At Shirelands Language College, an inner-city school in Birmingham, England, a portal called the Shirelands Learning Gateway makes it easier for parents to follow their children's progress, and it helps teachers and students keep track of schoolwork and take advantage of individualized instruction.

FORBES: Bill Gates

We need to rethink schools as incubators and producers of vision and progress for the places in which they exist, with students learning through real-world, applied subjects that are contextualized to their own backyard, and families, business, and citizens who contribute to, benefit from, and rally around that engagement.

FORBES: One Idea For Better K-12: The School As Workshop

The IEA is probably best known for its Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), an international large-scale assessment of learning outcomes (ILSA) for primary school learners in science and mathematics, as well as for PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study).

UNESCO: Article on assesment