The 2004 edition of Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators enables countries to see themselves in the light of other countries' performance.  It provides a rich, comparable and up-to-date array of indicators on the performance of education systems.  The focus of the 2004 edition is on the quality of learning outcomes, the policy levers and contextual factors that shape these outcomes, and the broader private and social returns that accrue to investments in education.  For the first time, the publication also provides indicators on how the labour market returns to education have evolved over time as education systems have expanded.

The indicators are not limited to aggregate country performance, but also address variations within countries.  This allows for an examination of issues of equity in the provision and outcomes of education, on dimensions such as gender, age, socio-economic background, type of institution, or field of education.  The thematic organisation of the volume and the background information accompanying the tables and charts make this publication a valuable resource for anyone interested in analysing education systems across countries.