Education for a New Era

The leadership of Qatar has a social and political vision that calls for improving the outcomes of the Qatari K-12 education system. With this vision in mind, the leadership asked RAND to examine Qatar's K-12 education system, to recommend options for building a world-class system, and, subsequently, to develop the chosen option and support its implementation. The option that was selected includes internationally benchmarked curriculum standards, national testing based on those standards, independent government-funded schools, and parental choice among schools using annual school report cards. This executive summary provides an overview of Phase I (2001-2004) of the Qatari education reform initiative, Education for a New Era, based on RAND's experiences as part of this ambitious effort involving Qataris and Qatari organizations, and international consultants and contractors. An Arabic translation is included.