UIS at CIES 2017

The UIS will be showing the way forward on measuring learning and equity in education through a series of presentations and panel discussions at the annual conference of the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) taking place in Atlanta (USA) from 5-9 March. 

Thousands of education experts from across the world will be gathering at the event, which will focus on the theme of how inequalities in education are addressed and neglected in research, practice, and policy. The UIS will take the lead in addressing the measurement challenges by presenting innovative methodologies, frameworks and indicators on a range of issues related to learning, the educational situation of children in crisis and early childhood development.  

The UIS is organizing two major panels: 

A Data Revolution to Measure Equity in Education for the SDGs (Monday, 6 March, 8:00 to 9:30 am, Athens room)
Building on UIS efforts to define a data revolution to measure equity in education, this panel explores the major statistical and methodological challenges related to SDG 4. While highlighting the monitoring requirements at the international level, it provides an overview of what could be the implications for the so-called data revolution and how the global community must respond to the unprecedented demands for more and better data.

Universal Learning Scale: Conceptual feasible, operational doable? (Monday, 6 March, 5:00 to 6:30 pm, Georgia 8 room)
The UIS has the mandate to develop the methodologies, standards and indicators needed to monitor SDG 4. In particular, five of the ten targets focus on learning yet there is currently no agreed-upon approaches to produce internationally comparable measures. Thus the UIS has established the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning to identify the best path forward. This panel will look at the feasibility and practicality of developing a Universal Learning Scale for monitoring and reporting on early childhood development, early primary grades (at grade 2/3), end of primary and lower secondary education), and adult learning and skills.

The UIS is also presenting at the following workshops/panels:

Measuring education equity: Theory and practice (Sunday, 5 March, 11:45am to 2:45 pm, Georgia 7 room)
This workshop will present an upcoming publication; the International Handbook on Measuring Equity in Education, co-edited by the UIS and the REAL Centre. Participants will learn about theoretical concepts of equity in education, mathematical and statistical constructs, and the use of data and indicators for policy monitoring.

The SDGs: What progress for education a year and a half later? (8 March, 9:45 to 11:15 am, Grand Ballroom B)
This panel will focus on the extent to which selected national and regional initiatives are aligned with the global goals and targets of Agenda 2030. The UIS will describe the global architecture for reporting upon and tracking SDG 4 targets.

Innovations in measuring access to early childhood development (8 March, 8:00 to 9:30 am, Georgia 5 room)
This panel will consider current efforts to measure and report on SDG Target 4.2 on early childhood development , using a range of data sources.  The UIS will present one of the indicators that will be used to measure progress towards SDG 4.2, the participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), and discuss limitations in its interpretation.

How to strengthen evidence to improve education in conflict and crisis settings (8 March, 11:30 am to 1:00pm, Georgia 9 room)
The panel will review methodological tools that can be used at the country level to better assess the quality of the global response in producing and disseminating data in conflict-affected areas and emergencies settings. The UIS presentation will show how available data, methodologies, standards and frameworks can be used and improved to better reflect the education situation of children in conflict-affected countries.

Education Equity Research Initiative: Equity measurement and applications (9 March, 8:00 to 9:30, Augusta room)
The panel will highlight equity measurement across several dimensions of education including assessment outcomes, attainment, and resource allocation. The UIS will present on SDG indicator 4.19 which is meant to measure the distribution of resource allocation within countries and assess the extent to which national efforts can be judged as equitable.

For more information, see the CIES 2017 schedule.