Education in the Western Balkans
Findings from PISA
The Western Balkans region has clear aspirations to improve its economic competitiveness and integrate further into Europe. A highly skilled population is critical to achieving these goals, which makes creating and maintaining high quality and equitable education systems a vital part of regional development efforts. Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) show that learning outcomes in the region have improved over time, but that the improvement has not been equitable. Some students are performing similarly to students from countries in the European Union, while others are lagging further behind.
This report, developed in co-operation with the European Commission and UNICEF, analyses PISA data in detail to identify the strengths, challenges and unique features of education systems in the Western Balkans. Drawing upon a rich knowledge base of education policy and practice in the region, it makes recommendations about how systems in the region can improve learning for all students. This report will be of interest to regional policy-makers as well as individuals who wish to learn more about education in the Western Balkans.
Assuring high quality teaching
Research has repeatedly suggested that, in terms of educational inputs, the quality of teaching is one of the most important factors in improving student outcomes (Hanushek, 2011[1]; Hattie, 2009[2]; Rivkin, Hanushek and Kain, 2005[3]). As a result, economies around the world, including those in the Western Balkans, have increasingly introduced policies that aim to improve the quality of teaching. Regional teaching reforms are wide reaching and varied, but broadly emphasise the need to use more modern teaching practices that have been shown to support learning for all students. To help achieve this goal, all economies in the region have created modern teacher standards that spell out expectations for teachers. These standards help inform initial teacher education, certification, appraisal and professional development by aligning institutions and practices around a new, shared vision of teaching.