rates can then be aggregated into graduation rates for districts, states, and countries.

While most aggregate education data is numerical—e.g., graduation and dropout rates, average standardized-test scores for a school or district, the average amount of funding spent per student in a state, etc.—it’s both possible and common to aggregate non-numeric information. For example, educators, students, and parents in a school district may be surveyed on a topic, and the information and comments from those surveys could then be “aggregated” into a report that shows what the surveyed individuals generally think and feel about the issue. Information collected during polls, interviews, and focus groups can be aggregated in a similar fashion.

To further illustrate the concept of aggregate data and how it may be used in public education, consider a school with an enrollment of 500 students, which means the school maintains 500 student records, each of which contains a wide variety of information about the enrolled students—for example, first and last name, home address, date of birth, gender identification, race or ethnicity, date and period of enrollment, courses taken and completed, course-grades earned, test scores, etc. (the information collected and maintained on individual students is often called student-level data , among other terms). Once or twice a year, the school district may be required to submit student-enrollment reports to their state department of education. Each school in the district will then compile a report that documents the number of students currently enrolled in the school and in each grade level, which requires administrators to summarize data from all their individual student records to produce the enrollment reports. The district now has aggregate enrollment information about the students attending its schools. Over the next five years, the school district could use these annual reports to analyze increases or declines in district-wide enrollment, enrollment at each school, or enrollment at each grade level. The district could not, however, determine whether there have been increases or declines in the enrollment of white and non-white students based on the aggregate data it received from its schools. To produce a report showing distinct enrollment trends for different races and ethnicities, the district schools would then need to disaggregate the enrollment information by racial and ethnic subgroups.

Aggregated vs. Disaggregated Data To aggregate data is to compile and summarize data; to disaggregate data is to break down aggregated data into component parts or smaller units of data. While this distinction between aggregated and disaggregated data may appear straightforward, there is a nuance worth discussing here: a lot of “disaggregated” data in education is actually data that has been technically aggregated , at some level, from records maintained on individual students. For example, graduation rates are widely considered to be “aggregate data,” while graduation rates reported for different subgroups of students—say, for students of different races and ethnicities—is typically considered to be “disaggregated data.” Yet to produce reports that disaggregate graduation rates by race and ethnicity, data on individual students actually has to be “aggregated” to produce summary graduation rates for different racial subgroups. Most likely, this distinction between aggregated and disaggregated data arose because, historically, only aggregated data on school-wide, district-wide, or statewide educational performance was readily or publicly available. When investigating or reporting on topics such as aggregate data or disaggregated data , it is important to determine precisely how the terms are being used in a particular context.

Before the early 2000s, most state education agencies and districts only collected aggregate data on students enrolled in public schools. Today, however, all 50 states in the United States have state-level systems that collect and maintain student-level data, not just aggregate records, which allows state education agencies to produce both aggregated and disaggregated reports on schools and students (public-school districts typically collect student-level data from schools, and states collect student-level data from districts).

While aggregate data such as high school graduation rates or average test scores can yield a variety of important insights, a significant number of school leaders, researchers, education reformers, and policy makers have advocated in recent years for the importance of disaggregating data to expose underlying trends and issues such achievement gaps , opportunity gaps , learning gaps , and other inequities in the public-education system. If, for example, the only graduation data available are annual rates for individual schools, this aggregate data may hide significant disparities in graduation rates for students from low-income households, students of color, students with disabilities, or students who are not proficient in the English language. It’s possible for a school’s aggregate graduation rate to appear strong overall—say, 90 percent—but when the data are disaggregated for different groups of students, the disaggregation may reveal, for example, that more than 50 percent of the African American and Hispanic students in the school fail to graduate.

Generally speaking, the main purpose of collecting and reporting aggregate data is to provide useful information about the performance of public schools and public-school students to those who are monitoring schools or working to improve them. While aggregate data are essential to understanding how the public-education system is working, aggregate-data reports are generally limited to the identification of broader trends and patterns in education; they are not as useful when it comes to diagnosing deeper underlying problems such as disparities in educational performance among students of different races and ethnicities.

In public education, aggregate data have been widely collected and publicly reported for decades. For the most part, the use of aggregate data has not been a controversial topic in public education, primarily because aggregate data present far fewer concerns about student safety and privacy than the collection, sharing, and use of data and personal information about specific students. That said, a variety of debates related to the use of aggregate data in education have emerged in recent years, typically in response to (1) the use of public reports, often called “school report cards,” intended to provide families and the public with summarized assessments of individual school performance, and (2) the use of average student test scores and other aggregate measures in the job-performance evaluations of educators.

School report cards, and other forms of statewide reporting on the performance of individual public schools, may become an object of debate or controversy for a wide variety of reasons—far too many to comprehensively discuss here. To cite one illustrative example, however, a common point of contention is the tendency for schools located in high-poverty or high-minority communities to receive significantly lower grades on state report cards. These schools tend to serve a higher-need student population with larger learning deficits, to be underfunded (compared to wealthier districts), to have less-experienced or less-skilled teachers, and to face an array of additional obstacles that contribute to lower performance—yet the aggregate data presented in state report cards may not provide this contextual information. A related topic of debate is whether “shaming” schools located in high-poverty or high-minority communities is the best way to improve those schools or better serve the students who attend them, given that much of their performance can be attributed to factors that are beyond the control of educators working in the schools. Those who advocate for the use of state report cards may argue that—regardless of the challenges schools face—parents, families, and the general public have a right to be informed about the performance of the public schools in their state and community, and that increasing transparency when it comes to school performance will lead to policies and reforms that will ultimately improve educational quality for students.

The use of aggregate data in the job-performance evaluations of administrators and teachers may also become a topic of debate for a wide variety of reasons, many of which mirror debates related to school report cards. For example, many educators and teachers unions argue that teachers should not have their job security or salaries based on student performance because many factors influencing academic achievement are beyond their control: for example, factors such as low parental education levels, unsupportive or dysfunctional home environments, or nutritional deficits and stress—not to mention starting a school year significantly behind academically—can all adversely affect educational achievement. Those who oppose the use of aggregate data in job-performance evaluations generally argue that using aggregate data to evaluate individual educators is often misrepresentative and unfair. For a related discussion, see value-added measures .

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Education sector analysis

An education sector analysis (ESA) is an in-depth, holistic diagnosis of an education system. It assists with understanding how an education system (and its subsectors) works, why it works that way, and how to improve it. An ESA provides the evidence base for decision-making and is the first step in preparing an education sector plan.

An ESA is a nationally driven process, involving collaboration and dialogue among different actors and institutions in a system. Empowering and consulting the different stakeholders throughout the process are essential, as ‘sustainable changes that lead to improved learning outcomes cannot be brought about in the absence of involvement of the individuals and groups who will implement the change’ (Faul and Martinez, 2019: 31).

The ESA process must therefore be participative and aim to create an understanding of the key stakeholders in the education system, their incentives, relationships and accountability, as well as how these dynamics shape education systems (IIEP-UNESCO et al., 2021).

What does an ESA cover?

An ESA includes context analysis, existing policy analysis, cost and finance analysis, education performance analysis, and system capacity analysis, including stakeholder analysis (IIEP-UNESCO and GPE, 2015). Any challenges identified through the ESA should be analysed through the lens of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (UNESCO, 2016). Quality of learning is one factor analysed in the performance of the education system along with issues related to access and coverage, equity and inclusion, and internal and external efficiency of the system. Quality of learning involves analysing the range of inputs and processes including teachers, learning and teaching materials, school facilities, and learning outcomes (IIEP-UNESCO and GPE, 2015; IIEP-UNESCO, World Bank, and UNICEF, 2014).

Teachers play a decisive role in ensuring learning quality. Teacher management features – ranging from recruitment and deployment to pre- and in-service training, career pathways, motivation and job satisfaction, absenteeism and effective teaching time – also need to be analysed. Typical indicators include (IIEP-UNESCO, World Bank, and UNICEF, 2014):

• Pupil/teacher ratio by level for primary education
• Pupil/trained teacher ratio
• Teacher utilization rate
• The consistency in teacher allocation (R2 coefficient)
• Theoretical teaching time in relation to theoretical instruction time for secondary teachers
• The percentage of pre- and in-service teachers trained by level
• The number of teachers disaggregated by status (civil servants, contract, or community teachers)
• Qualifications and teaching experience

Learning and teaching materials

An ESA should analyse the equitable allocation of learning and teaching materials and other inputs among different schools and regions. An ESA should include indicators such as the proportion of teachers with teacher guides, pupil/textbook ratios, and the notion of useful pupil/textbook ratio (IIEP-UNESCO, World Bank, and UNICEF, 2014). Qualitative information gathered through teacher interviews, for example, can also be integrated into the analysis to complement quantitative data. For instance, in crisis-affected areas, quantitative data may be weak regarding the actual distribution and use of textbooks throughout the country (IIEP UNESCO and GPE, 2016).

School facilities

School facilities (school buildings and infrastructure such as electricity or school landscaping) can have a significant impact on students’ learning achievements. Proper water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities in schools can improve access to education and learning outcomes, particularly for girls (UNICEF and WHO, 2018). Relevant indicators include classroom utilization rate and, when applicable, type of classroom (such as temporary, open air, permanent, or home-based classrooms); the percentage of schools with functioning WASH facilities; the percentage of schools with electricity; the percentage of schools with boundary walls for security reasons; and the percentage of classrooms that need to be rehabilitated (IIEP-UNESCO, World Bank, and UNICEF, 2014).

Learning outcomes

Student assessments include national examinations and admission tests, national large-scale learning assessments, regional or international standardized assessments, citizen-led assessments, and household surveys. The analysis of learning assessments enables education planners and decision makers to understand whether the education system is transferring knowledge to students as expected, as well as whether this transfer is equitable or is leaving certain population groups or geographic areas behind. Learning assessments can further help countries track the progress of learning achievements over time, compare results with comparable countries, and identify plausible causes for weak learning outcomes (IIEP UNESCO, World Bank, and UNICEF, 2014).

However, there are several risks when using learning data, such as the accuracy of data and their interpretation; the use of a single test score for decision-making; the use of learning assessment data to legitimize predefined agendas; and narrowing educational measurements to simplified indicators (Raudonyte, 2019).

Changes in learning assessment results over time should be interpreted with caution and cross-checked with other evidence. For instance, a sharp increase in enrolments may affect learning outcomes (IIEP-UNESCO, World Bank, and UNICEF, 2014).

ESA data sources

An effective ESA relies on both qualitative and quantitative rigorous data. Relevant data sources include (IIEP-UNESCO and GPE, 2015; IIEP-UNESCO et al., 2021; IIEP-UNESCO, World Bank, and UNICEF, 2014):

• National, regional and international learning assessments: provide information on whether the education system is transferring knowledge as expected; track progress on learning achievements over time; allow comparisons with comparable countries; and identify plausible reasons behind weak learning outcomes.
• School data on students, textbooks, teachers, and subsidies: provide information on resource distribution and learning time, among others.
• Administrative manuals: provide information on teacher management, teaching time, and other resources.
• Teacher training institute data: provide information on whether the capacities of teacher training institutes meet current and projected needs.
• Human resources data: provide information about teacher recruitment, deployment and utilization, among others.
• Sample surveys: can be used to assess teaching and learning time.
• Household surveys: provide information on the relationship between the level of literacy and the number of years of schooling.
• Specific research exercises: provide valuable information on relevant issues faced by education systems.
• Interviews and questionnaires of stakeholders: provide relevant qualitative information, for instance related to institutional capacity.

An ESA should further assess information gaps and whether primary data collection will need to be undertaken to obtain missing information (IIEP-UNESCO and GPE, 2015).  

Plans and policies

• Liberia: Education Sector Analysis
• Somalia:  Education Sector Analysis
• IIEP-UNESCO; Global Partnership for Education. 2015. Guidelines for Education Sector Plan Preparation
• IIEP-UNESCO; Global Partnership for Education; UNICEF; Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. 2021. Education Sector Analysis Methodological Guidelines: Vol. 3: Thematic Analyses
• IIEP-UNESCO; World Bank; UNICEF. 2014. Education Sector Analysis Methodological Guidelines: Vol 1: Sector-wide Analysis, With Emphasis on Primary and Secondary Education
• IIEP-UNESCO; World Bank; UNICEF. 2014. Education Sector Analysis Methodological Guidelines: Vol. 2: Sub-sector Specific Analysis
• UNESCO-UIS. 2009. Education Indicators: Technical Guidelines

Faul, M.; Martinez, R. 2019. Education System Diagnostics. What is an 'Education System Diagnostic', Why Might it be Useful, and What Currently Exists?

IIEP-UNESCO; GPE (Global Partnership for Education). 2015. Guidelines for Education Sector Plan Preparation. Paris: IIEP-UNESCO.

––––. 2016. Guidelines for Transitional Education Plan Preparation. Washington, DC: GPE.

IIEP-UNESCO; GPE (Global Partnership for Education); UNICEF; FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office). 2021. Education Sector Analysis Methodological Guidelines: Vol. 3: Thematic Analyses .  Dakar: IIEP-UNESCO.

IIEP-UNESCO; World Bank; UNICEF. 2014.  Education Sector Analysis Methodological Guidelines: Vol 1: Sector-wide Analysis, with Emphasis on Primary and Secondary Education.  Dakar: IIEP-UNESCO.

Raudonyte, I. 2019. Use of Learning Assessment Data in Education Policy-making. Paris: IIEP UNESCO.

UNESCO. 2016. Mainstreaming SDG4-Education 2030 in Sector-wide Policy and Planning: Technical Guidelines for UNESCO Field Offices. Paris: UNESCO.

UNICEF; WHO (World Health Organization). 2018. Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Schools: Global Baseline Report 2018. New York, NY: UNICEF and WHO.

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Prehistoric and primitive cultures

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How does social class affect education attainment, when did education become compulsory, what are alternative forms of education, do school vouchers offer students access to better education.

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• World History Encyclopedia - Education in the Elizabethan Era
• Academia - Return on Education Using the Concept of Opportunity Cost
• National Geographic - Geography
• Table Of Contents

What does education mean?

Education refers to the discipline that is concerned with methods of teaching and learning in schools or school-like environments, as opposed to various nonformal and informal means of socialization .

Beginning approximately at the end of the 7th or during the 6th century, Athens became the first city-state in ancient Greece to renounce education that was oriented toward the future duties of soldiers. The evolution of Athenian education reflected that of the city itself, which was moving toward increasing democratization.

Research has found that education is the strongest determinant of individuals’ occupational status and chances of success in adult life. However, the correlation between family socioeconomic status and school success or failure appears to have increased worldwide. Long-term trends suggest that as societies industrialize and modernize, social class becomes increasingly important in determining educational outcomes and occupational attainment.

While education is not compulsory in practice everywhere in the world, the right of individuals to an educational program that respects their personality, talents, abilities, and cultural heritage has been upheld in various international agreements, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948; the Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1959; and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of 1966.

Alternative forms of education have developed since the late 20th century, such as distance learning , homeschooling , and many parallel or supplementary systems of education often designated as “nonformal” and “popular.” Religious institutions also instruct the young and old alike in sacred knowledge as well as in the values and skills required for participation in local, national, and transnational societies.

School vouchers have been a hotly debated topic in the United States. Some parents of voucher recipients reported high levels of satisfaction, and studies have found increased voucher student graduation rates. Some studies have found, however, that students using vouchers to attend private schools instead of public ones did not show significantly higher levels of academic achievement. Learn more at ProCon.org.

Should corporal punishment be used in elementary education settings?

Whether corporal punishment should be used in elementary education settings is widely debated. Some say it is the appropriate discipline for certain children when used in moderation because it sets clear boundaries and motivates children to behave in school. Others say can inflict long-lasting physical and mental harm on students while creating an unsafe and violent school environment. For more on the corporal punishment debate, visit ProCon.org .

Should dress codes be implemented and enforced in education settings?

Whether dress codes should be implemented and enforced in education settings is hotly debated. Some argue dress codes enforce decorum and a serious, professional atmosphere conducive to success, as well as promote safety. Others argue dress codes reinforce racist standards of beauty and dress and are are seldom uniformly mandated, often discriminating against women and marginalized groups. For more on the dress code debate, visit ProCon.org .

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education , discipline that is concerned with methods of teaching and learning in schools or school-like environments as opposed to various nonformal and informal means of socialization (e.g., rural development projects and education through parent-child relationships).

(Read Arne Duncan’s Britannica essay on “Education: The Great Equalizer.”)

Education can be thought of as the transmission of the values and accumulated knowledge of a society. In this sense, it is equivalent to what social scientists term socialization or enculturation. Children—whether conceived among New Guinea tribespeople, the Renaissance Florentines, or the middle classes of Manhattan—are born without culture . Education is designed to guide them in learning a culture , molding their behaviour in the ways of adulthood , and directing them toward their eventual role in society. In the most primitive cultures , there is often little formal learning—little of what one would ordinarily call school or classes or teachers . Instead, the entire environment and all activities are frequently viewed as school and classes, and many or all adults act as teachers. As societies grow more complex, however, the quantity of knowledge to be passed on from one generation to the next becomes more than any one person can know, and, hence, there must evolve more selective and efficient means of cultural transmission. The outcome is formal education—the school and the specialist called the teacher.

As society becomes ever more complex and schools become ever more institutionalized, educational experience becomes less directly related to daily life, less a matter of showing and learning in the context of the workaday world, and more abstracted from practice, more a matter of distilling, telling, and learning things out of context. This concentration of learning in a formal atmosphere allows children to learn far more of their culture than they are able to do by merely observing and imitating. As society gradually attaches more and more importance to education, it also tries to formulate the overall objectives, content, organization, and strategies of education. Literature becomes laden with advice on the rearing of the younger generation. In short, there develop philosophies and theories of education.

This article discusses the history of education, tracing the evolution of the formal teaching of knowledge and skills from prehistoric and ancient times to the present, and considering the various philosophies that have inspired the resulting systems. Other aspects of education are treated in a number of articles. For a treatment of education as a discipline, including educational organization, teaching methods, and the functions and training of teachers, see teaching ; pedagogy ; and teacher education . For a description of education in various specialized fields, see historiography ; legal education ; medical education ; science, history of . For an analysis of educational philosophy , see education, philosophy of . For an examination of some of the more important aids in education and the dissemination of knowledge, see dictionary ; encyclopaedia ; library ; museum ; printing ; publishing, history of . Some restrictions on educational freedom are discussed in censorship . For an analysis of pupil attributes, see intelligence, human ; learning theory ; psychological testing .

Education in primitive and early civilized cultures

The term education can be applied to primitive cultures only in the sense of enculturation , which is the process of cultural transmission. A primitive person, whose culture is the totality of his universe, has a relatively fixed sense of cultural continuity and timelessness. The model of life is relatively static and absolute, and it is transmitted from one generation to another with little deviation. As for prehistoric education, it can only be inferred from educational practices in surviving primitive cultures.

The purpose of primitive education is thus to guide children to becoming good members of their tribe or band. There is a marked emphasis upon training for citizenship , because primitive people are highly concerned with the growth of individuals as tribal members and the thorough comprehension of their way of life during passage from prepuberty to postpuberty.

Because of the variety in the countless thousands of primitive cultures, it is difficult to describe any standard and uniform characteristics of prepuberty education. Nevertheless, certain things are practiced commonly within cultures. Children actually participate in the social processes of adult activities, and their participatory learning is based upon what the American anthropologist Margaret Mead called empathy , identification, and imitation . Primitive children, before reaching puberty, learn by doing and observing basic technical practices. Their teachers are not strangers but rather their immediate community .

In contrast to the spontaneous and rather unregulated imitations in prepuberty education, postpuberty education in some cultures is strictly standardized and regulated. The teaching personnel may consist of fully initiated men, often unknown to the initiate though they are his relatives in other clans. The initiation may begin with the initiate being abruptly separated from his familial group and sent to a secluded camp where he joins other initiates. The purpose of this separation is to deflect the initiate’s deep attachment away from his family and to establish his emotional and social anchorage in the wider web of his culture.

The initiation “curriculum” does not usually include practical subjects. Instead, it consists of a whole set of cultural values, tribal religion, myths , philosophy, history, rituals, and other knowledge. Primitive people in some cultures regard the body of knowledge constituting the initiation curriculum as most essential to their tribal membership. Within this essential curriculum, religious instruction takes the most prominent place.

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[ ri- pawrt , - pohrt ]

a report on the peace conference;

a medical report on the patient.

Synonyms: story , description

Synonyms: dispatch , bulletin

• a widely circulated statement or item of news; rumor; gossip.
• an account of a speech, debate, meeting, etc., especially as taken down for publication.

the report of a distant cannon.

Synonyms: detonation , shot

• a statement of a student's grades, level of achievement, or academic standing for or during a prescribed period of time.
• Computers. output, especially printed, containing organized information.
• a statement of a judicial opinion or decision, or of a case argued and determined in a court of justice.
• reports, Law. a collection of adjudications.

a man of bad report.

verb (used with object)

Synonyms: relay

to report a deficit.

The committee reported out the bill.

I intend to report him to the dean for cheating.

Synonyms: accuse

to report a ship missing.

• to present (oneself ) to a person in authority, as in accordance with requirements.
• to take down (a speech, lecture, etc.) in writing.
• to write an account of (an event, situation, etc.), as for publication in a newspaper.

Synonyms: repeat , detail , describe , recount , rehearse , narrate

verb (used without object)

• to prepare, make, or submit a report of something observed, investigated, or the like.
• to serve or work as a reporter , as for a newspaper.

to report sick.

to report to Room 101.

/ rɪˈpɔːt /

• an account prepared for the benefit of others, esp one that provides information obtained through investigation and published in a newspaper or broadcast

according to report, he is not dead

a report of parliamentary proceedings

• a statement on the progress, academic achievement, etc, of each child in a school, written by teachers and sent to the parents or guardian annually or each term
• a written account of a case decided at law, giving the main points of the argument on each side, the court's findings, and the decision reached

he is of good report here

• a sharp loud noise, esp one made by a gun
• to give an account (of); describe

to report on housing conditions

• (of a committee, legislative body, etc) to make a formal report on (a bill)

I'll report you to the teacher

• tr to reveal information about (a fugitive, escaped prisoner, etc) esp concerning his whereabouts

report to the manager's office

to report fit

the plant manager reports to the production controller

• intr to act as a reporter for a newspaper or for radio or television
• law to take down in writing details of (the proceedings of a court of law) as a record or for publication

Derived Forms

• reˈportable , adjective

Other Words From

• re·porta·ble adjective
• nonre·porta·ble adjective
• nonre·ported adjective
• over·re·port verb
• prere·port noun verb
• quasi-re·ported adjective
• subre·port noun
• unre·porta·ble adjective
• unre·ported adjective
• well-re·ported adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of report 1

Idioms and Phrases

• on report , Military. (of personnel) under restriction pending disciplinary action.

Example Sentences

Developing and manufacturing vaccines, which are significant challenges in their own right, “won’t end the pandemic quickly unless we also deliver them equitably,” the report notes.

Separately, Yelp released a new local economic impact report this week.

He based his report on information from NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

More importantly, notice that more than 70% of my impression volume comes from search terms that are not in the search query performance report.

Of the report’s 11 recommendations, the first highlighted safety.

Then add in all bored people, as well as people whose job it is to report on celebrities.

Despite the strong language, however, the neither the JPO nor Lockheed could dispute a single fact in either Daily Beast report.

Did he go to the authorities to file a report against the Guerreros Unidos drug cartel?

The Amazon biography for an author named Papa Faal mentions both Gambia and lists a military record that matches the FBI report.

Similarly, a recent NPR report covered the challenges many police departments are having recruiting officers of color.

Most of my observations are in keeping with Skutch's detailed report of the species in Central America.

Aguinaldo withheld his decision until Paterno could report to him the definite opinions of his generals.

William has thus been happily able to report to the society the approaching conversion of M'Bongo and his imminent civilization.

At last the report of several rifles from the island of trees gave us a clue to the mystery.

Mrs. Charmington hastened to spread the report that his Royal Highness was seriously smitten.

Related Words

• account for

More About Report

What is a basic definition of  report .

A report is a detailed account of something based on observation and research. Report is also used to mean to relay information or to appear at a destination as ordered. The word report has many other senses as a noun and a verb.

A report is a paper, article, announcement, or similar account that contains detailed information that someone has gathered through observation, study, or other research. Sometimes, another noun is used with report to specify what the report is about. For example, students often write book reports in school in which they analyze books they have read.

• Real-life examples : Businesses often create budget reports so they can figure out how much money they have to spend. Scientists compile scientific reports in which they present the results of experiments. Sports journalists often compile injury reports that list all of the players who will miss games due to injuries.
• Used in a sentence : I listened to the weather report on the news to see if I needed to bring an umbrella. 

As a verb, report means to repeat or relay information that a person has heard from another source or has gathered themselves. People who report things (such as at a news agency) are called reporters .

• Real-life examples : A journalist’s job is to report information to the public. A spy’s job is to gather secret information and report it to their boss. Scientists will report things they have learned to scientific journals or to the news media.
• Used in a sentence : The tabloid magazine reported sightings of Bigfoot in the woods. 

Report is also used to mean to go to a specific place because you were ordered to.

• Used in a sentence : General Harris ordered the recruits to report to basic training in the morning.

Where does  report come from?

The first records of the verb report come from around 1325. It ultimately comes from the Latin reportāre , meaning to carry. The first records of the noun report come from around 1425. It comes from the Middle French report .

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to report ?

• reporter (noun)
• reportable (adjective)
• nonreportable (adjective)
• nonreported (adjective)
• overreport (verb)
• prereport (verb, noun)
• quasi-reported (adjective)
• subreport (noun)
• unreportable (adjective)
• unreported (adjective)
• well-reported (adjective)

What are some synonyms for report ?

What are some words that share a root or word element with report ? 

• report card

What are some words that often get used in discussing report ?

How is  report used in real life?

Report is a very common word that often means a detailed account or to disclose information.

In a new report, the International Criminal Court confirmed a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte’s merciless war on drugs https://t.co/MgWt69WUIm — New York Times World (@nytimesworld) December 15, 2020

Over 500 people have been hospitalized and at least one person killed by an unidentified illness in southern India. People have suddenly started to convulse. Nausea and loss of consciousness have been reported. Experts are still baffled by the cause. https://t.co/nmJ2XwPmNZ — The Associated Press (@AP) December 8, 2020

After today, I'll be awaiting the call to report to basic training! — Jake Wetherell (@Wetherell4cast) February 2, 2014

Try using  report !

Which of the following is NOT a synonym of report ?

A. detail B. broadcast C. hide D. disclose

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

The right to education

Education is a basic human right that works to raise men and women out of poverty, level inequalities and ensure sustainable development. But worldwide 244 million children and youth are still out of school for social, economic and cultural reasons. Education is one of the most powerful tools in lifting excluded children and adults out of poverty and is a stepping stone to other fundamental human rights. It is the most sustainable investment. The right to quality education is already firmly rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international legal instruments, the majority of which are the result of the work of UNESCO and the United Nations.    

• What you need to know about the right to education
• Q&A with the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education

Understanding the right to education

Enforcing the right to education.

Developing norms and standards

in reviewing and developing education legal and policy frameworks

Responding to challenges

The start of a global conversation

Say no to discrimination in education! - #RightToEducation campaign

Monitoring tools.

For any information, please contact:  [email protected]   

Monitoring SDG 4: access to education

Resources from UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report.

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Definition of report

 (Entry 1 of 2)

Definition of report  (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

intransitive verb

• thunderclap

Examples of report in a Sentence

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'report.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from reporter to bring back, report, from Latin reportare , from re- + portare to carry — more at fare

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Phrases Containing report

• annual report
• missing person report
• progress report
• report back
• report card
• report for duty
• report sick
• report stage
• self - report

Articles Related to report

‘Rapport’ vs. ‘Report’

An easygoing, detailed account

Dictionary Entries Near report

Cite this entry.

“Report.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/report. Accessed 2 Sep. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of report.

Kids Definition of report  (Entry 2 of 2)

Legal Definition

Legal definition of report.

Legal Definition of report  (Entry 2 of 2)

More from Merriam-Webster on report

Nglish: Translation of report for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of report for Arabic Speakers

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Level of unprotected teenage sex ‘worryingly high’, WHO finds

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Condom use among sexually active adolescents has  declined significantly since 2014, with rates of unprotected sex worryingly high, according to a new report from the World Health Organization ’s Regional Office for Europe. 

This is putting young people at greater risk of sexually transmitted infections, unsafe abortions and unplanned pregnancies.

The new data was published as part of the multi-part  Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study , which surveyed over 242,000 15-year-olds across 42 countries in Europe, central Asia, and Canada from 2014 to 2022.

‘Pervasive’ decrease in condom use

The UN health agency said the data showed that “ it is clear that the decrease in condom use is pervasive, spanning multiple countries and regions ”.

Overall, the proportion of sexually active adolescents who used a condom at last intercourse fell from 70 per cent to 61 per cent among boys and 63 per cent to 57 per cent among girls between 2014 and 2022.

Moreover, nearly a third of adolescents reported using neither a condom nor the contraceptive pill at last intercourse.

Socioeconomic differences also come into play in the report, with adolescents from low-income families more likely to report not using a condom or the contraceptive pill as last sexual intercourse than those from more affluent families.

Sex education ‘under attack’

One of the reasons for such a shift in unprotected sex is a reluctance in many countries to provide sex education at schools, the WHO maintained.

“Age-appropriate comprehensive sexuality education remains neglected in many countries, and where it is available, it has increasingly come under attack in recent years on the false premise that it encourages sexual behaviour , when the truth is that equipping young persons with the right knowledge at the right time leads to optimal health outcomes linked to responsible behaviour and choices,” remarked   Dr Hans Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe.

He highlighted the cascade of negative outcomes as a result of such behaviors, from increased health-care costs to disrupted education and career paths for young people.

“By empowering adolescents to make informed decisions about their sexual health, we ultimately safeguard and improve their overall well-being. This is what all parents and families should want for their children, everywhere,” he concluded. 

• sexual health