Learning Standards, Teaching Standards and Standards for School Principals : A comparative study

Abstract

This paper compares the development, characteristics and implementation of standards in different OECD countries. More specifically, it focuses on three different levels for which standards can be developed: (i) students and their learning, (ii) teachers and (iii) school principals and their expected performance. It analyses standards and related policies in general while focusing on the specific approaches adopted in a number of OECD and partner countries and regions, including: Australia (Queensland and Victoria), Brazil, Canada (British Columbia and Quebec), Chile, England, Germany, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway; and the United States (California and Texas). The text analyses information gathered during 2011. The paper takes into consideration the content and domains covered by standards, how these standards were developed, how they are assessed and what are the consequences of the results of such assessments, and issues related to the implementation of standards. It ends with an analysis of the challenges of coherence and articulation between the different types of standards.