An Analysis On The International Standard Classification Of Education

As the awareness of the role of education in developing individuals and in building societies and economies has grown, so has the demand for evidence on the impact of education and on how to improve the performance of national education systems. The International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) was the first method standard created by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to compile education data and compare indicators across countries and internationally, which belongs to the United Nations International Family of Economic and Social Classifications. Just as the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) and the International Standard Industrial Classification of all Economic Activities (ISIC) are indispensable for international comparisons of economic activities, the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) is the universally adopted system for comparing educational programs across countries.Up to now, the ISCED has two main editions:the 1976s and 1997s, and ISCED 1997 is the first revision.ISCED 1976 was prepared by UNESCO, and ISCED 1997 was prepared by the task force composed of experts which come from Ethiopia, France and the Netherlands and representatives of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), European Union Statistical Office (EUROSTAT) and the UNESCO.The two editions represent the production of the international standards on education statistics and the early development of the world's education systems respectively. However, during the implementation of ISCED 1997, classification issues continue to arise, especially as education systems expand and diversify. ISCED 1997 cannot apply to the comparisons across countries, and the improvement on ISCED 1997 has become the major directions of research on the world's education systems, especially on the conceptual framework. Thus it has gradually formed a new trend for the research on the world's education systems:ISCED tends to study the development of its theory and changes of the classification systems.The article has fully analysed the evolution history of the International Standard Classification of Education and we expect to have a more systematic and complete understanding and analysis on the ISCED review process. Thus, we will discuss ten key amending issues from the viewpoint of classification and analyses the influence of those revisions. This dissertation is divided into six parts:The first chapter is introduction which discusses some basic issues such as topics values, related development and the structural framework.The second chapter is the ISCED history and review process. In this part we will summarize the previous ISCED and the review process.The third chapter is the background on the ISCED review process. The background on ISCED 1997 review process will be introduced, which consist of the review issues and selection critecia on the agenda, the management of the review process, and the outputs and schedules.The fourth chapter is the analysis on the key amending issues on ISCED 1997 conceptual framework. In this part we will discuss them from the viewpoint of classification. The aspect is the structure of education levels which covers three issues and the second the definition and classification of learning activities which also covers three issues. Furthermore, we will analyses the influence of those revisions on Chinese education systems.The fifth chapter is the analysis on the key amending issues on ISCED 1997 implementation. In this part we will discuss the definition of educational attainment and three related issues, and then have an analysis on the influence of those revisions on Chinese education systems.The last chapter is conclusions and prospects. It includes the overall evaluation of this review progress and some revelation.The ISCED 1997 review process shows the coherence and improvement of ISCED, and the improvement is the main aspect. Compared to ISCED (1997), the coming ISCED (2011) reflects the development of its theory and changes of the classification systems. From the review progress for every revision, the evolution of ISCED reflects the new contents in different regions entering and the gradual improvement of methods.As the important reference classification for education, the ISCED 1997 review process will bring system influence on the educational activities classification internationally and nationally. The implications will be especially reflected on two aspects, which are international education statistics, countries and the UIS.Within China, based on ISCED, improving the official education classification and education path will be the important research direction.The main innovations of this dissertation are as follows. First, the concern and research on the international cutting-edge statistical issues. The study of ISCED now focus on ISCED (1997) analysis and research on Chinese education system, while it has not yet formed a research tend on ISCED 1997 review progress. Thus the dissertation will attempt to study comprehensively and systematically the ISCED 1997 review progress for the first time; Second, research perspective. The article compare the different revision, which bases on the "technical points". This will help us understand the whole changes of ISCED review progress and the methodology of issues, which is a presupposition for the study on specific education areas.As the limitation of time and research degree, there are also some shortcomings, which is the furthering study on education areas, such as the classification of Chinese higher education, diversity education paths. These will be the follow-up study.