Education Reform and the Global Learning Crisis: When does Reform Help?

Abstract                                                                                            

 In this research, the authors seek to understand the relationship between national education reforms and student achievement. To do so, they draw on two newly established education databases to test if education reform is linked to increased learning outcomes. First, they use the Harmonized Learning Outcomes (HLO) Database, which combines student assessment scores from major international and regional assessments. Second, they use the newly established World Education Reform Database, which consists of national education reforms from 189 countries. Using synthetic control to estimate the causal impact of national education reforms on learning outcomes, the key results show that learning outcomes increase after countries articulate quality-focused national education reforms. The study advances the field by providing new empirical evidence about the relationship between education reform and learning worldwide.