Education Quality and Opportunities for Skills Development in Albania : An Analysis of PISA 2000-2012 Results
Albanian students improved their performance on PIS A1 reading, math, and science assessments between 2000 and 2012, a period over which access to upper secondary education expanded dramatically. The improvements are equivalent to a quarter to half...
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/01/20214469/education-quality-opportunities-skills-development-albania-analysis-pisa-2000-2012-results http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20424 |
| Summary: | Albanian students improved their
performance on PIS A1 reading, math, and science assessments
between 2000 and 2012, a period over which access to upper
secondary education expanded dramatically. The improvements
are equivalent to a quarter to half a year of schooling in
math and science and more than one year of schooling in
reading. The improvements were realized despite substantial
increases in enrollment and the attendant changes in the
PISA sample composition. The gross enrollment rate in upper
secondary education was only about 40 percent in 2000, but
increased markedly to 72 percent in 2009 and 83 percent in
2012. A spike in enrollment usually results in lower average
student performance due to the inclusion of poorer and
traditionally excluded students. In the context of a rapidly
expanding education system, it is remarkable that Albania
managed to improve its average PISA scores. It is even more
notable that the improvement came from significant
advancements made by low-achieving students. Albania s
improved PIS A scores coincide with the launch of intensive
reform efforts in its education sector. The Government of
Albania initiated the education sector strategy formulation
process in 2002, which resulted in the 2004 passage of the
National Education Strategy (NES) and the first attempt to
develop a long-term roadmap for the sector. The NES served
as the catalyst for a range of reforms, including: improved
teacher recruitment, compensation, and management; a revised
curriculum for basic and general upper secondary education;
enhanced transparency and accountability through reform of
the Matura, the national student assessment; reduced price
and improved textbook quality through a reformed procurement
process; and provision of textbook subsidies to the poorest
households. While it is beyond the scope of this report to
determine a causal relationship between the range of policy
reforms and improved PISA scores, this report shows that
socioeconomic variables played an important role.
Explanatory analyses show that the effect of education
variables cannot be disentangled from the effect of
socioeconomic variables. Furthermore, with economic growth
averaging 4.9 percent per year from 2000-2012, a viable
explanation is that the general improvement in economic
conditions helped to raise the tide on all social
indicators, including PISA performance. |
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