Quarter 2 Newsletter

Together with EdStats, and with commentary from UIS and the World Bank, the EPDC refined procedures for extracting data from household surveys. All household survey data will be extracted using the new guidelines in the upcoming months. New data in the data system use these guidelines for extractions of 65 post-2000 DHS surveys, including 3 newly published ones:

• Dominican Republic 2007
• Mali 2006
• Swaziland 2006

The EPDC has developed a web-demo as a user guide to give an overview of the Center and the resources the Center provides. This PowerPoint presentation guides users step-by-step through the use of the EPDC’s online tools, including:

• EPDC Search the Data
• EPDC Search the Graphs
• EPDC Search the Maps
• EPDC Profile Explorer
• EPDC Projection Tools
• EPDC Analysis
• EPDC Partnerships

The web-demo can be found under Help

The new Search the Maps feature allows users to select indicators, school levels, and geography of interest and download high-quality maps in JPEG.

There are currently 504 maps in EPDC's Search the Maps at global, regional, and sub-national levels:

• educational attainment (270)
• gross attendance rate (115)
• net attendance rate (111)
• gross enrollment rate (2)
• net enrollment rate (2)
• adult literacy rate (1)
• children not in school (1)
• survival to grade 5 (1)
• years of schooling (1)

The new Profile Explorer houses the EPDC's collection of graphical reports on the state of education, or a particular aspect of the education system. Users can select profiles and countries of interest on the map or in filter boxes, or type a keyword into the search box. Profiles can be downloaded as PDF reports by clicking on the profile balloons on the map.

There are currently 255 profiles of five kinds in EPDC's Profile Explorer:

• National Education Profiles (188)
• EFA Fast Track Initiative Profiles (31)
• Asia and the Near East Education Fact Sheets (21)
• Early Childhood Development Profiles (9)
• Nigeria Regional Basic Education Profiles (6)

How (Well) is Education Measured in Household Surveys?: A Comparative Analysis of Education Modules in 30 Household Surveys from 1996-2005

This working paper analyzes how well education information is collected in a wide variety of 30 recent household surveys. The intent of the analysis is to identify good practices and pitfalls in education modules. The recommendations are targeted to ways to make surveys more consistent and to more efficiently produce useful information.

Global Education Data: Where to Find National and Sub-national Education Statistics

This brief report gives an overview of education data provided by five leading statistics organizations: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), the World Bank’s EdStats, UNESCO’s Education For All Global Monitoring Report (GMR), the Education Policy and Data Center (EPDC), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and presents each organization's specific strengths as well as distinct and useful online features.

New Working Papers on Inequality in Education and Non-formal Education

In 2007, the EPDC was commissioned by the Global Monitoring Report (GMR) team to prepare background studies for the 2008 Global Monitoring Report, Education for all by 2015: Will We Make It?. The EPDC analyzed rural and urban attendance differentials, non-formal education, out-of-school children, enrollment and attendance differentials, and early childhood care and education and projected enrolment. There are now 4 working papers available that are based on these analyses:

• The Shrinking Urban-Rural School Attendance Gap 1990-2006
• Regional Poverty Rates and School Attendance Differentials
• The Extent and Impact of Non-formal Education in 28 Developing Countries
• Exploration of Early Childhood Care and Education Index

School Efficiency Data at More Specific Cuts from DHS Datasets

EPDC now has efficiency indicators (dropout, repetition, survival rate to grade 5) by four relative age groups (underage, on-time, 1-yr overage, 2+ yrs overage) for each grade and school level, and attendance indicators (ever attended school) by gender, urban/rural, region, and wealth quintile for post-2000 DHS datasets covering 44 countries.

Data on Teachers: Salary and Sub-national Pupil Teacher Ratios

The EPDC database now has teacher salary data at pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary school levels by gender for 42 countries from a teacher survey conducted by Education International in 2007, and sub-national pupil-teacher ratios from 13 countries.

Learning and Assessment Data

EPDC collected learning and assessment data for 19 countries from various sources, including SACMEQII (Southern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality). The new data is listed under the learning and assessment category and includes assessment and exam scores in language, mathematics, science, and all subjects combined.

The EPDC has added an online feedback survey to find out which of the EPDC’s resources are most useful and to identify gaps that require further attention. We would very much appreciate your feedback on our website and resources. There is a link to the survey on the home page

The EPDC is currently working on the following new features and projects:

• Studies for the 2009 Global Monitoring Report
• An atlas of education projections
• New data: Health, economy, child labor and early childhood related indicators and maps
• New data: MICS 3 survey reports and datasets