Annex A. The authors

External experts

Aims McGuiness is a Senior Associate with the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS), a private non-profit policy center in Boulder, Colorado. Prior to joining NCHEMS in 1993, he was director of higher education policy at the Education Commission of the States. Before joining ECS in 1975, he was executive assistant (chief of staff) to the Chancellor of the University of Maine System. Over the past 35 years he has advised governments all over the world in their higher education reforms. The countries he has worked in include Australia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, India, Israel, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Malaysia, the Russian Federation, Turkey and the United States. Aims has authored several publications on state higher education policy, university systems and governance and holds an undergraduate degree in political science, an MBA, and a PhD in social science.

Lorna Unwin is Professor Emerita at the Centre for Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies (LLAKES) of the Institute of Education, University of London in the United Kingdom. Lorna started her career in journalism and then taught in further and adult education. From 2008 to 2012, Lorna was Deputy Director of the Economic and Social Research Council-funded LLAKES Centre and managed its strand of research on learning environments, knowledge transfer and innovative pedagogy in the context of the regeneration of city-regions. She was Chair of the Commission of Inquiry into the Role of Group Training

Associations from 2011-2012 and academic adviser to the Commission on Adult Vocational Teaching and Learning from July 2012 to March 2013. Lorna has authored several books and has been involved in both teaching and research in a number of European countries, Singapore and the United States, and contributed to the OECD Systemic Innovation in Vocational Education and Training study for the country report on Australia. Lorna holds several degrees including a PhD, MPhil and BA. She has been awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2014 for services to vocational education and training.

OECD Analysts

Marco Kools is a Policy Analyst at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills. He currently leads the OECD-Latvia Education and Skills Accession Review, the project Transforming Schools into Learning Organisations and working on a review of the education system of the Netherlands. He previously worked on education policy reviews on Latvia, Sweden and Wales, the Innovative Learning Environments project and led the development of the Education Today 2013 publication. Prior to joining the OECD in 2012, Marco worked with UNICEF in the Solomon Islands, Laos and at the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in Italy. Before that he for several years worked in the field of education in the Netherlands, where he in 1999 also started his career as a teacher. Marco holds several degrees including an MBA and a BSc in Educational Sciences, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Public Administration.

Anna Pons is a Policy Analyst at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills. She is currently involved in the OECD Accession Reviews of Colombia and Latvia. Anna has co-ordinated or contributed to reviews of the effectiveness and equity of a wide range of school systems. She is also co-author of the OECD thematic report Equity and Quality in Education. Previously, Anna contributed to the work on competition policy, public integrity and transparency. Prior to joining the OECD, Anna had worked for the Higher Education Commission of the Government of Catalonia and the private sector. Anna holds a BA in Economics and a BA in Political Science and a Master in Economics and Public Policy.

Hiroko Ikesako is a research assistant at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills. She currently works on the OECD-Latvia Education and Skills Accession Review. She was previously involved in the OECD Education and Social Progress project. Hiroko holds several degrees including an undergraduate degree in Human Behavioural Science and master’s degrees in International Education Policy and Educational Research Methodology.

Désirée Wittenberg is a research assistant at the OECD Directorate for Education and Skills. She currently works on the OECD-Latvia Education and Skills Accession Review and has previously contributed to the OECD report Teacher Remuneration in Latvia: An OECD Perspective and the OECD Education Policy Outlook project. She previously worked at the European Centre for Government Transformation at the College of Europe and at the Hamburg Institute for Educational Monitoring. Désirée has a MA in European Political and Administrative Studies and degrees in European Studies.