Together with EdStats, and with commentary from UIS and the World Bank, the EPDC refined procedures for extracting data from household surveys. All household survey data will be extracted using the new guidelines in the upcoming months. New data in the data system use these guidelines for extractions of 65 post-2000 DHS surveys, including 3 newly published ones:

• Dominican Republic 2007
• Mali 2006
• Swaziland 2006

The EPDC has developed a web-demo as a user guide to give an overview of the Center and the resources the Center provides. This PowerPoint presentation guides users step-by-step through the use of the EPDC’s online tools, including:

• EPDC Search the Data
• EPDC Search the Graphs
• EPDC Search the Maps
• EPDC Profile Explorer
• EPDC Projection Tools
• EPDC Analysis
• EPDC Partnerships

The web-demo can be found under Help

The new Search the Maps feature allows users to select indicators, school levels, and geography of interest and download high-quality maps in JPEG.

There are currently 504 maps in EPDC's Search the Maps at global, regional, and sub-national levels:

• educational attainment (270)
• gross attendance rate (115)
• net attendance rate (111)
• gross enrollment rate (2)
• net enrollment rate (2)
• adult literacy rate (1)
• children not in school (1)
• survival to grade 5 (1)
• years of schooling (1)

The new Profile Explorer houses the EPDC's collection of graphical reports on the state of education, or a particular aspect of the education system. Users can select profiles and countries of interest on the map or in filter boxes, or type a keyword into the search box. Profiles can be downloaded as PDF reports by clicking on the profile balloons on the map.

There are currently 255 profiles of five kinds in EPDC's Profile Explorer:

• National Education Profiles (188)
• EFA Fast Track Initiative Profiles (31)
• Asia and the Near East Education Fact Sheets (21)
• Early Childhood Development Profiles (9)
• Nigeria Regional Basic Education Profiles (6)

How (Well) is Education Measured in Household Surveys?: A Comparative Analysis of Education Modules in 30 Household Surveys from 1996-2005

This working paper analyzes how well education information is collected in a wide variety of 30 recent household surveys. The intent of the analysis is to identify good practices and pitfalls in education modules. The recommendations are targeted to ways to make surveys more consistent and to more efficiently produce useful information.

Global Education Data: Where to Find National and Sub-national Education Statistics

This brief report gives an overview of education data provided by five leading statistics organizations: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), the World Bank’s EdStats, UNESCO’s Education For All Global Monitoring Report (GMR), the Education Policy and Data Center (EPDC), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and presents each organization's specific strengths as well as distinct and useful online features.

New Working Papers on Inequality in Education and Non-formal Education

In 2007, the EPDC was commissioned by the Global Monitoring Report (GMR) team to prepare background studies for the 2008 Global Monitoring Report, Education for all by 2015: Will We Make It?. The EPDC analyzed rural and urban attendance differentials, non-formal education, out-of-school children, enrollment and attendance differentials, and early childhood care and education and projected enrolment. There are now 4 working papers available that are based on these analyses:

• The Shrinking Urban-Rural School Attendance Gap 1990-2006
• Regional Poverty Rates and School Attendance Differentials
• The Extent and Impact of Non-formal Education in 28 Developing Countries
• Exploration of Early Childhood Care and Education Index

School Efficiency Data at More Specific Cuts from DHS Datasets

EPDC now has efficiency indicators (dropout, repetition, survival rate to grade 5) by four relative age groups (underage, on-time, 1-yr overage, 2+ yrs overage) for each grade and school level, and attendance indicators (ever attended school) by gender, urban/rural, region, and wealth quintile for post-2000 DHS datasets covering 44 countries.

Data on Teachers: Salary and Sub-national Pupil Teacher Ratios

The EPDC database now has teacher salary data at pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary school levels by gender for 42 countries from a teacher survey conducted by Education International in 2007, and sub-national pupil-teacher ratios from 13 countries.

Learning and Assessment Data

EPDC collected learning and assessment data for 19 countries from various sources, including SACMEQII (Southern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality). The new data is listed under the learning and assessment category and includes assessment and exam scores in language, mathematics, science, and all subjects combined.

The EPDC has added an online feedback survey to find out which of the EPDC’s resources are most useful and to identify gaps that require further attention. We would very much appreciate your feedback on our website and resources. There is a link to the survey on the home page

The EPDC is currently working on the following new features and projects:

• Studies for the 2009 Global Monitoring Report
• An atlas of education projections
• New data: Health, economy, child labor and early childhood related indicators and maps
• New data: MICS 3 survey reports and datasets

EPDC has redesigned its Search the Data and Search the Graphs query system. Search the Data now has a better interface for selecting data by countries, indicators, years and levels of detail. Search the Graphs offers many new and updated graphs with great flexibility built in the query system to create graphical reports in the format users want.

The EPDC created a News blog for an easier and faster search and update of information and developed the capability to create customized user-groups for better collaboration with other organizations.

The EPDC’s National Education Profiles report on the status of education systems through graphs and maps, using these visual tools to make data tell stories, highlight issues and point to policy solutions. The profiles have been updated with new graphs and more recent data for 188 countries. The profiles provide an overview of topics such as school attendance, retention, learning, and education attainment by gender, sub-national regions, grade levels, and household characteristics (types of residential area, income level, children’s health) and provide expected trend lines.

EPDC publishes maps using a GIS system with sub-national level data of education indicators.

• National maps with information at sub-national level are also available for 59 countries on primary and secondary net and gross attendance under Search the Graphs and in national education profiles.
• Global maps for cross-country comparison have been updated with more recent data on enrollment, survival to grade 5, out-of-school children, adult literacy and education attainment and average years of schooling.

Maps on more countries and indicators will be added over the coming months.

National Administrative Data: Every year, the EPDC surveys a wide range of national statistical and ministry of education websites for new education statistics. The 2008 round has just been completed and new national data for 50 countries has been uploaded. This year, data on national exam results and vocational school enrolment were added. Other data include enrolment rates, numbers of pupils, teachers and schools, progression rates, and some financial data. 2007 education data--including much sub-national data--is available for 15 countries.

2006 MICS3 Survey Data: Many final reports for the important 2006 round of child welfare surveys by UNICEF (MICS) are now available. The EPDC has uploaded the education data from these reports. The indicators include attendance rates as well as survival and progression rates by gender, household background, and sub-national regions. More countries will be added as reports become available. MICS 2006 survey data are now available for 22 countries.

2005 and 2006 DHS Data: EPDC regularly extracts and uploads education data from DHS datasets. The indicators include data on attendance, efficiency, literacy, and education attainment rates by gender, household background, and sub-national regions. The 2005 and 2006 DHS data are now available for 8 countries.

Updated UIS Data: Recently, UIS updated its education statistics to take account of the new UN Population Estimates. The revision largely affects school enrolment rates. The new data are in the EPDC data system.

The EPDC is currently working on the following new features and projects:

• Online demo of EPDC website
• Search the Maps query system
• Profiles of education projections
• Studies for the 2009 Global Monitoring Report

Every year, the EPDC surveys all national statistical and ministry of education websites for new education statistics. We have just finished our 2008 round and have uploaded new national data for 50 countries. This year, we added data on national exam results and vocational school enrolment.  Other data include enrolment rates, numbers of pupils teachers and schools, progression rates, and some financial data.
 
2007 education data (including much sub-national data) is available for 15 countries, namely:

Many final reports for the important 2006 round of child welfare surveys by UNICEF (MICS) are now available. The EPDC has uploaded the education data from these reports. The indicators include attendance rates as well as survival and progression rates by gender, household background, and sub-national regions. These data are now available in the EPDC data system for 22 countries:

Babette Wils' report Window on the Future 2025: Projections of Education Attainment and Its Impact was just released in October. The report reveals that over the next 20 years, education levels of youth and adults will rise significantly in most developing countries, and education gender gaps will decline substantially. However, in a small group of countries trends are less positive -- population growth swamps education gains, and in others, education levels of youth and adults are projected to stagnate or reverse.

Five new policy briefs, based on Educating the World's Children and The Untapped Opportunity: How Public Private Partnerships Can Advance Education for All, are now available online. Learn about strategies to improve retention, to reduce inequalities in attendance by targeting underserved populations, to increase resources for education by using public-private partnerships, and much more.

The paper includes an overview of what the different education projection models can be best used for; the structure of the models; the expertise, data, and software needed to run the models; and a comparison of projections using the different models.

The Center has continued to expand its presentation tools, producing education profiles at the regional level. The data presented is from the 2004 Nigeria DHS EdData Survey, and is linked to the 2003 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey. The profiles give a basic overview of the education system, highlighting issues related to attendance, retention, learning, and efficiency of schools. They also provide information on parents' contribution to schooling in terms of money and time, and their perception of schooling.

The EPDC database is focused on education data from developing and transitional countries. It is a unique resource that now includes:

• UPDATED: sub-national data for 97 countries;
• UPDATED: current 2005 national data for 215 countries, and 2006 data for 209 countries;
• NEW! attendance and educational attainment disaggregated by ethnic group and physical or mental disabilities in Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Panama.
• NEW! series of education data available from 30 non-standard household surveys such as the Questionnaire on Basic Welfare Indicators surveys (QUIBB), Household Income and Expenditure Surveys (HIES), Integrated Household Surveys (IHS), Living Standard Surveys (LSS), and Socio-Economic Surveys (SES).

Please send any feedback or suggestions to epdc@aed.org

The EPDC database is focused on education data from developing and transitional countries.  It is a unique resource that includes:

• sub-national data for over 80 countries;
• current 2005 national data for 209 countries;
• over 115 unique sources from household surveys, Ministries of Education, Censuses and many other international sources.

George Ingram, Annababette Wils, Bidemi Carrol, and Felicity Townsend co-authored the report, The Untapped Opportunity: How Public Private Partnerships Can Advance Education for All.  The report provides an update on the status of primary and secondary education in developing countries and an overview of the nature and role of public-private partnerships in education.  Based on the data and policy analysis in the first part of the report, the report identifies areas in which public-private partnerships could be particularly beneficial.

Make your own human capital projections using the EdPop tool. 

The EPDC has a new tool available online, EdPop - the human capital projections model.  You can project the population by education level, overall population growth, and education attainment trends. Download benchmark data for over seventy or make your own projections from scratch.

Try simulating different education policies using DemoEd, the education modeling tool.

Use DemoEd, the EPDC's education planning and simulation tool for education planning and policy optimization. Project education growth and simulate the cost and education growth implications of different policy options.  Download the model and required Vensim Reader software and view an online course to learn how to use the model. 

Global education maps provide a visual presentation of educational indicators.  Choose from a selection of maps showing worldwide variation in net and gross enrollment rates, survival rates, out-of-school children, average years of schooling, and adult literacy.