The Centre for International Comparative Studies (CICS) was established in July 2009. It is a centre of the Office of Education Research (OER) at the National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore. The centre was born out of an MOU signed by the International Study Centre (ISC) of the Lynch School of Education, Boston College (USA) and the National Institute of Education, Singapore.
The functions of the centre are fourfold:
- The centre is involved in the developmental aspects of work related to TIMSS and PIRLS (IEA studies). Head of the centre, Prof Berinderjeet Kaur is the Math Consultant to TIMSS 2011. The centre also supports capacity building activities, such as workshops and conferences, of the IEA.
- At the national level, the centre works closely with the Ministry of Education in Singapore by undertaking the secondary analysis of data from international studies, such as TIMSS, PIRLS, PISA; and also disseminating findings of international studies to the education fraternity in Singapore.
- At the Institute level, within the Office of Education Research at NIE the centre is involved in facilitating studies and projects on comparative education. Institute-wide, the Centre promotes and coordinates comparative and international education works among our academics in broader perspectives.
- At the international level, with the President of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies as our Dean of the Office of Education Research, the centre supports the work and activities of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies, and facilitates the intellectual scholarship in comparative debate.
International Advisory Panel
Dr Ina V.S. Mullis
Executive Director, IEA's TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College
The contributing author of more than 70 reports of assessment results and articles about assessment, Dr Ina V.S. Mullis has extensive management and technical experience in conducting large-scale international and national assessments. She is a Professor at Boston College in the Lynch School of Education's Department of Educational Research, Measurement, and Evaluation, where she currently directs IEA's TIMSS and PIRLS international assessments of educational achievement together with Dr Michael O. Martin. TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) is an international assessment of mathematics and science at the fourth and eighth grades, and PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) is an international assessment of reading at the fourth grade, with both assessments designed to monitor trends in educational achievement and policies over time.
Dr Mullis has directed five TIMSS assessment cycles (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011), and as a co-founder of PIRLS has directed its three assessment cycles (2001, 2006, and 2011). Approximately 70 countries will participate in the upcoming 2011 assessments. Prior to joining Boston College in 1994, Dr. Mullis was Project Director of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) at Educational Testing Service, and she serves on the NAEP Validation Studies Panel. She received a Ph.D. in Educational Research from the University of Colorado.
Dr Michael O. Martin
Executive Director, IEA's TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College
Dr Michael O. Martin has been directly involved with the TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) and PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) projects since their inception. The two projects represent IEA's core international studies of Mathematics and Science educational achievement at the fourth and eighth grades, and of reading at the fourth grade. Dr Martin currently directs both international studies together with Dr Ina V.S. Mullis. A co-founder of PIRLS, he has directed the 2001, 2006, and 2011 assessment cycles, and he has also directed all five cycles of TIMSS in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011. The 2011 endeavour involving both TIMSS and PIRLS is arguably the largest international assessment effort ever undertaken. An internationally recognised expert in assessment methods, Dr Martin specialises in assessment design and implementation, including data collection, scaling, and analysis. He has been a Research Professor at Boston College since 1994 and a member of IEA's Technical Executive Group since 1992.
He has authored numerous assessment reports, particularly for TIMSS and PIRLS. Before joining Boston College, he was a Research Fellow at the Educational Research Centre at St. Patrick's College, Dublin, where he directed Ireland's national surveys of student achievement and served as Ireland's national project representative for major international student surveys. He received a MSc in Computer Science from Trinity College, Dublin and a Ph.D. in Psychology from University College, Dublin.
Prof Bray Mark
Chair Professor & Director, Comparative Education Research Centre, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong
Professor Mark Bray has taught at the University of Hong Kong since 1986. Prior to that he was a secondary school teacher in Kenya and Nigeria, and taught at the Universities of Edinburgh, Papua New Guinea and London. In 1995 he became visiting research fellow at the World Bank in Washington DC, and from 2006 to 2010 was Director of UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) in Paris. At the University of Hong Kong, Professor Bray has played a leadership role in the development of the Comparative Education Research Centre (CERC), which was established in 1994. Professor Bray has also been the Dean of the Faculty of Education (2002-06) and Head of the Department of Education (1991-95).
Externally he has been:
- President of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES);
- President of the Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong (CESHK); and
- member of the Board of Directors of the Comparative & International Education Society (CIES) of the USA and of the Comparative Education Society of Asia (CESA).
Professor Bray has undertaken consultancy assignments in over 70 countries of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, North America and the South Pacific. He has written or edited over 40 books and over 200 articles and chapters, and his work has been translated into 20 languages.
Prof Ruth Hayhoe
Department of Theory & Policy Studies, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto
Ruth Hayhoe is a professor in the Department of Theory and Policy Studies in Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto, and President Emerita of the Hong Kong Institute of Education. She is the author of China’s Universities and the Open Door (New York: M. E. Sharpe, 1989), China’s Universities 1895-1995: A Century of Cultural Conflict (New York: Garland Publications, 1996) and Portraits of Influential Chinese Educators (Hong Kong: CERC, University of Hong Kong and Springer, 2006). She has also edited many books, including East West Dialogue in Knowledge and Higher Education (New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1996), Education, Culture and Identity in 20th Century China (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001), Knowledge Across Cultures: A Contribution to Dialogue among Civilizations, (Hong Kong: CERC, University of Hong Kong, 2001), and Comparative and International Education: Issues for Teachers (Toronto: Canadian Scholars Press and New York: Teachers College Press, 2008). Her next book, Portraits of 21st Century Chinese Universities, co-authored with Jun Li, Jing Lin and Qiang Zha, is expected to come out early in 2011.
She is an Honorary Fellow of the University of London Institute of Education (1998), and an Honorary Doctor of Education of the Hong Kong Institute of Education (2002). She was made Commandeur dans l’ordre des Palmes Académiques, by the Government of France and awarded the Silver Bauhinia Star by the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2002. In 2009 she was conferred Lifetime Achievement Award by the Higher Education Special Interest Group of the Comparative and International Education Society of the USA. She is advisory Professor to ten universities in different regions of China and Zhijiang Chair Professor of Education at the East China Normal University in Shanghai. She also serves as Secretary to the United Board for Christian Higher Education, based in New York, and she has carried out major research and consultancy projects for the Canadian International Development Agency and the World Bank.
Prof Andreas Schleicher
Head of the Indicators and Analysis Division (Directorate for Education) at the OECD
Professor Andreas Schleicher is the Head of the Indicators and Analysis Division (Directorate for Education) at the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). As Division Head, Andreas Schleicher’s responsibilities include directing the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the OECD Indicators of Education Systems programme (INES) and steering the development of new projects such as the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) and the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).
At the OECD, Andreas Schleicher has also held the posts of Deputy Head of the Statistics and Indicators Division in the former Directorate for Education, Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (1997-2002) and Project Manager in the OECD Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (CERI) (1994-1996). Before joining the OECD, he served as Director for Analysis at the International Association for Educational Achievement (IEA) within the Institute for Educational Research in the Netherlands (1993-1994) and International Co-ordinator for the IEA Reading Literacy Study, at the University of Hamburg, Germany (1989-1992). Originally a graduate in physics, he subsequently studied mathematics at Deakin University in Australia, where his master's thesis received the Bruce Choppin Award.
In 2003, Andreas Schleicher was awarded the "Theodor Heuss" prize, named after the first president of the German Federal Republic of Germany, for "exemplary democratic engagement" in association with the public debate on PISA. He also holds an honorary professorship at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. In 2002, Andreas Schleicher was awarded the "educación y libertad en el ámbito educativo" prize by the Spanish national association of private schools.
Local Advisory Panel
Prof Lee Wing On
Dean, Education Research, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Prof Lee Wing On has previously served in various capacities at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, as Vice President (Academic) and Deputy to the President, Chair Professor of Comparative Education, Founding Dean of the School of Foundations in Education, Head of Department of Educational Policy and Administration, Head of Department of Social Sciences, Co-Director of Centre for Governance and Citizenship, and Co-Head of the Centre for Citizenship Education. In 2005, he was recruited by the University of Sydney to be Professor of Education at the Faculty of Education and Social Work and Director (International) at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. He has also served at the University of Hong Kong as Associate Dean of Education and Founding Director of the Comparative Education Research Centre. He has also played a key role in developing the Comparative Education Society of Hong Kong , having served as in various officer capacities as President, Honorary Secretary, Vice President and Past-President. In WCCES, he has served on the Executive Committee, and has twice chaired the search committees for WCCES President.
Prof Lee is a world-renowned scholar in the fields of comparative education, citizenship education, and moral and values education. He has published over 20 books and 100 journal articles and book chapters. He has obtained research funding of over HK$34 million during his academic service in Hong Kong. He has been Visiting/Honorary Professor for a number of universities in the UK, the USA and Chinese Mainland. He has served as a consultant for World Bank and Asian Development Bank projects, and is at present a member of the International Advisory Board of Mongolian Education Alliance. He has also served on the International Steering Committee of the 1995 IEA Civic Education Study, and is now serving on the Project Advisory Committee of the 2009 IEA International Civics and Citizenship Study. In Hong Kong, he has served on various committees in Curriculum Development Council (CDC), Quality Education Fund (QEF), the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC), Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ), Central Policy Unit (CPU), and Education Commission (EC).
In 2003, Prof Lee received the Medal of Honour awarded by the Hong Kong Government. He was also awarded the Bronze Education Award and Education Innovation Award from the Educational Art Research Association and the Educational Development Forum in Beijing. In 2010, he received the Hong Kong Soka Gakkai International Award for his contribution to values education.
Prof Gopinathan Saravanan
Professorial Fellow, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Prof S Gopinathan is a Professor with NIE. Prior to that, he was Associate Dean of OER. He has served on numerous Ministry of Education review committees, including the Thinking Schools, Learning Nation and Junior College-Upper Secondary Review Committee. He is currently a board member of the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board and an advisor to the Singapore Teachers Union. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor at SIM University (UniSIM).
Prof Gopinathan has written and lectured extensively on education reform and language in education issues. His papers and edited volumes are key references for students of education in Singapore and comparative education internationally. His collaborative work includes participation in the South East Asian Research Review and Advisory Group and in a Six-Nation Education Research Project which included USA and China. He currently coordinates NIE's Ten-Nation International Alliance Project on Teacher Education. He is the Academic Advisor to NIE's teacher education projects in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. He was founding editor of the Singapore Journal of Education and currently co-edits the Asia Pacific Journal of Education.
Prof Gopinathan was also involved in setting up the Singapore Centre for Teaching Thinking, the Principals Executive Centre and is also a founder member of the Educational Research Association of Singapore. He served as Chairman for successful Redesigning Pedagogy conferences in 2005 and 2007, which attracted over 1,500 participants. He served for over two decades as Chairman of the National Book Development Council of Singapore. He has also served as a consultant for the World Bank, UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning. In 2000, he was awarded the Distinguished Alumnus Award by The State University of New York (SUNY) Buffalo and in 2001, the Singapore Government's Public Administration Medal (Silver) for services to education.