# **Introduction**

Many countries are struggling with the quality of their education systems. Efforts to reform education are often met with resistance and the lack of a model to follow. Many of the top performers in the world are high-income countries with many years of development of systems. Many middle and even high-income countries are only just starting to undertake important reforms. Resource-rich countries, such as Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC), are making significant investments in their systems but have yet to see results. What is often lacking is experience from middle-income countries that have made progress. A useful starting point is the entry of many GCC countries into national student assessments that offer them a benchmark on results. Few examples exist however of countries making use of such assessments to inform their reform efforts. Even scarcer still are success stories. Jordan provides a useful case of a country that used an international assessment to benchmark and reform its system; more importantly, Jordan made great strides not only in the implementation of the program but also in improving the system.

The literature on the effectiveness of education initiatives in developing countries is scarce. It is also not clear how assessments themselves affect the improvement of national educational policies. Jordan is one of few developing countries that have been taking student assessment seriously. It is a small country that invests extensively to improve its education system because human capital is the major resource Jordan has, especially in comparison to neighboring oil-rich countries. The role of education is important in producing students equipped with the knowledge and skills crucial for Jordan’s growth and development, especially as the country is actively attempting to attract foreign investment. Policymakers in Jordan have always wanted to know what works in their education system and have been experimenting with different educational interventions, including comprehensive enhancements to the curricula, assessment tools, technology, and restructuring the education system and its institutions.

Jordan’s investments in improving the quality of education in past decades seem to have paid off. There is a noticeable impact on student learning since the early 1990s. In the 1991 International Assessment of Educational Progress (IEA), out of 20 participating countries, Jordan finished ahead of only Brazil and Mozambique in the mathematics and science tests for 13-year-olds. By the late 1990s, there was a marked change as seen in the 1999 Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) where, out of 38 countries, Jordan finished ahead of six (Iran, Indonesia, Chile, Philippines, Morocco and South Africa) in mathematics and ahead of eight (Iran, Indonesia, Turkey, Tunisia, Chile, Philippines, Morocco and South Africa) in science. However, the progress does not stop there. In 2003, Jordan improved its TIMSS science score to 475 from 450 in 1999, an increase of 25 points, or 0.25 standard deviations, which is a significant increase, equivalent to about a whole year of learning. In 2007, Jordan continued to improve, surpassing several countries which had a similar or slightly higher performance in 1999, ending up significantly above the international average. In fact, between 1999 and 2007, no other country improved as much in science as did Jordan.

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