The Saudi Arabian government established the Public Education Evaluation Commission in 2013. It is a public organization with an independent corporate status, and it is responsible for the improvement of the country’s education system. The commission is responsible for both private and public academic institutions, according to the release.
In order to help the Saudi Ministry of Education identify and manage necessary adjustments to the current system, the commission developed an international team of education experts from seven different countries. IU experts are helping to represent the the United States, according to the release.
The work done by the center assisted the commission in focusing on designing and conducting a variety of evaluation projects, while also helping Saudi staff develop their own capacity to manage future evaluation activities, according to the release.
“Education in general — and public education in particular — is the cornerstone of the renaissance for national progress,” said Naif al-Romi, governor of the Public Education Evaluation Commission, in the release. “It is the front face of civilization that reflects the extent of progress and the pursuit of economic transformation through a knowledge-based economy. It is also one of the most important foundations of the national development strategy.”
The Public Education Evaluation Commission will be playing an important role in foiling extremist ideology through highlighting moderate thoughts, al-Romi said in the release.
“We will work to keep education away from that ideology,” al-Romi said in the release.
CEEP has already completed an initial project with the commission, according to the release.
The first collaboration started in the summer of 2014 with the Directorates of Education Evaluation Project. The joint effort collected data that described school district performance and how educational practices differ across districts.
Saudi Arabia is divided into 13 regions and 45 public school districts of varying size. During the course of a month, eight five-person teams conducted interviews and school observations in all 45 districts, according to the release.
Marcey A. Moss, CEEP senior research associate, and James A. Salzman, executive director of the Stevens Literacy Center at the Ohio University Patton College of Education, served as co-project managers for this initial project.
Working closely with Saudi commission staff, Moss and Salzman spent several weeks in Saudi Arabia throughout most of 2014 developing project questions, designing data collection tools and leading day-to-day project work, according to the release.
Alyson Malinger
