Postgraduate Course in International Education Policy Studies

OSI's Education Support Program and Teachers College at Columbia University (TC) offered the third joint postgraduate course in international education policy studies.

Conducted in English, the course was structured to allow students to produce sub-sector analysis on issues such as governance, decentralization, transparency, and equal access in the education sector.

The course offered opportunities for the staff of Soros foundations and partners to:

• continue building foundation and country capacity in policy-related work;
• strengthen capacity of local education organizations (particularly OSI education spin-offs, associated NGOs, think tanks, policy units/centers, and partner universities) involved in education policy related work.

Instructors

Gita Steiner-Khamsi, Ph.D., professor of comparative and international education, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. Previously she worked in an education ministry for ten years and taught policy studies in an international context. Steiner-Khamsi brings to the course substantial experience and knowledge in education reform trends and strategies.

Iveta Silova, Ph.D., works as an education advisor and researcher at the Centre for Educational Innovations in Baku, Azerbaijan. Over the last ten years, she has worked in the Baltics, Central Asia, and the Caucasus for OSI, UNICEF, USAID, and the OSCE. She is pursuing research on globalization, education borrowing, and education policy efforts addressing inequities in former socialist societies.

Dr. Alexandria Valerio, World Bank, also participated as a guest lecturer.

Instructional Design

Instruction included a four-day, face-to-face seminar in New York from October 26 29, 2005.

A distance-learning component was offered through interactive software (Blackboard). This component comprised:

• seven virtual class sessions (synchronous communication);
• nine virtual modules on international educational policy studies (see Content below);
• weekly one-hour virtual advising sessions for the policy teams. Each team will consist of one or two OSI network members, and two TC students;
• seven discussion board forums (asynchronous communication) discussing and clarifying the modules;
• hyperlinks to relevant documents and resources in educational policy studies.

Content

The final product of the course was a sub-sector analysis report (30 pages); several smaller assignments helped participants develop a solid final product.

Participants learned to develop a policy brief based on a comprehensive needs assessment and sector analysis study. As a prerequisite for developing the brief, students learned about and applied sector-analysis tools (such as needs-assessment methods) and became acquainted with the most recent debates in educational reform. In addition, it was necessary to collect existing analytical work (including statistical material), education sector reviews, and country education strategy plans that are available in the participating countries.

The course consisted of nine modules, including the following:

• theories and debates in education and development, covering sector-wide approaches (SWAP) and donor co-ordination, the Education for All Initiative (Jomtien), poverty reduction initiatives, the Fast-Track Initiative, and policy documents of international organizations;
• theories and debates in education reform, covering outcome-based education, privatization of higher education, standards in education, high-stakes testing, choice, vouchers, accreditation systems, site-based management and school improvement plans, and grants for schools programs;
• comparative education research and evaluation of educational systems (including monitoring instruments for development and system performance), covering International Standard Classification of Education by UNESCO, education statistics (especially indicators for access, quality, and finance of education), noneducational indicators (development indicators), methods of comparison using OECD studies (PISA), World Bank studies, IEA studies (TIMSS, Civic Education Study), and UNESCO studies;
• policy development techniques, covering both theoretical foundations in policy studies (including policy borrowing, best-practices, globalization, and international convergence of educational systems) and policy development techniques (mostly from IIEP, UNESCO, Paris, EU, and World Bank);
• sector-analysis and needs-assessment techniques, covering review of sector analyses from various countries, and development of a sub-sector analysis (using World Bank standards and guidelines);
• two additional modules, based on the preferences of OSI participants (e.g., focus on decentralization, access and equity, financial leakages and efficiencies).

Participants

The course was offered to the following participants involved in education policy related work:

• education staff members of Soros foundations and spin-off NGOs, and related network policy centers and partner institutions;
• education experts and advisers to Soros foundations and spin-off NGOs, related network policy centers and partner institutions.

Course participants benefited from:

• a working relationship with Columbia University and receipt of 3 graduate credits;
• an opportunity to experience a distance education course offered through the Blackboard platform;
• skills and expertise in sector analysis;
• a fully structured Columbia University course and material;
• knowledge about major education reform developments and international initiatives in education sector reform;
• high-quality professional development during the Columbia course.