Spring 2012 Globalization of Education

International Journal of Chinese Education 1 (2012) 139-176 brill.
com/ijce
Globalization of Education
Joel Spring
Queens College and Graduate Center, City University of New York
Abstract
This article examines the political, economic, and social forces shaping global education policies.
Of particular concern is global acceptance of human capital ideology and its stress on education
as the key to economic growth. Human capital ideology encompasses consumerism which is a
driving force in global economics. This article discusses the role of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development, the World Bank, and global education businesses in globalizing
education policies and human capital ideology. An alternative to human capital ideology is an
educational paradigm based on the goals of longevity and happiness.
Keywords
global educational ideology, human capital theory, education industry
Introduction
There is an increasing global uniformity of educational goals, organization, and
curriculum. This is a result of almost universal acceptance of human capital
ideology and consumerist economics. This article explores the support given to
a human capital consumerist ideology by multinational corporations, interna-
tional organizations, such as the World Bank and the Organization for Eco-
nomic Cooperation and Development, multinational corporations, and global
education businesses. In addition, global education systems are promoting
English as the global language.
Global testing businesses, such as Pearson and Educational Testing Services,
and the global for-profĳit shadow education services, such as Kumon, Sylvan
Learning Centers, and Kaplan, have a fĳinancial stake in promoting a human
capital model of education based on a system of government requirements for
testing as a means of sorting students for the labor market.
In the following pages of this article, I analyze the above factors in the glo-
balization of education. In addition, I provide recent criticism of the human
capital model of education and an alternative model to global school systems.
© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012 DOI: 10.1163/22125868-12340002
140 J. Spring / International Journal of Chinese Education 1 (2012) 139-176
The article begins with a general defĳinition of education globalization followed

by a discussion of the human capital education model and its promoters.
Globalization of education refers to the worldwide discussions, processes,
and institutions afffecting local educational practices and policies. What com-
prises this global education superstructure? There are international organiza-
tions that directly and indirectly influence national school systems. There are
multinational education corporations and schools. Government and profes-
sionals engage in global discussions about school policies. In the fĳirst issue of
the journal Globalisation, Societies and Education (2003), the editors stated
that globalization of education would be considered as an intertwined set of
global processes afffecting education, such as worldwide discourses on human
capital, economic development, and multiculturalism; intergovernmental
organizations; information and communication technology; nongovernment
organizations; and multinational corporations.1
The concept of globalized educational institutions and discourses devel-
oped after the term “globalization” was coined by the economist Theodore
Levitt in 1985 to describe changes in global economics afffecting production,
consumption, and investment.2 The term was quickly applied to political and
cultural changes that afffect in common ways large segments of the world’s peo-
ples. One of these common global phenomenon is schooling. As the opening
editorial in the fĳirst edition of Globalisation, Societies and Education—the very
founding of this journal indicates the growing importance of globalization and
education as a fĳield of study—states “formal education is the most commonly
found institution and most commonly shared experience of all in the contem-
porary world.”3 However, globalization of education does not mean that all
schools are the same as indicated by studies of diffferences between the local
and the global.4
In the 1990s, the language of globalization entered discourses about school-
ing. Government and business groups began talking about the necessity of
schools meeting the needs of the global economy. For example, the United
States’ organization Achieve Inc. formed in 1996 by the National Governors
1 Roger Dale and Susan Robertson, “Editorial: Introduction,” Globalization, Societies and
Education 1, no. 1 (2003), 3-11.
2 Nelly P. Stromquist, Education in a Globalized World: The Connectivity of Economic Power,
Technology, and Knowledge (Lanham, Maryland: Rowan & Littlefĳield Publishers, Inc., 2003).
3 Dale and Robertson, 7.
4 Kathryn Anderson-Levitt, “A World Culture of Schooling”, in, Local Meanings, Global
Schooling: Anthropology and World Culture Theory, ed. Kathryn Anderson-Levitt (New York:
Palgrave Macmillan, 2003), 1-26.
J. Spring / International Journal of Chinese Education 1 (2012) 139-176 141
Associations and CEO of major corporations for the purpose of school reform
declared that “High school is now the front line in America’s battle to remain
competitive on the increasingly competitive international economic stage.”5
The organization provided the following defĳinition of the global economy in a
publication title that suggested the linkages made by politicians and business
people between education and globalization: “America’s High Schools: The
Front Line in the Battle for Our Economic Future.”
In the same fashion, the European Commission’s document Teaching and
Learning: On Route to the Learning Society describes three basic causes of glo-
balization: “the advent of the information society, scientifĳic and technical civi-
lisation and the globalisation of the economy. All three contribute to the
development of a learning society.”6
The growth of worldwide educational discourses and institutions led to sim-
ilar national educational agendas, particularly the concept that education
should be viewed as an economic investment with the goal of developing
human capital or better workers to promote economic growth. Consequently,
educational discourses around the world often refer to human capital, lifelong
learning for improving job skills, and economic development. Also, the global
economy is sparking a mass migration of workers resulting in global discus-
sions about multicultural education.
Intergovernmental organizations, such as the United Nations, Organization
of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), and the World Bank, are
promoting global educational agendas that reflect discourses about human
capital, economic development, and multiculturalism. Information and com-
munication technology is speeding the global flow of information and creating
a library of world knowledges. Global nongovernment organizations, particu-
larly those concerned with human rights and environmentalism, are trying to
influence school curricula throughout the world. Multinational corporations,
particularly those involved in publishing, information, testing, for-profĳit
schooling, and computers, are marketing their products to governments,
schools, and parents around the world.
5 Achieve Inc. & National Governors Association, “America’s High Schools: The Front Line in
the Battle for Our Economic Future,” (Washington, D.C.: Achieve Inc. & National Governors
Association, 2003), 1.
6 European Commission, “Teaching and learning: on route to the learning society,” (Luxemburg:
SEPO-CE, 1998), 21.
Dominant Global Educational Ideology: Human Capital and Consumerism

Today, the dominant educational ideology is human capital economics and
consumerism. Human capital economics defĳines the primary goal of education
to be economic growth. Human capital economics contains a vision of school
as a business preparing workers for businesses. Consequently, human capital
economics values knowledge or curriculum according to how it meets the
needs of the economic system. The conceptualization of education as a busi-
ness includes the use of accounting methods that rely on standardized high-
stakes testing to measure productivity. Workers, particularly administrators
and teachers, within the education business, are made accountable for ensur-
ing productivity as measured by the results of student assessments. The same
conceptual framework is used to evaluate how schools and school systems are
organized.
The concept of human capital and the knowledge economy can be traced to
the work of economists Theodore Shultz and Gary Becker.7 In 1961, Theodore
Schultz pointed out that “economists have long known that people are an
important part of the wealth of nations.”8 Shultz argued that people invested in
themselves through education to improve their jobs opportunities. In a similar
fashion, nations could invest in schools as a stimulus for economic growth.
In his 1964 book Human Capital, Gary Becker asserts that economic growth
now depends on the knowledge, information, ideas, skills, and health of the
workforce. Investments in education, he argued, could improve human capital
which would contribute to economic growth.9 Later, he used the word knowl-
edge economy: “An economy like that of the United States is called a capitalist
economy, but the more accurate term is human capital or knowledge capital
economy.”10 Becker claimed that human capital represented three-fourths of
the wealth of the United States and that investment in education would be the
key to further economic growth.11 Following a similar line of reasoning, Daniel
7 Brian Keeley, Human Capital: How What You Know Shapes Your Life (Paris: OECD Publishing,
2007), 28-35. And Phillip Brown and Hugh Lauder, “Globalization, Knowledge and the Myth of
the Magnet Economy,” in Education, Globalization & Social Change, eds. Hugh Lauder, Phillip
Brown, Jo-Anne Dillabough, and A.H. Halsey (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), 317-340.
8 Keeley, Human Capital, 29.
9 Gary Becker, Human Capital (New York: Columbia University Press, 1964).
10 Gary Becker, “The Age of Human Capital,” in Education, Globalization & Social Change, ed.
Hugh Lauder, Phillip Brown, Jo-Anne Dillabough and A.H. Halsey (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2006), 292-295.
11 Ibid.
Bell in 1973 coined the term “post-industrial” and predicted that there would
be shift from blue-collar to white-collar labor requiring a major increase in
educated workers.12 This notion received support in the 1990s from Peter
Drucker who asserted that knowledge rather than ownership of capital gener-
ates new wealth and that power was shifting from owner and managers of
capital to knowledge workers.13 During the same decade, Robert Reich claimed
that inequality between people and nations was a result of diffferences in
knowledge and skills. Invest in education, he urged, these inequalities would
be reduced. Growing income inequality between individuals and nations,
according to Robert Reich (1991), was a result of diffferences in knowledge
and skills.14
The knowledge economy was also linked to new forms of communication
and networking. Referring to the new economy of the late twentieth century,
Manuel Castells wrote in The Rise of the Network Society: “I call it informational,
global, and networked to identify its fundamental distinctive features and to
emphasize their intertwining.”15 By informational, he meant the ability of
corporations and governments to “generate, process, and apply efffĳiciently
knowledge—based information.”16 It was global because capital, labor, raw
materials, management, consumption, and markets were linked through glo-
bal networks. “It is networked,” he contended, because “productivity is gener-
ated through and competition is played out in a global network of interaction
between business networks.”17 Information or knowledge, he claimed, was
now a product that increased productivity.
President Obama in his book The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming
the American Dream reflects the language of education for the knowledge
economy: “in a knowledge-based economy where eight of the nine fast-grow-
ing occupations this decade require scientifĳic or technological skills, most
workers are going to need some form of higher education to fĳill the jobs of the
future.”18
12 Daniel Bell, The Coming of the Post-industrial Society (New York: Basic Books, 1973).
13 Peter Drucker, Post-capitalist Society (London: Butterworth/Heinemann, 1993).
14 Robert Reich, The Work of Nations: A Blueprint for the Future, (New York: Vintage, 1991).
15 Manuel Castells, The Rise of the Network Society (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000), 77.
16 Ibid., 77.
17 Ibid.
18 Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (New
York: Vintage Books, 2006), 194.
Human Capital and Consumerism

Human capital education is also link to consumerism which is a driving force
global economics. In a world of rising shopping malls, “Shop ‘till you drop” is
the clarion call of our age. Human capital education promises students higher
incomes which can be used to purchase more and more products.
The triumph of consumerism was made possible by the related actions of
schools, advertising, and media. Mass-consumer culture integrates consumer-
ism into all aspects of life from birth to death, including, but not limited to,
education, leisure time activities, the popular arts, the home, travel, and per-
sonal imagination. Mass-consumer culture captures the fantasy world of peo-
ple with brand names and fashions that promise personal transformation, the
vicarious thrill of imagining the glamorous lives of media celebrities, and the
promise of escape from hard work through packaged travel and cruises to an
envisioned paradise.
The ideology of consumerism was articulated in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries with the appearance of industrial and agricultural abundance. As
conceived by the turn-of-the-century economist Simon Patten, consumerism
reconciled the Puritan virtue of hard work with the abundance of consumer
goods. From the Puritan standpoint, the danger of abundant goods was more
leisure time and possible moral decay. In Simon Patten’s 1907 book, The New
Basis of Civilization, he argued that the consumption of new products and
leisure-time activities would spur people to work harder. In Patten’s words,
“The new morality does not consist in saving, but in expanding consumption.”19
Patten explained, “In the course of consumption . . . the new wants become
complex . . . [as a result the] worker steadily and cheerfully chooses the depri-
vations of this week . . . Their investment in to-morrow’s goods enables society
to increase its output and to broaden its productive areas.”20
The professionalization and expansion of advertising in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries was a key contribution to the creation of a global mass-
consumer culture. Advertising prompted desires for new products; it convinced
consumers that existing products were unfashionable, and therefore, obsolete;
and it made brand names into playthings in personal fantasies. The advertising
profession transformed the capitalist model of buyers making rational choices
19 Simon N. Patten, The New Basis of Civilization (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,
1968), 215.
20 Ibid., 141.
in a free market into a consumerist model where the buyer was driven by irra-
tional emotions associated with particular brand names and/or products.
Consumer Citizen and Ideology

Consumerism is strikingly diffferent from other ideologies that place an empha-
sis on either social harmony or an abandonment of worldly concerns. Many
religions value the denial of materialistic desires. Diffferent branches of Islam,
Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity reject the way of life represented by the
consumer seeking personal transformation through the buying of goods. Con-
fucianism emphasizes the importance of social harmony over individual pur-
suit of wealth. Today, fundamentalist Islamic governments, such as in Iran and
Afghanistan, are attempting to protect their populations from what they con-
sider to be degenerate Western consumerism.21
Below is a list of the basic ideas that form the ideology of consumerism. Of
course, consumerism is aligned with notions of human capital education.
Basic ideas of Consumerist Ideology

1. Work is a virtue and it keeps people from an indolent life that could result in vice
and crime
2. Equality means equality of opportunity to pursue wealth and consume
3. Accumulation of material goods is evidence of personal merit
4. The rich are rich because of good character and the poor are poor because they lack
virtue
5. The major fĳinancial goal of society should be economic growth and the continual
production of new goods
6. Consumers and producers should be united in effforts to maximize the production
and consumption of goods
7. People will want to work hard so that they can consume an endless stream of new
products and new forms of commodifĳied leisure
8. Diffferences in ability to consume (or income) is a social virtue because it motivates
people to work harder
9. Advertising is good because it motivates people to work harder to consume
products
10. The consumer is irrational and can be manipulate in his/her purchases
11. The consumption of products will transform one’s life
21 My review of these civilizational diffferences can be found in Joel Spring, Globalization and
Educational Rights: An Intercivilizational Analysis (Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates, 2001).
Criticisms of Human Capital Education Ideology

One criticism of focusing schools on preparing students for the needs of the
knowledge economy is that there are not enough jobs in the knowledge econ-
omy to absorb school graduates into skilled jobs and that the anticipated
increased demand for knowledge workers has not occurred. Also, so-called
knowledge work has been routinized allowing for the hiring of less skilled
workers. “It is, therefore,” Phillip Brown and Hugh Lauder conclude, “not just a
matter of the oversupply of skills that threatens the equation between high
skills and high income, where knowledge is ‘routinized’ it can be substituted
with less-skilled and cheaper workers at home or further afĳield.”22
Brown and Lauder argue that multinational corporations are able to keep sala-
ries low by encouraging nations to invest in schools that prepare for the knowl-
edge economy. For instance, there has been an increased demand for higher
education in India where computer programmers annually earned in 1997
between US$2,200-2,900 as compared to programmers in the United States who
earned in 1997 between US$35,500 to 39,000.23 The result has been a brain migra-
tion from India to the United States resulting in putting a lid on wage increases
in the host country while depleting the human capital resources of India.
Another efffect is so-called brain waste where well-educated school gradu-
ates are unable to fĳind jobs commensurate with their skills. This results in
dampening income growth for college graduates in industrial countries and
forcing many into occupations not requiring a high level of education. This
phenomenon is called “brain waste.” Brain waste can occur in high income
countries when there are only a limited number of jobs requiring high levels of
education. Brown and Lauder write, “Britain, along with America, is not a high-
skilled, high-waged economy but one in which this accurately reflects only a
minority of workers, who stand alongside an increasingly large proportion of
well-qualifĳied but low-waged workers, who in turn stand beside the low-skilled
and low-waged.”24
As a result of pressure to expand educational opportunities to meet the
demand of the global knowledge economy, Brown and Lauder conclude, “vast
numbers of highly-skilled are available in developing economies, the global
expansion of tertiary education has outstripped the demand for high-skilled
workers, creating downward pressure on the incomes of skilled workers in
22 Brown and Lauder, “Globalization, Knowledge and the Myth of the Magnet Economy,” 320.
23 Ibid., 323.
24 Ibid., 324.
developed countries along with some upward pressure on those in emerging

economies.”25
In addition, educated workers from developing nations have become part of
the so-called “brain migration” moving from their countries to wealthier
nations where salaries are higher. Thus a developing nation invests in educa-
tion, but does not receive the expected rewards from improving its knowledge
economy. Some countries have experienced extraordinary depletion of their
skilled and educated workforce. According to statistics provided by the OECD,
89 percent of skilled workers have immigrated from Guyana; 85.1 percent from
Jamaica, 63.3 percent from Gambia, 62.2 from Fiji, 46.9 from Ghana, and 38.4
percent from Kenya.26
A good percentage of these immigrants are unable to obtain in their host
countries employment commensurate with their education. This is referred to
as “brain waste.” For example, statistics released by the United States Census
Bureau shows that many immigrants with bachelor’s degrees are unable to
obtain skilled jobs in the United States. The most successful group of immi-
grants with college degrees who were able to gain skilled employment were
from Ireland (69%), the United Kingdom (65%), Australia (67%), and Canada
(64%). Even these percentages suggest some level of brain waste. However, in
comparison to other countries, these percentages are high. In contrast, immi-
grants with college degrees able to gain skilled employment were low for many
countries such as Guatemala (21%), former Yugoslavia (31%), Poland (33%),
Italy (38%) and Korea (33%).27
The oversupply of educated workers, it could be argued, depresses wages to
the advantage of employers. Therefore, arguments for the knowledge economy
may have a disrupting efffect on human lives and may cause national educa-
tional expenditures to favor higher education. Seeking high paying jobs citi-
zens may pressure governments to provide more opportunities for higher
education or stimulate the development of private higher education institu-
tions. This demand might redirect government money away from support of
needed social programs such as those for health, nutrition, and shelter. The
result might be frustrated college graduates who face the prospect of “brain
25 Ibid., 329.
26 Frédéric Docquier and Abdeslam Marfouk, “International Migration by Educational
Attainment, 1990-2000,” in International Migration, Remittances & the Brain Drain, eds. Çaglar
Özden and Maurice Schifff (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), 175-185.
27 Çaglar Özden, “Educated Migrants: Is there Brain Waste?” in International Migration,
Remittances & the Brain Drain, 238.
waste’ and seek global employment through “brain migration.” As needed

social programs are neglected, increasing numbers of college graduates become
discontented.
Economist Andrew Hacker criticizes the very foundation of human capital
arguments. Human capital economists premise their arguments on the fact
that growth in school attendance parallels the growth of the economy. But it is
a big leap from this fact to say that increased education causes economic
growth. Hacker flips the causal relationship around and argues that economic
growth provides the fĳinancial resources to fund educational expansion and
offfer youth an entertaining interlude in life. Hacker notes that much of the
original funding of higher education came from innovative industrialists who
were not college graduates. Today, college dropouts lead the list of innovative
developers, such as Larry Ellison (Oracle), Bill Gates (Microsoft), Steve Jobs
and Steve Wozniak (Apple), and Michael Dell (Dell).
Hacker’s argument does not mean that schooling is not important for jobs.
Even high tech instrument jobs require some high school education. However,
human capitalists may have oversold their argument about education causing
economic growth and being necessary for global competition. First, the state of
the global economy and jobs is uncertain and constantly changing. Secondly,
there may be an overeducation of the population causing educational infla-
tion. Inflation refers to employers increasing the educational requirements of
jobs when there is an overabundance of graduates. In this situation, the eco-
nomic value of a high school or college degree declines when there is an over-
abundance of well-schooled workers.
Are jobs really tied to getting more schooling? Not according to economist
Andrew Hacker. In a review of The Race between Education and Technology by
Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz, Hacker questions the argument that more
schooling, particularly more higher education, is necessary for employment in
today’s job markets. To check this assertion, Hacker sat down with the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-2009 Edition.
Shockingly, at least for those saying go to college to get a job, Hacker fĳinds
that in the future the number of jobs operating high-tech instruments will out-
number the future jobs requiring college-trained scientists and engineers.
High-tech instrument occupations require only a high school education and
the training to use the instrument is usually done at the workplace. For exam-
ple, and this is only a short listing, these high-tech instrument occupations
include gynecologic sonography, avionics equipment mechanics, semiconduc-
tor processing, air trafffĳic controlling, endoscopic cameras, and blood bank
clinical work. In the United States, engineering occupations will grow about
10 percent by 2016 which means that the projected number of 2016 engineer-
ing graduates will be four times larger than the number of openings. The same
small growth is predicted for occupations employing college-graduated physi-
cists and mathematicians.
In practice some businesses enterprises disregard the quality of workers’
schooling when they train employees at the work site. Consider the decision by
auto manufacturers to locate in states of the United States with low wages and
no unions but with high dropout rates: Nissan, Cofffee County, Tennessee,
26.3% school dropout rate; BMW, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, 26.9%
school dropout rate; Honda, St. Clair County, Alabama, 28.7% school dropout
rate; and Toyota, Union County, Mississippi, 31.5% school dropout rate. Hacker
argues that these companies didn’t care about local school quality because
worker training was on the job. Based on the above arguments more schooling
may not result in higher paying jobs or economic growth.
OECD and Human Capital Theory
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a

major force in global testing and in supporting human capital education for a
knowledge economy. OECD’s global testing products, the Programme for Inter-
national Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathe-
matics and Science Study (TIMSS) are creating global standards for the
knowledge required to function in what OECD defĳines as the everyday life of a
global economy. Also, the tests are serving as an “Academic Olympiad” with
nations comparing the scores of their students with those of other nations. The
result is national education policy leaders trying to plan their curriculum to
meet the challenge of OECD testing particularly preparation for TIMSS. Want-
ing to impress their national leaders, school offfĳicials hope their students do
well on these tests in comparison to other countries. The consequence is a
trend to uniformity national curricula as school leaders attempt to prepare
their students to do well on the test. Writing about the efffect of PISA and TIMSS
on world education culture, David Baker and Gerald LeTendre assert that,
“After the fĳirst set of TIMSS results became public, the United States went into
a kind of soul searching . . . The release of the more recent international study
on OECD nations called PISA led Germany into a national education crisis.
Around the world, countries are using the results of international tests as a
kind of Academic Olympiad, serving as a referendum on their school system’s

performance.”28
The potential global influence of PISA is vast since the participating member
nations and partners represent, according to OECD, 90 percent of the world
economy. These assessments are on a three year cycle beginning in 2000 with
each assessment year devoted to a particular topic. For instance, international
assessment of reading is scheduled for 2009, mathematics for 2012 and Science
for 2015.29 OECD promotes PISA as an important element in the global
knowledge economy: “PISA seeks to measure how well young adults, at age 15
and therefore approaching the end of compulsory schooling, are prepared to
meet the challenges of today’s knowledge societies—what PISA refers to as
‘literacy’.”30
OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría echoed the dominant global dis-
course on education and the knowledge economy:
In a highly competitive globalized economy, knowledge, skills and know-how are key
factors for productivity, economic growth and better living conditions . . . Our estimates
show that adding one extra year to the average years of schooling increases GDP per
capita by 4 to 6 per cent. Two main paths of transmission can explain this result: First,
education builds human capital and enables workers to be more productive. Second,
education increases countries’ capacity to innovate—an indispensable prerequisite for
growth and competitiveness in today’s global knowledge economy.31
OECD links education to economic growth. OECD’s 1961 founding document

states as its goal: “to achieve the highest sustainable economic growth and
employment and a rising standard of living in Member countries, while main-
taining fĳinancial stability, and thus to contribute to the development of the
world economy.”32 From its original membership of twenty nations it has
expanded to thirty of the richest nations of the world. In addition, OECD pro-
vides expertise and exchanges ideas with more than 100 other countries includ-
ing the least developed countries in Africa.33
28 David Baker and Gerald LeTendre, National Diffferences, Global Similarities: World Culture
and the Future of Schooling (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2005), 150.
29 Baker and LeTendre, National Diffferences, Global Similiarities, 5.
30 Ibid., 6.
31 OECD, “UNESCO Ministerial Round Table on Education and Economic Development:
Keynote Speech by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General Paris, 19 October 2007,” accessed
November 13, 2007, http://www.oecd.org/document/19/0,3343,en_2649_33723_1_1_1_1,00.html.
32 OECD, “About the OECD,” accessed November 7, 2007, http://www.oecd.org.
33 OECD, “Education: About,” accessed November 7, 2007, http://www.oecd.org/about/0,3347,
en_2649_37455_1_1_1_1_37455,00.html.
In keeping with its concerns with economic growth, OECD promotes the
role of education in economic development. Along with economic growth,
OECD leaders express concern about nations having shared values to ensure
against social disintegration and crime. The stated values of education accord-
ing to OECD are: “Both individuals and countries benefĳit from education. For
individuals, the potential benefĳits lay in general quality of life and in the eco-
nomic returns of sustained, satisfying employment. For countries, the poten-
tial benefĳits lie in economic growth and the development of shared values that
underpin social cohesion.”34
To help achieve these education benefĳits to member nations and cooperat-
ing nations, OECD:
• Develops and reviews policies to enhance the efffĳiciency and the efffectiveness of edu-
cation provisions and the equity with which their benefĳits are shared;
• Collects detailed statistical information on education systems, including measures
of the competence levels of individuals;
• Reviews and analyzes policies related to aid provided by OECD members for expan-
sion of education and training in developing nations.35
OECD operates four important education programs: Centre for Educational

Research and Innovation (CERI), the Programme on Institutional Manage-
ment in Higher Education (IMHE), the Programme on Educational Building
(PEB), and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
(OECD, 2006; OECD, 2007d). In recent years, these programs supported edu-
cational privatization in the context of free markets. Rizvi & Lingard state,
“OECD . . . has largely constituted globalization in a performative way . . .
[including for education] marketization and privatization on the one hand
and strong systems of accountability on the other.”36 A defender of OECD, the
Deputy Director for Education for OECD, claimed that OECD’s acceptance of
these policies was “because these tendencies prevail in the world of which it
is an extricable part. Yes, it is a think tank, but as with all our thoughts, those
of the OECD are embedded in the lifeworlds and cultural settings of its
members.”37
34 Ibid.
35 Ibid.
36 Fazal Rizi and Bob Lingard, “Globalization and the changing nature of the OECD’s
educational work,” in Education, Globalization & Social Change, eds. Hugh Lauder, et al., 259.
37 Malcolm Skilbeck, “Book Reviews,” Globalisation, Societies and Education 1 (2003), 114.
The OECD’s CERI offfers the world a large collection of publications and statis-
tics including case studies, country surveys, research publications, and reports.38
OECD’s IMHE supports the global marketing of higher education: “Higher educa-
tion is undergoing far-reaching change . . . Among the changes are shifts in the
balance between state and market, global and local, public and private, mass
education and individualisation, and competition and cooperation.”39
OECD is contributing to a world culture of schooling through its testing,
research, and higher education programs. In fact, one of its programs promotes
the international sharing of educational ideas:
The OECD Programme on Educational Building (PEB) promotes the exchange and anal-
ysis of policy, research and experience in all matters related to educational building.
The planning and design of educational facilities—schools, colleges and universities—
has an impact on educational outcomes which is signifĳicant but hard to quantify.40
While OECD policies do influence developing nations and the organization’s

data collection reflects concern about poor countries, the major concern is the
economies of member nations. In other words, what problems are faced by the
world’s wealthiest nations in educating their populations for competition in
the global knowledge economy? This diffference in emphasis on developed as
contrasted to developing nations is captured in the defĳinition of the knowledge
economy given in a 2007 OECD book Human Capital: “In developed economies,
the value of knowledge and information in all their forms is becoming ever
more apparent, a trend that is being facilitated by the rapid spread of high-
speed information technology [author’s emphasis].”41
World Bank and Human Capital Education Theory

“Today,” declares the 2007 offfĳicial guide to the World Bank, “the World Bank
Group is the world’s largest funder of education.”42 Founded in 1944, the World
38 OECD, “Centre for Educational Research and Innovation,” accessed July 19, 2007, http://
www.oecd.org/department/0,3355,en_2649_35845581_1_1_1_1_1,00.html.
39 OECD, “Programme on Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE),” accessed
July 19, 2007, http://www.oecd.org/department/0,3355,en_2649_35961291_1_1_1_1_1,00.html.
40 OECD, “Programme on Educational Building (PEB),” accessed July 19, 2007, http://www
.oecd.org/department/0,3355,en_2649_35961311_1_1_1_1_1,00.html.
41 Keeley, Human Capital, 14.
42 World Bank, A Guide to the World Bank Second Edition (Washington, D.C.: World Bank,
2007), 3.
Bank has provided educational loans to developing nations based on the idea
that investment in education is the key to economic development.43 Educa-
tional improvement became a goal of the World Bank in 1968 when the then
president of the Bank Robert McNamara announced, “Our aim here will be to
provide assistance where it will contribute most to economic development.
This will mean emphasis on educational planning, the starting point for the
whole process of educational improvement.”44 McNamara went on explain
that it would mean an expansion of the World Bank’s educational activities.
The World Bank continues to present its educational goals in the framework of
economic development: “Education is central to development . . . It is one of
the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality and lays a
foundation for sustained economic growth.”45
The World Bank and the United Nations share a common educational net-
work. The World Bank entered into a mutual agreement with the United
Nations in 1947 which specifĳied that the Bank would act as an independent
specialized agency of the United Nations and as an observer in the United
Nations’ General Assembly.46
The World Bank supports the United Nations’ Millennium Goals and Targets
which were endorsed by 189 countries at the 2000 United Nations Millennium
Assembly. The Millennium Goals directly addressing education issues are:
• Goal 2 Achieve Universal Primary Education: Ensure that by 2015, children every-
where, boys and girls, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling
• Goal 3 Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women: Eliminate gender disparity
in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and at all levels of educa-
tion no later than 2015.
These two Millennium Goals were part of the Education for All program of the
United Nations Educational, Scientifĳic and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
which had established as two of its global goals the provision of free and com-
pulsory primary education for all and the achieving of gender parity by 2005
43 Joel Spring, Education and the Rise of the Global Economy (Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum,
1998), 159-189.
44 Michael Goldman, Imperial Nature: The World Bank and Struggles for Social Justice (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 2005), 69.
45 World Bank, “About Us: Organization: Boards of Directors,” accessed July 17, 2007. http:www
.worldbank.org, para. 1.
46 Ibid., 43.
and gender equality by 2015.47 Highlighting the intertwined activities of the

World Bank and United Nations agencies is the fact that these two goals were
a product of the 1990 World Conference on Education for All convened by the
World Bank, UNESCO, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United
Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the United Nations Development Pro-
gram (UNDP). This World Conference was attended by representatives from
155 governments.48
The Education for All program is coordinated with another series of organi-
zations and networks cited by UNESCO as:
• International Bureau of Education (IBE), Geneva, Switzerland.

• International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), Paris, France and Buenos
Aires, Argentina.
• UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL), Hamburg, Germany.
• Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE), Moscow, Russian
Federation.
• International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean
(IESALC), Caracas, Venezuela.
• International Institute for Capacity-Building in Africa (IICBA), Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia.
• European Centre for Higher Education (CEPES), Bucharest, Romania.
• International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training
(UNEVOC), Bonn, Germany.
• UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), Montreal, Canada.49
These global networks are linked to nongovernment organizations (NGOS)

through what UNESCO calls the Collective Consultation of Non-Governmental
Organizations on EFA (CCNGO/EFA). UNESCO describes this Collective:
It connects UNESCO and several hundred NGOs, networks and coalitions around the
world through a coordination group composed of eight NGO representatives (fĳive
47 UNESCO, “Education for all (EFA) International Coordination: The six EFA goals and
MDGs,” accessed October 5, 2007, http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=53844
&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.
48 UNESCO, “Education for all (EFA) International Coordination: The EFA movement,”
accessed October 5, 2007. http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=54370&URL_
DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.
49 UNESCO, “Education for all (EFA) International Coordination: Mechanisms involving
international organizations,” accessed October 5, 2007. http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/
ev.php-URL_ID=47539&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html.
regional focal points, two international focal points and one representative of the
UNESCO/NGO Liaison Committee), and a list serve for information sharing.50
Discussions about the knowledge economy occur on the networks linking the
World Bank to governments, global intergovernmental and nongovernmental
organizations, and multinational corporations. In its book Constructing Knowl-
edge Societies, the World Bank declares, “The ability of a society to produce,
select, adapt, commercialize, and use knowledge is critical for sustained eco-
nomic growth and improved living standards.”51 The book states, “Knowledge
has become the most important factor in economic development.”52 The World
Bank states that its assistance for EKE [Education for the Knowledge Economy]
is aimed at helping countries adapt their entire education systems to the new
challenges of the “learning” economy in “two complementary ways . . . Forma-
tion of a strong human capital base . . . [and] Construction of an efffective
national innovation system.”53 The creation of a national innovation system
for assisting schools to adapt to the knowledge economy creates another global
network. The World Bank describes this network: “A national innovation
system is a well-articulated network of fĳirms, research centers, universities,
and think tanks that work together to take advantage of the growing stock
of global knowledge, assimilate and adapt it to local needs, and create new
technology.”54
Nothing better expresses the World Bank’s commitment to the idea of a
knowledge economy and the role of education in developing human capital
then its publication Lifelong Learning in the Global Knowledge Economy.55 The
book offfers a roadmap for developing countries on how to prepare their popu-
lations for the knowledge economy in order to bring about economic growth.
The role of the World Bank is to loan money to ensure the growth of an edu-
cated labor force that can apply knowledge to increase productivity. These
50 UNESCO, “Education for all (EFA) International Coordination: Collective Consultation of

NGOs,” accessed October 5, 2007, http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=47477&
URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=114567740.
51 World Bank, Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary Education
(Washington, D.C.: The World Bank, 2002).
52 Ibid., 7.
53 The World Bank Education, “Education for the Knowledge Economy,” accessed October 10,
2007. http://web.worldbank.org/wBSTIE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTEDUCATION/0,,contentMDX
:20161496~menuPK:540092~pagePK:148956~piPK:216618~theSitePK:282386,00.html.
54 Ibid.
55 World Bank, Lifelong Learning in the Global Knowledge Economy: Challenges for Developing
Countries (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2003).
loans, according to Bank policies, might provide support to both public and
private educational institutions.56 In the frame work of public-private partner-
ships, the World Bank supports private education in developing countries
when governments cannot affford to support public schools for all:
However, in many countries there are other providers of education. Private education
encompasses a wide range of providers including for-profĳit schools (that operate as
enterprises), religious schools, non-profĳit schools run by NGOs, publicly funded schools
operated by private boards, and community owned schools. In other words, there is a
market for education. In low income countries excess demand for schooling results in
private supply when the state cannot affford schooling for all.57
Global Education Business

The global education business is supported by human capital education ideol-
ogy. The 1995 creation of the WTO opened the door to the prospect of free
trade in educational materials and services, and the marketing of higher edu-
cation. The WTO was an outgrowth of 1948 General Agreement on Tarifffs and
Trade which was called the “third institution” along with the World Bank and
the International Monetary Fund. The general goal was to reduce national tar-
ifffs to promote free trade in goods. The Uruguay Round of trade talks from
1986-1994 resulted in the WTO, GATS, and TRIPs. GATS expanded the idea of
free trade from just free trade in goods to free trade in services. GATS’ Article
XXVIII provides the following defĳinition: “ ‘supply of a service’ includes the pro-
duction, distribution, marketing, sale and delivery of a service.”58 Educational
services are included under this defĳinition. TRIPs provides protection for glo-
bal sale of called knowledge-related products.
What types of educational services are covered by GATS? Writing about
the efffect of GATS on higher education, Jane Knight used the following
56 William Rideout, Jr., “Globalization and Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Focus

Lesotho,” in Globalization and Education: Integration and Contestation Across Cultures, eds. Nelly P.
Stromquist and Karen Monkman (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefĳield, 2000), 255-274.
57 World Bank, “Topics: Education; Priorities & topics: Economics of education: Public-private
partnerships in the education sector,” accessed July 18, 2007. http:www.worldbank.org/
education/.
58 World Trade Organization, “WTO Legal Texts: The Uruguay Round Agreements: Annex 1B
General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), 302,” accessed November 28, 2007, http://www
.wto.org/english/docs_e/legal_e/legal_e.htm#fĳinalact.
classifĳications of educational services.59 First, according to Knight’s classi-

fĳication, is “cross-border supply” which includes distance learning, e-learning,
and virtual universities. “Consumption abroad” is the largest share of the
global market in educational services involving students who go to another
country to study. “Commercial presence” means the establishment of facil-
ities in another country, such as branch campuses and franchising arrange-
ments in another country. The travel of scholars, researchers and teachers to
another country to work falls under the classifĳication of “presence of natural
persons.”60
The international trade in educational services is aided by TRIPs which
protects intellectual property sold by individuals, universities, corporations,
and other institutions. Its protection is broader than traditional concerns
with copyrighted printed material. TRIPs also covers software, compilation of
data, recorded media, digital on-line media, and patents on industrial, health,
and agricultural technologies. Also included are integrated circuit designs,
utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, trade names, and geographical
names.61
GATS and TRIPs aids in the transformation of higher education into a busi-
ness enterprise that sells services and knowledge.62 As Helen Raduntz
explains:
Universities as idea—generating powerhouses are prime targets for investment, by

those knowledge-based industries involved in telecommunications, computers, elec-
tronics, and biotechnology. As lucrative sites of investment, their potential has been
enhanced by the protection of ideas, as intellectual property generated by research,
under copyright and patent laws and global trade agreements.63
59 Jane Knight, “Higher Education and Trade Agreements: What are the Policy Implications?”
in Universities and Globalization: Private Linkages, Public Trust, eds. Gilles Breton and Michael
Lambert (Quebec: UNESCO, 2003), 81-106.
60 Ibid., 87.
61 Christopher Arup, The New World Trade Organization Agreements: Globalizing Law Through
Services and Intellectual Property (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000), 77-213.
62 Gary Rhoads and Sheila, “Academic Capitalism and the New Economy: Privatization as
Shifting the Target of Public Subsidy in Higher Education,” in The University, State, and Market:
The Political Economy of Globalization in the Americas, eds. Robert A. Rhoads and Carlos Alberto
Torres (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2006), 103-104.
63 Helen Raduntz, “The Marketization of Education within the Global Capitalist Economy,” in
Globalizing Education: Policies, Pedagogies, & Politics eds. Michael W. Apple, Jane Kenway and
Michael Singh (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.: 2005), 231-245.
Global Marketing of For-Profĳit Education and Knowledge Industries

“Thank You For Your Interest in the Premier Brands in the Education Industry!”
is emblazoned on the website of Educate, Inc.64 The company embodies the
entanglement of politics, universities, and private fĳinanciers in the new world
of global for-profĳit education and knowledge industries, such as publishing
and information services. What are the consequences of the growth of these
multinational corporations? While the actual impact is difffĳicult to measure
there are certain hypotheses that can be made. First is that global knowledge
industries might be creating a level of uniformity in global education culture as
the result of the marketing of for-profĳit schools, the international use of testing
products, global databases, and, most importantly, the publishing of textbooks
for global markets. Secondly, global knowledge industries might try to exert
corporate control of the ideologies disseminated through schools around the
world. While it is always possible that textbooks might reflect difffering ideolo-
gies it seems unlikely that global publishers would be distributing textbooks
that contained ideas that threatened their control of global markets. Thirdly,
globally marketed schools and worldwide information and publishing corpo-
rations might transform and displace local cultures. Again, these are only spec-
ulative hypothesizes without any concrete proof.
There is a burgeoning global market for corporately-controlled for-profĳit
schools. In 2006, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that for-profĳit col-
leges were the fastest-growing sector in higher education with the eight largest
corporations having a combined market value of about $26 billion.65
For-profĳits are undergoing a period of global expansion. For instance,
the Laureate Education Inc. has a presence in 15 countries serving 240,000 stu-
dents with ownership in the United States of Walden University and 23 other
universities in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.66 Laureate Education Inc.
claims to potential investors that the global market for for-profĳit higher educa-
tion is increasing because of the worldwide expansion of the middle class,
expanding youth populations in Latin America and Asia, the need for educated
human capital and, most importantly, the difffĳiculties faced by governments in
64 Educate, Inc., “About us”, accessed July 15, 2007, http://www.educateinc.com/aboutus.

html.
65 Stephen Burd, “Promises and Profĳits: A for-profĳit college is under investigation for pumping
up enrollment while skimping on education,” Chronicle of Higher Education, January 13, 2006,
accessed January 18, 2008, http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i19/19a02101.htm.
66 Laureate Education Inc. “About Laureate,” accessed July 12, 2007, http://www.laureate-
inc.com.
fĳinancing public higher education.67 In 2007, the company announced: “Laure-

ate International Universities, one of the world’s largest networks of private
higher education institutions, and the University of Liverpool today announced
the expansion of a unique partnership to leverage programs and expertise to
create the next generation of international programs for students worldwide.”68
In September of 2007, Laureate made a dramatic move to capture the Asian
market when Douglas L. Becker its Chairman and Chief Executive Offfĳicer
announced that he and his family were moving to Hong Kong to ensure the
expansion of the company and to establish Asian headquarters. In an example
of the international fĳinancing of for-profĳit education, Becker and an investor
group engineered a $3.8-billion private-equity buyout of the company in June
of 2007. The international investor group included Harvard University, Citi-
group, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, global philanthropist George Soros,
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR); S.A.C. Capital Management, LLC; SPG
Partners; Bregal Investments; Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec;
Sterling Capital; Makena Capital; Torreal S.A.; and Brenthurst Funds. In report-
ing the move, a Chronicle of Higher Education article commented, “Mr. Becker
devised the transformation of Laureate into an internationally focused higher-
education company from its roots as a tutoring business called Sylvan Learning
Systems.”69
The global publishing and information conglomerates are vast. With home
headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, Holtzbrinck Publishers describes its
company as: “active in more than 80 countries and publishes works in both
print and electronic media, providing information, disseminating knowledge,
and serving the needs of educational, professional, and general readership
markets.”70 In the United States alone, the company owns Audio Renaissance,
Bedford/St. Martin’s, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Henry Holt and Company,
Palgrave Macmillan, Picador, St. Martin’s Press, Tor Books, W.H. Freeman,
67 Laureate Education Inc. “Global post-secondary education market.” Accessed July 15, 2007.
http://www.laureate-inc.com/GPSEM.php.
68 Laureate Education Inc. “Investors relations: News and information. University of Liverpool
and Laureate International Universities Announce expanded international collaboration,”
accessed July 12, 2007, http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=91846&p=irol-newsArticle&
ID=993862&highlight=.
69 Goldie Blumenstyk, “The Chronicle Index of For-Profĳit Higher Education,” The Chronicle of
Higher Education, August 17, 2007, accessed January 18, 2007, http://chronicle.com/weekly/v54/
i11/fptest.htm.
70 Verlagsgruppe Georg Von Holtzbrinck, “The Company,” accessed January 7, 2008, http://
www.holtzbrinck.com/artikle/778433&s=en.
Bedford, Freeman and Worth Publishing Group and Worth Publishers.71

Informa, which advertises that it provides “Specialist Information for Global
Markets,” owns an array of publications including Taylor & Francis Group
comprised of Routledge, Garland Science, and Psychology Press.72
Pearson, headquartered in England, boasts that it “is an international media
company with world-leading publishing and data services for education, busi-
ness information and consumer publishing.”73 With 29,000 employees work-
ing in 60 countries, Pearson lists its valuable assets as the Financial Times,
Penguin, Dorling Kindersley, Scott Foresman, Prentice Hall, Addison Wesley
and Longman. The company’s website declares: “From our roots as the world’s
largest book publisher, we’ve grown to provide a range of related services: test-
ing and learning software for students of all ages; data for fĳinancial institutions;
public information systems for government departments.”74 Pearson Educa-
tion North Asia has offfĳices in China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan and offfers pre-K
to adult English Language Teaching (ELT) resources, including Longman dic-
tionaries, companion Web sites, and teaching tools. Pearson Education Indo-
china, which includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam and
Pearson Education India, offfers preK-12 ELT, materials for higher education,
and professional/technical print and online resources. In India, the company
sells 60 locally produced books for school and college.
The McGraw-Hill Companies boldly displays its global economic philoso-
phy on its company website:
McGraw-Hill aligns with three enduring global needs

• the need for Capital
• the need for Knowledge
• the need for Transparency
“These are the foundations necessary to foster economic growth and to allow
individuals, markets and societies to reach their full potential.”75
71 Informa, “Divisions: Taylor and Francis,” accessed July 14, 2007, http://www.informa.com/
corporate/divisions/academic_scientifĳic/taylor_francis.htm.
72 Informa, “Divisions: Taylor and Francis,” accessed July 14, 2007, http://www.informa.com/
73 Pearson, “Live and Learn,” accessed January 7, 2008, http://www.pearson.com.
74 Pearson, “About Us,” accessed January 7, 2008, http://www.pearson.com/index.cfm?page
id=2.
75 The McGraw-Hill Companies, “About Us, Overview,” accessed January 8, 2008, http://www
.mcgraw-hill.com/about us/overview.shtml.
In the 1990s McGraw-Hill began focusing on three global markets-educa-

tion, fĳinancial services, and media. With headquarters in New York City and
offfĳices in 10 Asia-Pacifĳic, 11 Latin American, and 8 European Countries,
McGraw-Hill is a major player in global publishing and information services.
Like other global conglomerates, McGraw-Hill is involved in a range of activi-
ties including magazines, broadcasting, television, investor education, research
services, network information solutions, databases, geospatial tools, and, of
course, education publishing.76 Education publishing is broken down into a
number of divisions including McGraw-Hill Education International with edu-
cation offfĳices and individual websites for Asia, Australia, Europe, Spain, Latin
America, Canada, the United Kingdom and India. The company is also involved
in testing programs through CTB/McGraw-Hill division.77
Many of these global information and publishing corporations target devel-
oping countries such as Springer Science+Business Media corporation which
states in its Developing Countries Initiatives: “As a global scientifĳic, technical
and medical publisher, we are aware of the role we play in the distribution of
scientifĳic information and access to knowledge and research. We make a con-
certed efffort to ensure that the knowledge we manage is also accessible in
those parts of the world that are still developing.”78
Global Testing Services: Standardization of Subjects and Global

Intercultural English
What is the cultural efffect on students preparing for the same examinations?
Does the global marketing of tests and testing programs of international organ-
izations contribute to a uniformity of world education culture and promotion
of English as the global language? Is worldwide testing leading to a global
standardization of knowledge in professional fĳields? At this time any answer
would have to be speculative since there is no concrete evidence about the
efffect of global testing programs. However, one could argue that if students
worldwide are preparing for similar tests than they are being exposed to a uni-
form educational and professional culture which might contribute to creating
a world culture.
76 The McGraw-Hill Companies, “Information & Media, Overview,” accessed January 8, 2008,
http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/ims/default.shtml.
77 The McGraw-Hill Companies, “Education, Overview,” accessed January 8, 2008, http://www
.mcgraw-hill.com/edu/default.shtml.
78 Springer Science+Business Media, “Developing Countries Initiatives,” accessed July 23, 2007,
http://www.springer-sbm.com.
The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational (IEA) fĳirst

demonstrated the possibility of making comparisons between test scores of
diffferent nations. Founded in 1967 with origins dating back to a UNESCO gath-
ering in 1958, the IEA initially attempted to identify through testing efffective
educational methods that could be shared between nations. According to the
organization’s offfĳicial history, the original group of psychometricians, educa-
tional psychologists, and sociologists thought of education as global enterprise
to be evaluated by national comparisons of test scores. They “viewed the world
as a natural educational laboratory, where diffferent school systems experiment
in diffferent ways to obtain optimal results in the education of their youth.”79
They assumed that educational goals were similar between nations but that
the methods of achieving those goals were diffferent. International testing, it
was believed, would reveal to the world community the best educational prac-
tices. The organization tried to prove that large-scale cross-cultural testing was
possible when between 1959-62 they tested 13-year-olds in 12 countries in
mathematics, reading comprehension, geography, science, and non-verbal
ability. The results of this project showed, according to an IEA statement, that
“it is possible to construct common tests and questionnaires that ‘work’ cross-
culturally. Furthermore, the study revealed that the efffects of language difffer-
ences can be minimized through the careful translation of instruments.”80
Besides demonstrating the possibility of global testing programs, IEA
claimed to have an efffect on the curriculum of participating nations. After a
1970 seminar on Curriculum Development and Evaluation involving 23 coun-
tries, IEA offfĳicials claimed that “this seminar had a major influence on curricu-
lum development in at least two-thirds of the countries that attended.”81
Through the years IEA has conducted a number international testing programs
and studies, including First International Mathematics Study (FIMS), Interna-
tional Mathematics Study (SIMS), International Science Study (ISS), Prepri-
mary Education (PPP), Computers in Education Study (COMPED), Information
Technology in Education (ITE), Civic Education Study (CIVED), and Languages
in Education Study (LES).
In 1995, IEA worked with OECD to collect data for the Third International
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). IEA offfĳicials called 1995 TIMSS
79 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, “Brief History of

IEA,” accessed January 28, 2008, http://www.iea.nl/brief_history_iea.html.
80 Ibid.
81 Ibid.
“the largest and most ambitious study of comparative education undertaken.”82

And they claimed that: “It was made possible by virtue of IEA experience and
expertise, developed through the years of consecutive studies, which saw
research vision combining with practical needs as defĳined by educational pol-
icy-makers.”83
Today, IEA remains a possible source for creating uniform worldwide edu-
cational practices. The organization’s stated goal is to create global educational
benchmarks by which educational systems can be judged. In fact, the mission
statement given below includes the creation of a global network of educational
evaluators.
IEA Mission Statement

Through its comparative research and assessment projects, IEA aims to:
• Provide international benchmarks that may assist policy-makers in identifying the

comparative strength and weaknesses of their educational systems
• Provide high-quality data that will increase policy-makers’ understanding of key
school- and non-school-based factors that influence teaching and learning
• Provide high-quality data which will serve as a resource for identifying areas of con-
cern and action, and for preparing and evaluating educational reforms
• Develop and improve educational systems’ capacity to engage in national strategies
for educational monitoring and improvement
• Contribute to development of the world-wide community of researchers in educa-
tional evaluation84
The worldwide standardization of professional knowledge might be a result of

the marketing prowess of Pearson, the global corporation discussed in the last
section. Pearson markets its international computer-based tests through its
Pearson VUE division. According to the company’s offfĳicial history in 1994 the
Virtual University Enterprises (VUE) was established by three pioneers in the
fĳield of electronic tests, including the developer of the fĳirst electronic system,
E. Clarke Porter. Pearson purchased VUE in 2000. In 2006, Pearson acquired
Promissor, a provider of knowledge measurement services, which certifĳies pro-
fessionals in a variety of fĳields. Focusing on the certifĳication of professionals,
Pearson VUE serves 162 countries with 4,400 Pearson VUE Testing Centers.
82 Ibid.
83 Ibid.
84 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, “Mission State-
ment,” accessed January 28, 2008, http://www.ies.nl/mission_statement.html.
“Today,” according to its company description, “Pearson VUE, Pearson’s com-

puter-based testing business unit, serves the Information Technology industry
and the professional certifĳication, licensor, and regulatory markets. From oper-
ational centers in the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Japan, and
China, the business provides a variety of services to the electronic testing
market.”85
The range of computer-based tests offfered by Pearson is astonishing and it is
beyond the scope of this book to list all the tests. However, Pearson VUE pro-
vides the following categories of on-line tests: Academic/admissions; Driving
Tests; Employment, Human Resources & Safety; Financial Services, Health,
Medicine; Information Technology (IT); Insurance; Legal Services; Real Estate,
Appraisers & Inspectors; and State Regulated.86 On December 17, 2007,
Pearson VUE announced that it had signed a contract with the Association for
Financial Professions to provide test development to be delivered globally in
over 230 Pearson Professional Centers by its Pearson VUE Authorized Test
Centers.”87 On the same date it announced renewal of its contract with Kaplan
Test Prep for delivery of the “Ultimate Practice Test” for another Pearson VUE
test—the Graduate Management Admission Test.
While Pearson VUE may be aiding the global standardization of professions
and government licensing, worldwide language testing is possibly resulting in
the standardization of a global English language as contrasted with forms of
English associated with particular cultures or nations. As I discuss below, glo-
bal standardization of English, which in part involves the global reach of the
U.S. based Educational Testing Services (ETS), seems to be in the form of a
global business English which allows communication across cultures in the
world’s workplaces. Focused primarily on work situations it may result in
teaching a limited vocabulary. This form of English may, and again I want to
stress the word “may,” limit the ability of workers to express in English their
discontent and demands for change regarding economic, political and social
conditions. The trend to a global business English was reflected on a sign I saw
in Shanghai which read “Learn the English words your bosses want to hear!”
85 Pearson Vue, “About Pearson VUE: Company History,” accessed January 9, 2008. http://
www.pearsonvue.com/about/history.
86 Pearson Vue, “Welcome to the New Pearson Vue,” accessed January 9, 2008, http://www
.pearsonvue.com.
87 Pearson Vue, “Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions and Pearson VUE Renew Exckysuve
Agreement to Deliver GMAT Ultimate Practice Test,” accessed on January 9, 2008, http://www
.pearsonvue.com/about/release/07_12_17_Kaplan.asp.
Until 2000, ETS primarily focused on the U.S. testing market. In 2000, busi-
nessman Kurt Landgraf became president and CEO turning a non-profĳit organ-
ization into one that looks like a for-profĳit with earnings of more than
$800 million a year. As part of Landgraf’s planning, the company expanded
into 180 countries. “Our mission is not just a U.S.-oriented mission but a global
mission,” Landgraf is quoted in a magazine article. “We can offfer educational
systems to the world, but to do that, you have to take a lesson from the commer-
cial world [author’s emphasis].”88 The offfĳicial corporate description of ETS’s
global marketing is:
ETS’s Global Division and its subsidiaries fulfĳill ETS’s mission in markets around the
world. We assist businesses, educational institutions, governments, ministries of edu-
cation, professional organizations, and test takers by designing, developing and deliv-
ering ETS’s standard and customized measurement products and services which
include assessments, preparation materials and technical assistance.89
An important role of the Global Division is standardizing English as a global

language. Almost all of its products are for English language learners. The Divi-
sion markets the widely used Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL),
Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) and Test of Spoken
English (TSE). TOEFL has long served as an assessment tool for determining
the English language ability of foreign students seeking admission into U.S.
universities. In 2002, ETS opened a Beijing, China offfĳice and began marketing
TOEIC along with TOEFL. In addition, the Global Division offfers TOEFL Prac-
tice Online which indirectly serves as a teaching tool for English instruction. In
March 2007, ETS proudly announced that the service had been extended to its
Chinese market. The Test of English for Distance Education (TEDE) is used
worldwide to determine if a student has enough skills in English to participate
in on-line courses conducted in English. Criterion is a Web-based Online Writ-
ing Evaluation which promises to evaluate student writing skills in seconds. In
2007, ETS’s Criterion won highest honors from the Global Learning Consor-
tium. In addition to all these tests associated with global English, ETS offfers
ProofWriter an online tool that provides immediate feedback on grammar and
editing issues for English language essays.90
88 Thomas Wailgum, “Testing 1, 2, 3: Kurt Landgraf of ETS has all the Right Answers,”
Continental, January 2008, 59.
89 ETS, “ETS Global,” accessed July 12, 2007, http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitrn.435
c0bd0ae7015d9510c3921509/?vgnextoid=d04b253b164f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD.
90 ETS, “ETS Global,” accessed January 7, 2008, http://www.ets.org.
In another major step in the global standardization of English, ETS and

G2nd Systems signed an agreement in 2007 for G2nd Systems to join ETS’s
Preferred Vendor Network and to use TOEIC. G2nd Systems is promoting an
intercultural form of English for use in the global workplace. “G2nd Systems
defĳines the way people use non-culture-specifĳic English in workplace environ-
ments as intercultural English, which is not the same as any national version of
English that naturally includes cultural presumptions, idioms and local ways of
communicating ideas,” explains Lorelei Carobolante, CEO of G2nd Systems in
a news release from ETS. “TOEIC test scores indicate how well people can com-
municate in English with others in today’s globally diverse workplace. G2nd
Systems recognizes that measuring profĳiciency in English speaking and writing
capabilities allows business professionals, teams and organizations to imple-
ment focused language strategies that will improve organizational efffective-
ness, customer satisfaction and employee productivity.”91
A for-profĳit corporation, G2nd advertises itself as “Global Collaborative
Business Environments across multiple cultures at the same time!” and “Global
Second language Approach.” The corporate announcement of its afffĳiliation
with ETS states: “Today, over 5,000 corporations in more than 60 countries use
the TOEIC test, and 4.5 million people take the test every year.”92 G2nd Sys-
tems offfers instruction in an intercultural form of English as opposed to the
Englishes of particular countries, such as India, Britain or the United States.
Referring to “Intercultural English—A New Global Tool,” the company explains,
“Intercultural English developed in response to the new dynamics emerging in
today’s global business environment, characterized by multiple cultures oper-
ating in a collaborative structure to execute projects that are often geographi-
cally dispersed.”93 Highlighting the supposedly culturally neutral form of
English taught by the organization it claims: “Intercultural English is a com-
munication tool rather than a national version of any language, and this tool is
as vital as mathematics or computer literacy in facilitating normal business proc-
esses [author’s emphasis].”94
91 ETS, “News: G2nd Systems Group Named ETS Preferred Vendor,” accessed January 8, 2008,
http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.c988ba0e5dd572bada20bc47c3921509/?vgnextoi
d=aacabafbdc86110VgnVCM10000022f9510RCRD&vgnextchannel=.
92 G2ndSystems, “News & Press Releases,” accessed January 8, 2008, http://www.g2nd.com/
public_systems?News%20and%20Press%20Releases.thm.
93 G2ndSystems, “Intercultural English—A New Global Tool,” accessed January 8, 2008,
http://www.g2nd.com/public_systems/courses/Intercultural%20English%20A%20New%20
Global%20Tool.htm.
94 Ibid.
In summary, the expansion of international testing might be resulting in

global standardization of school subjects, professional knowledge require-
ments, and English. It would be interesting to analysis the content of the all the
various tests offfered by Pearson on the standardization of professional knowl-
edge. By using on-line tests Pearson is able to engage in global marketing. It
would seem hard to deny that between ETS’s range of English tests, its online
services in English composition, and its connection with G2nd Systems that it
is having a global impact on how English is spoken and written. Can English as
a global language be standardized so that it is not identifĳied with a particular
culture or nation?
Shadow Education Industry and Cram Schools

Across the globe from Japan to India to Cape Town to Buenos Aires to the
United States, parents worry about their children’s grades and test scores
because they are tied to their children’s future economic success. Conse-
quently, they seek out test preparation or cram schools and private learning
services to help their children after school hours.
World culture theorists David P. Baker and Gerald K. LeTendre label sup-
plementary education providers as the “shadow education system.”95 From the
perspective of the 21st Century, Baker and LeTendre see a global growth of the
shadow education system as pressures mount for students to pass high-stakes
tests and the world’s governments attempt to closely link student achievement
to future jobs. In their words, “Mass schooling sets the stage for the increasing
importance of education as an institution, and to the degree that this process
creates greater demand for quality schooling than is supplied, augmentation
through shadow education is likely.”96
Baker and LeTendre predict that shadow education systems will continue to
grow as nations embrace human capital forms of schooling. Simply put, as
schooling is made more important for a child’s future, families will invest more
money in tutoring services for remedial education and for providing for
enhanced school achievement.
The U.S.’s shadow education system is tied to government support and
therefore leads to lobbying effforts by the Education Industry Association. This
organization has adopted a self-protective code of ethics. I call this code of
95 Baker and LeTendre, 54-60.

96 Ibid., 69.
ethics self-protective because it provides an internal policing function designed

to protect the industry from criticism by politicians and the media. The Coali-
tion states: “In its role of providing critical leadership to the education indus-
try, both public and private, EIA [Education Industry Association] has adopted
this voluntary code to describe key organizational behaviors and policies that
will guide its member companies and others.”97 The actual code focuses on
standards involving possible kickbacks to politicians, government offfĳicials,
and local community leaders along with hiring practices that might create a
conflict of interests. The Education Industry Association adopted these com-
pliance procedures:
1. EIA [Education Industry Association] will develop educational materials on these

standards for use by providers, States and school district personnel. These materials
will be distributed to members and non-members alike for their incorporation into
their internal stafff development procedures.
2. All EIA members will sign a statement acknowledging their acceptance of these
standards. EIA will maintain a list of signers on its website for the public to review.
3. When a State or School District completes an investigation and has a fĳinding that a
breach of these guidelines has occurred, EIA may issue its own censure, suspend or
terminate the membership status of the Member. Before EIA acts, it will discuss the
matter with the party and offfer the party the opportunity to present its information
to an ad hoc committee of the Board of Directors.
Therefore, the Education Industry Association’s SES Coalition provides not

only lobbying to maintain a steady flow of government money to these for-
profĳit organizations but it also attempts to provide a blanket of protection from
any possible government or media criticism through its self-policing activities.
Signatories to the code of ethic include the major for-profĳit providers of sup-
plementary services and might be considered the major players in the shadow
education system.98 In addition, the Education Industry Association advertises
97 Education Industry Association, “Code of Professional Conduct and Business Ethics For
Supplemental Educational Services Providers Amended January 8, 2008,” accessed March 10,
2010, http://www.educationindustry.org/tier.asp?sid=2.
98 100 Scholars, A+ Tutoring Services, A to Z Educational Ctr., Academic Tutoring Centers,
Achieve Success, Tutoring-University Instructors, Alternatives Unlimited, American Center for
Learning, Anne Martin Educational Services, Applied Scholastics International, ATS Project
Success, Basic Skills Learning, Brain Hurricane, Brienza Academic Advantage, Bright Futures,
Cambridge Educational Services, Club Z Tutoring, Home Tutoring Plus, Huntington Learning
Centers, IEP, Knowledge College, Knowledge Headquarters, Kumon, Learn-It Systems, Learning
Disabilities Clinic, Learning Styles, MasterMind Prep Learning Solutions, McCully’s Educational
Resource Center, Moving Forward Education, Mrs Dowd’s Teaching Services, Mytutor24, NESI,
career opportunities in the education business. The career page of the Educa-
tion Industry Association promises: “Employment opportunities in the educa-
tion industry abound. Whether you are just starting out or have substantial
executive level professional experience, EIA members may have the position
to fĳit your interests. To help you discover the range of great entry-level or sen-
ior level positions for you, the Education Industry Foundation has supported
the development and production of the fĳirst-ever Career Opportunities in the
Education Industry.99
One economic opportunity that drives the shadow education system is the
purchase of a franchise from a major company. Franchising supplementary
education services, as I discuss in the next section, increases the base political
support for government funding. As the number of franchises increases, so do
the number of people interested in ensuring political and government fĳinan-
cial support of the for-profĳit education industry. Therefore, the shadow educa-
tion system becomes a shadow political system with its on educational
interests, which, at times, might be in competition with the public school sys-
tem for government funding.
Franchising the Shadow Education System

Interested in joining the for-profĳit shadow education system? Sylvan Learning,
offfers franchises requiring an initial investment of $179,000-$305,000 to peo-
ple having a minimum net worth of $250,000. By offfering kindergarten through
12th grade tutoring services it is able to take advantage of government funds
provided for for-profĳit educational services. Depending on the location the
franchise fee is from $42,000 to $48,000. Why might you choose Sylvan? The
company advertises its sale of franchises by pointing out that it has served two
million students since 1979, was ranked 24 times in Entrepreneur magazine’s
“Franchise 500 Ranking” and was number 61 overall in its 2009 “Franchise 500
Ranking” and number 52 in the publication’s “Top Global Franchises” ranking.
It was ranked in Bond’s Top 100 Franchises and number 57 in the 2008 Fran-
chise Times’ “Top 200 Systems.” In addition, the Sylvan Learning franchise
New Jersey Student Success, Newton Learning (Edison Schools), Orions Mind, Pinnacle Learning
Center, Porter Educational Service, Progressive Learning, Read and Succeed, Renaissance
Enrichment Services, Rocket Learning, Rockhaven Learning Center, Si2, Inc., Sunrise East
Tutoring Service, Sylvan Learning Center-Peoria, IL, TestQuest, Total Education Solutions,
TutorFind, Tutor Train, Tutors-To-You, TutorVista, Village Sensei.
99 Education Industry Association, “Careers in Education,” accessed March 18, 2010, http://
www.educationindustry.org/tier.asp?sid=8.
brand was selected the best educational provider in Nickelodeon’s Parents-

Connect’s First Annual Parents’ Picks Award and as “Favorite Kids Learning
Center” by SheKnows.com. If you happen to be Hispanic, you might be tempted
to invest in a franchise because Sylvan Learning was identifĳied by “PODER
Enterprise magazine as one of the “Top 25 Franchises for Hispanics” in
April 2009.”100
Sylvan Learning’s promotion of its franchises highlights the political stake it
has in the continued government funding of for-profĳit supplementary educa-
tion services. It functions like any corporation trying to expand its reach and
profĳits. Like any corporation it relies on having a global brand name which is
impressed on the public through its $40 million advertising and marketing
program. In the midst of the 2010 recession the company claimed, “Despite the
economy, now is the right time to enter the supplemental education industry.
According to Eduventures, Inc., the current demand is strong and the market is
projected to continue with double-digit growth.”101 The company claimed that
when in 2008 it decided to focus on “franchising to local entrepreneurs and
business operators who can respond to the particular needs of each commu-
nity while utilizing the tools, resources and brand equity of the Sylvan name” it
grew by 150%.102
Sylvan Learning is also a global company with tutoring services located
in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Hong Kong, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and
the United Arab Emirates.103 While this global reach is relatively small it does
indicate a potential future for Sylvan Learning as a major global education
company.
Kumon Learning Centers has a vast number of global franchises with over
25,000 franchises in other countries.104 The Kumon Learning centers were
founded in Japan in 1958 by Toru Kumon. In 2010 the company was ranked
#12 in a list of franchises which included beginning with #1 in the list Subway
followed by McDonald’s, 7-Eleven Inc., Hampton Inn, Supercuts, H&R
100 Sylvan Learning, “Franchising: Is Sylvan for You?” accessed March 17, 2012, http://tutoring
.sylvanlearning.com/franchising_is_sylvan_for_you.cfm.
101 Sylvan Learning, “Franchising Opportunities,” accessed March 17, 2010, http://tutoring
.sylvanlearning.com/franchising_opportunities.cfm.
102 Ibid.
103 Sylvan Learning, “Home,” accessed March 17, 2010, http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com/fĳind_a_
center.cfm?cid=PBM-MEC-search-google-ppc-brand_learn_ctr-0809&utm_source=google&utm_
medium=ppc&utm_term=sylvan-learning&utm_campaign=paid+search&CFID=16694361&CFTOK
EN=25216069.
104 Entrepreneur, “Kumon Math & Reading Centers: Supplemental Education,” accessed March 12,
2010, http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/kumonmathandreadingcenters/282507-0.html.
Block, Dunkin’ Donuts, Jani-King, Servpro, ampm Mini Market and Jan-Pro
Franchising Int’l Inc.105 This is a pretty impressive list and indicates the grow-
ing global importance of the shadow education industry. In 2009, Kumon
Learning Centers enrolled 4.2 million students in 46 countries. 106
Another global example is Kaplan which started as a test preparation com-
pany and is now a global company operating for-profĳit schools along with test
preparation and language instruction. Kaplan’s operations in Singapore, Hong
Kong, Shanghai and Beijing are advertised as meeting “students’ demand for
Western-style education.” In 10 European countries if offfers test preparation
and English language instruction. “In the UK,” Kaplan states, “we are one of the
largest providers of accountancy training and private higher education. We
also operate the Dublin Business School, Ireland’s largest private undergradu-
ate college.”107 Kaplan operates Tel-Aviv-based Kidum, the largest provider of
test preparation in Israel. In Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Venezuela, Kaplan
operates English language and test preparation programs designed to prepare
students for admission to schools in the United States.108
In summary, the shadow education system is now an important player in
national and global politics. The agenda of these supplementary education
services focuses on increasing revenues by lobbying for government fĳinancial
support and school policies supporting assessment systems that drive students
into buying their services. These companies are also seeking to expand reve-
nues through globalization of their products and by expanding into new areas
such as for-profĳit schools and English language instruction.
Conclusion: Long Life and Happiness

Human capital ideology dominates global education discourses. Human capi-
tal ideology supports the educational policies that will maximize profĳits for
education businesses. Human capital ideology supports the testing companies
and the shadow education industry because of the ideologies emphasis on high-
stakes testing to promote and sort students for careers and higher education and
105 Entrepreneur, “2010 Franchise 500 Rankings,” accessed March 18, 2010, http://www
.entrepreneur.com/franchises/rankings/franchise500-115608/2010,-1.html.
106 Kumon, “What is Kumon?” accessed March 18, 2010, http://www.kumon.ne.jp/english/
index.html.
107 Kaplan, “Global Operations,” accessed March 20, 2010, http://www.kaplan.com/about-
kaplan/global-operations.
108 Ibid.
for evaluating teachers and school administrators. By schools putting testing

pressure on students, parents are willing to fork out extra money to the shadow
education industry. Consequently, the shadow education system and multina-
tional testing corporations are interested in public acceptance of human capi-
tal ideology and the legitimization of assessment driven school systems.
In A New Paradigm for Global School Systems: Education for a Long and Happy
Life, I have offfered an alternative to the current global focus on human capital
education and consumerism.109 I am proposing that school policies be evalu-
ated on their contribution to the social conditions that provide the conditions
for human happiness and longevity rather than being judged by their contribu-
tion to economic growth and income. There is a great deal of international
research on the social conditions that promote happiness and a long life.
My work represents one efffort to try and shift thinking about educational
policies.
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International Journal of Chinese Education 1 (2012) 139-176 brill.

The article begins with a general defĳinition of education globalization followed

Dominant Global Educational Ideology: Human Capital and Consumerism

Human Capital and Consumerism

Consumer Citizen and Ideology

Basic ideas of Consumerist Ideology

Criticisms of Human Capital Education Ideology

developed countries along with some upward pressure on those in emerging

waste’ and seek global employment through “brain migration.” As needed

OECD and Human Capital Theory

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a

kind of Academic Olympiad, serving as a referendum on their school system’s

OECD links education to economic growth. OECD’s 1961 founding document

OECD operates four important education programs: Centre for Educational

While OECD policies do influence developing nations and the organization’s

World Bank and Human Capital Education Theory

and gender equality by 2015.47 Highlighting the intertwined activities of the

• International Bureau of Education (IBE), Geneva, Switzerland.

These global networks are linked to nongovernment organizations (NGOS)

50 UNESCO, “Education for all (EFA) International Coordination: Collective Consultation of

Global Education Business

56 William Rideout, Jr., “Globalization and Decentralization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Focus

classifĳications of educational services.59 First, according to Knight’s classi-

Universities as idea—generating powerhouses are prime targets for investment, by

Global Marketing of For-Profĳit Education and Knowledge Industries

64 Educate, Inc., “About us”, accessed July 15, 2007, http://www.educateinc.com/aboutus.

fĳinancing public higher education.67 In 2007, the company announced: “Laure-

Bedford, Freeman and Worth Publishing Group and Worth Publishers.71

McGraw-Hill aligns with three enduring global needs

In the 1990s McGraw-Hill began focusing on three global markets-educa-

Global Testing Services: Standardization of Subjects and Global

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational (IEA) fĳirst

79 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, “Brief History of

“the largest and most ambitious study of comparative education undertaken.”82

IEA Mission Statement

• Provide international benchmarks that may assist policy-makers in identifying the

The worldwide standardization of professional knowledge might be a result of

“Today,” according to its company description, “Pearson VUE, Pearson’s com-

An important role of the Global Division is standardizing English as a global

In another major step in the global standardization of English, ETS and

In summary, the expansion of international testing might be resulting in

Shadow Education Industry and Cram Schools

95 Baker and LeTendre, 54-60.

ethics self-protective because it provides an internal policing function designed

1. EIA [Education Industry Association] will develop educational materials on these

Therefore, the Education Industry Association’s SES Coalition provides not

Franchising the Shadow Education System

brand was selected the best educational provider in Nickelodeon’s Parents-

Conclusion: Long Life and Happiness

for evaluating teachers and school administrators. By schools putting testing

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