International Government Guide
Education Policy
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U. S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Education portal
USAID is an independent federal government agency that receives overall foreign policy guidance from the Secretary of State. U.S. foreign assistance has the twofold purpose of furthering America's foreign policy interests in expanding democracy and free markets while improving the lives of the citizens of the developing world. Part of the assistance includes education.
Example education document from USAID - "Meeting the Global Challenge" (2.6 MB pdf file)
Example edcuation document from USAID - "Education Strategy"
ERIC
Though it is run by the U.S. Department of Education, the Educational Resources Information Center database (commonly known as ERIC) is international in its scope. This is the premier database for education literature. It indexes scholarly material and other works created by government entities, school districts, non-for-profits, and others. Books, journal articles, conference proceedings, policy papers, manuals, handbooks, guides are all included here. The free online ERIC database does include some full text content. The search interface also allows users to limit results to only that which is available freely online. See example ERIC document on education policy changes in British Columbia
Government Accountability Office reports
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is known as the investigative arm of Congress. GAO helps improve the performance and accountability of the federal government by examining and reporting on the effectiveness of government policies and programs. Though domestic issues are emphasized, International policy issues are not outside the GAO's purview. See example document on assessment of U.S. education assistance in foreign countries
Congressional Research Service reports
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) is a branch of the Library of Congress that provides nonpartisan research to the U.S. Congress. CRS reports have an excellent reputation for clear presentation of essential facts, and for providing fair and even-handed summaries of controversial issues. See example CRS report on education reform in Pakistan
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
United Nations
* UN Data (statistical database)
* United Nations Official Documents System
* United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Education portal
European Union
* European Union Education portal
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
* OECD Education portal
UNITED STATES LEGISLATIVE BRANCH DOCUMENTS
Congressional Hearings (dates to early 1800s, but 1995-present is freely available online)
Hearings provide verbatim testimony of witnesses who have appeared before congressional committees. Witness’ statements are generally followed by the transcript of intense questioning. Also, if witnesses should submit additional documents for the record (anything from internal correspondence to full-length copyrighted works), they may also be published as part of the hearing. Therefore it is generally desirable to get the complete hearing, not just the testimony portion. Congressional hearings cover both domestic issues and matters of international policy.
US Congressional Serial Set (dates to early 1800s, but 1995-present is freely available online)
The U.S. Congressional Serial Set contains committee reports related to bills and other matters, presidential communications to Congress, treaty materials, certain executive department publications, and some non-governmental publications.
Congressional Record (Dates to 1873, but 1994-present is freely available online)
The Congressional Record records daily floor debates and proceedings of the House and Senate, substantially verbatim.
Catalog of Government Publications (CGP)
The CGP is the primary index to federal publications issued from the mid-1970s to the present. It covers all subjects and includes publications from all federal agencies which use the Government Printing Office (GPO) as the publisher. The CGP is a free resource which occasionally offers links to full text. If a publication is not available in full text online, a print copy will most likely be available from MU Libraries through interlibrary loan.
EXPERT ASSISTANCE
United Nationsl Publications Assistance
The Duane G. Meyer Library at MSU in Springfield, Missouri became a United Nations depository in 2000. This designation makes MSU the only UN depository in the state of Missouri. They receive documents from all areas of the United Nations, including official records of the General Assembly, Security Council, and the Economic and Social Council, as well as sales publications. These documents are being cataloged in SWAN (the MSU Library online catalog). The MSU Library has also acquired a historical collection of UN documents in microformat, dating from 1946-1994. For expert assistance on UN topics, contact UN depository librarian Ann Fuhrman at MSU.
European Union Publications Assistance
The Olin Library at Washington University in St. Louis is a depository for the official publications of the European Union and maintains a collection of documents and supporting materials. The EU has been depositing publications at Washington University since the 1960s. Contact Washington University's EU depository librarian for reference assistance.
U.S. Federal Publications Assistance
The University of Missouri (MU) Libraries has been part of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) since the 1860s, and has been receiving 100% of all available federal government publications since 1986. As Regional depository for the state of Missouri, MU Libraries has a responsibility to serve government information needs of all citizens in the state. To that end, we have a liberal interlibrary loan policy for government materials. For reference assistance, contact: Marie Concannon, Government Documents Coordinator, 106-B Ellis Library, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65201-5149, Phone (573) 882-0748.
REFERENCE MATERIALS
World Education Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., 3v, 2002
This 3-volume country-by-country survey of educational systems provides detailed essays on the histories, legal foundations, and primary and secondary educational systems of 233 countries. This updated and expanded edition gives users up-to-date coverage of reorganized educational systems and high-interest topics such as technological advances.
For further assistance, contact:
- Marie Concannon, Government Documents Coordinator
- Sandy Schiefer, Government Documents Librarian