Benchmarking in Education

The realities of the 21st century – a world without borders – competitive – creativity, – knowledge – innovation – high level competencies and skills for students

Bender & Schuler (2002): A process of comparison for purposes of assessment and innovation. Schuler (1998) A structural approach for looking outside ann organization to study and adapt the best outside practices to complement internal operations with new, creative ideas Kempner (1993) An ongoing, systematic process for measuring and comparing the work processes of one organization to those of another, by bringing an external focus to internal activities, functions, and operations

The Aims of Benchmarking identify the qualities and characteristics of education systems that best prepare students for success in the global marketplace learn from top performers and rapid improvers from nations and states visualise strengths and weaknesses as compared to competitors, build on evaluation of performances in own and others’ organisations

Why Benchmarking ? forces you to examine present processes, which will often lead to improvement. accelerates change. It is a way to develop your school as a learning organization offers you new ideas for ways to improve your organization, by looking other schools(systems). prevents you from reinventing the wheel: why invest the time and costs when someone else may have done it already - and often better, cheaper and faster?

International Benchmarking; Three assessments collect international data, and therefore could provide the data needed for international benchmarks. – TIMSS ( Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study ) – PIRLS ( Progress in International Reading Literacy Study ) – PISA ( Program for International Student Assessment )

TIMSS TIMSS is an assessment of Grade 4 and Grade 8 students in mathematics and science, PIRLS PIRLS is an assessment of Grade 4 students in reading. PISA PISA is an assessment of 15-year-old students in mathematics, science, and reading literacy.