Stephen P. Heyneman

Professor of International Educational Policy

Ph.D., University of Chicago, 1975

Research Area

Research interests include the contribution of education to social cohesion, education and corruption, trade issues associated with education commerce, comparisons in reform of higher education finance and management, issues of examinations and standardized testing, policy shifts in vocational and technical education, education financing and educational quality, economic choices of educational technologies, and cognitive skills and economic development. All his interests include international questions. On some questions, his concentration is on Europe; in others his concentration pertains to the Middle East and North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, or Eastern and Central Europe and the Newly Independent States.

Short Biography

Stephen P. Heyneman received his Ph.D. in comparative education from the University of Chicago in 1976. He served the World Bank for 22 years. Between 1976 and 1984 he helped research education quality and design policies to support educational effectiveness. Between 1984 and 1989 he was in charge of external training for senior officials world wide in education policy. And between 1989 and 1998, he was responsible for education policy and lending strategy, first for the Middle East and North Africa and later for the 27 countries of Europe and Central Asia. In July, 2000 he was appointed professor of International Education Policy at Vanderbilt University. Current interests include the effect of higher education on social cohesion, the international trade in education services and the economic and social cost to higher education corruption.

Countries of Experience

USA, U.K., Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, Portugal, Finland, Australia, People's Republic of China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Malawi, Tanzania, Somalia, Nicaragua, Ethiopia, Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Zambia, Hungary, Russian Federation, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Romania, Iran, Egypt, Tunisia, Slovakia, Croatia, Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Ukraine.

Learn More about Stephen P. Heyneman:

Projects | Courses Taught | Selected Publications
Awards | CV | Media Mentions

Selected Publications

"Education and the Crisis of Social Cohesion in Azerbaijan and Central Asia," 2007 Comparative Education Review (May) (with Iveta Silova and Mark Johnson).

"Suppose There were a 'World Bank' for American Education" 2007 American Journal of Education Vol. 113 (February) pp. 167 - 80.

"The Effectiveness of Development Assistance in Education: An Organizational Analysis," 2006 Journal of International Cooperation in Education (Hiroshima). Vol. 9 No. 1. pp. 7 - 25.

"What the World's Schools Need is an Outside and Professional Eye," International Herald Tribune Tuesday, February 15, 2005.

"Organizations and Social Cohesion," 2005 Peabody Journal of Education Vol. 80 No. 4 pp. 1 - 8.

"Student Background and School Achievement: What is the Right Question," 2005 American Journal of Education Vol. 112 No. 1 (November), pp. 1 - 9.

"Educational Philanthropy: The International Dimension," pp. 253 - 275 in Hess, R. (ed.) 2005 With the Best of Intentions: Lessons Learned from K - 12 Philanthropy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

"On the International Dimension of Education and Social Justice," 2004 Boston University Journal of Education Vol. 185, No. 3, pp. 83 - 103. Also to appear in the International Journal of Law and Education (Belgium).

"The Use of Cross-National Comparisons to Shape Local Education Policy" Curriculum Inquiry 34 (3) Fall, 2004 pp. 345 - 53.

The Role of Textbooks in a Modern System of Education. 2006 in Textbooks and Quality Learning for All: Some Lessons Learned From International Experiences. Edited by Cecelia Braslavsky Geneva: UNESCO/International Bureau of Education.

"Education and Corruption," International Journal of Education Development Vol. 24 No. 6 2004, pp. 638 - 48.

"The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA): Background, Risks and Prospects," Economic Perspectives (US State Department). Vol. 8 #2 (March, 2003), pp. 1 - 7.

Islam and Social Policy (editor) Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press 2004

Challenges for Education in Central Asia (co-editor with Alan De Young) Greenwich (Conn.): Information Age Publishing 2004.

"The History and Problems in the Making of Education Policy at the World Bank: 1960 - 2000" in David Baker and Darcy Gustafson (eds.) 2005 International Perspectives on Education and Society Oxford: Elsevier Science; also appears in: International Journal of Education Development 23 2003, pp. 315 - 337.

"Educational Qualifications: The Economic and Trade Issues," in Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice (special issue on Globalization, Qualifications and Livelihoods), edited by Angela Little 7 No. 3 (November, 2000), pp. 417 - 39. republished in Chinese. Fudan Education Forum 1 (4) July, 2003, pp.64 - 68.

"A Renewed Sense of Purpose of Schooling: Education and Social Cohesion in Africa, Latin America, Asia and Europe and Central Asia" (co-authored with Sanja Todoric-Bebic) UNESCO Prospects XXX no. 2 (June, 2000), pp.145 - 66.

"From the Party/State to Multi-Ethnic Democracy: Education and Social Cohesion in the Europe and Central Asia Region," Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis,  vol. 21 No. 4 (Summer, 2000), pp. 173 - 191.

"In Defense of American Education" The School Administrator, Vol 55, No. 8 (September,1998), pp. 30 - 34.

"American Education: A View from the Outside," The International Journal of Leadership in Education, 2, No. 1 (1999), pp. 31-41.

"The Sad Story of UNESCO's Education Statistics," International Journal of Education Development 19 (January, 1999), pp. 65 - 74.

"The Quality of Education in the Middle East and North Africa." International Journal of Educational Development, 17, No. 4 (1997), pp. 449 - 466.

"Jim Coleman: A Personal Story." Educational Researcher, 26, No. 1 (January/February 1997), pp. 28-30.

"America's Most Precious Export." American School Board Journal, 182, No. 3, (March, 1995), pp. 23-26.

"The Textbook Industry in Developing Countries," Finance and Development, Washington, DC: World Bank, March 1990, pp. 28-29.

"Education on the World Market," American School Board Journal, March 1990, pp. 28-29.

"Using Examinations To Improve the Quality of Education," Educational Policy, vol. 4, no. 3, 1990, pp. 177-192 (co-authored with Angela Ransom).

"Third World School Quality: Current Collapse, Future Potential," Educational Researcher, vol. 18, no. 2, March 1989, pp. 12-19 (with B. Fuller).

"The Effect of Primary School Quality on Academic Achievement Across Twenty-Nine High- and Low-Income Countries," American Journal of Sociology, vol. 88, no. 6, May 1983, pp. 1162-1194 (co-authored with William Loxley).

"Improving Elementary Mathematics Education in Nicaragua: An Experimental Study of the Impact of Textbooks and Radio on Achievement," Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 73, no. 4, Aug 1981, pp. 556-567 (co-authored with Dean Jamison, Barbara Searle and Klaus Galda).

"Influences on Academic Achievement Across High- and Low-Income Countries: A Re-Analysis of IEA Data," Sociology of Education, vol. 55, no. 1, Jan 1982, pp. 13-21 (co-authored with William Loxley).

"Differences Between Developed and Developing Countries: Comment on Simmons and Alexander's Determinants of School Achievement," Economic Development and Cultural Change, vol. 28, no. 2, Jan 1980, pp. 403-406.

Investment in Indian Education: Uneconomic? World Development, no. 4, 1980, pp. 145-163.

"Adolescence Obligations and Educational Policy," American Biology Teacher, vol. 40, no. 7, Oct 1978, pp. 423-432.

"The Career Education Debate: Where the Differences Lie," Teachers College Record, vol. 80, no. 4, May 1979, pp. 660-688.

"Why Impoverished Children Do Well in Ugandan Schools," Comparative Education, vol. 15, no. 2, June 1979, pp. 175-185.

"Continuing Issues in Adolescence: A Summary of Current Transition to Adulthood Debates," Journal of Youth and Adolescence, vol. 5, no. 4, 1976, pp. 309-323.

"A Brief Note on the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Test Performance Among Ugandan Primary School Children," Comparative Education Review, vol. 20, no. 1, Feb 1976, pp, 42-47.

"Influences on Academic Achievement: A Comparison of Results from Uganda and More Industrial Societies," Sociology of Education, vol. 11, no. 2, Jan 1977, pp. 245-259.

"The Frequency and Quality of Measures Utilized in Federally Sponsored Research on Children and Adolescents," American Educational Research Journal, vol. 14, no. 2, Spring 1977, pp. 99-113 (co-authored with Pamela Mintz).

"Changes in Efficiency and in Equity Accruing from Government Involvement in Ugandan Primary Education," African Studies Review, April 1975, pp. 51-60.

"The Formal School as a Traditional Institution in an Underdeveloped Society: The Case of Northern Malawi," Pedagogica Historica, vol. 12, no. 2, Nov 1972, pp. 460-472

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