This 2008 edition of Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators provides a rich, comparable and up-to-date array of indicators on the performance of education systems in OECD countries and represents the consensus of professional thinking on how to measure the current state of education internationally. The indicators look at who participates in education, what is spent on it and how education systems operate and at the results achieved. The latter includes indicators on a wide range of outcomes, from comparisons of students’ performance in key subject areas to the impact of education on earnings and on adults’ chances of employment.

New material in this edition includes: entry rates in tertiary education by field of study; data on the skills of 15-year-olds in science; an analysis of the socio-economic background of 15-year-olds and the role of their parents; data on the extent to which the socio-economic status of parents affects students' participation in higher education; data on the returns to education; data on the governance of higher education institutions; an analysis of efficiency in the use of resources; data on evaluations and assessments within education systems; and a comparison of the levels of decision-making in education across countries