IEA Studies and Educational Policy

IEA studies hold the promise of meeting governments’ needs to obtain information on how their educational system operates relative to other systems, which may help to identify deficiencies and strengths. In this paper, ways in which this information might influence policy and decision‐making are described and examples are provided of cases in which the findings of IEA studies have been reported to have influenced policy. Problems in interpreting and applying IEA findings are considered. Finally, nine conditions are outlined which international studies should meet if their findings are to satisfy the currently expressed needs of educational policy‐makers and decision‐makers.