The UNESCO Institute for Statistics carried out a research project in 2004-2005 in Central and Eastern Europe to conduct secondary analysis of the 2003 TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) or PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), to study issues related to quality and equity in learning outcomes in the region. OSI supported the project financially and with expertise.

Teams of researchers from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia, and Serbia drafted papers regarding policy-relevant issues in their countries using advanced statistical techniques.

The papers were published in the December 2006 issue of the journal Prospects. UIS, in collaboration with OSI, sponsored a symposium to present these papers at the 2007 XIII World Congress of Comparative Education Societies, which brought together 36 national, regional, and language-based societies of education researchers. The conference provided a platform for intellectual discussion for researchers and increased the profiles of institutions working in cross-national education.

View a report on the symposium.