New book: In-depth analysis of the Estonian education system

In the new case study, widely respected Estonian educational experts share their understanding of the factors behind Estonia’s successful educational outcomes. The recently published book, “Aim High and Work Hard. Building a World-Class Learning System in Estonia,” authored by renowned Estonian education scholars Eve Eisenschmidt, Mati Heidmets, Maie Kitsing, Mikk Kasesalk, and Kätlin Vanari presents […]

PISA 2022: Estonia consistently among the world’s best

The PISA 2022 educational survey published on December 5th 2023, shows that the knowledge and skills of Estonian 15-year-olds are at the absolute top in Europe and in the top eight in the world, with the top countries in Asia. This time, the study focused on mathematics but also assessed students’ skills in science and […]

Balancing innovation and tradition: Interview with Minister of Education on Estonian education

Estonia’s Minister of Education and Research, Kristina Kallas, recently sat down with e-Estonia to discuss the nation’s educational landscape. The conversation delved into the key factors behind Estonia’s educational success, digitalisation’s role, and the sector’s future goals. The interview offers insights into how Estonia maintains its global competitiveness in education while balancing traditional teaching methods […]

New book: Insights from 5 leading education systems, including Estonia

In a rapidly changing world, the quest for the perfect education system is an ongoing endeavor. Parents, educators, and policymakers around the globe are constantly seeking inspiration from the world’s leading education systems. The book “Building a World-Class Learning System: Insights from some top-performing school systems” by Geoff Masters delves into the educational landscapes of […]

New book explores Estonia’s high-performing education system

The new book “Lessons from Estonia’s Education Success Story: Exploring Equity and High Performance through PISA“ seeks to unlock how Estonia climbed up the PISA league tables. The book also spells out what it needs to do to stay there. Authors of the book Peeter Mehisto and Maie Kitsing uncover reforms, mistakes and lessons learnt that have been […]

New study: PISA success stories in Europe

A new study analyses PISA results of different educational systems to find out, how some member states of the EU have been able to improve their performance over time while student performance in the world is generally deteriorating. Education plays an important part in determining social participation, well-being and employability; it is associated with higher […]

PISA expert: Estonians believe in education

The reason why we interviewed an expert from Estonia, is simple, writes Alexander Kaffka in Caucasian Journal: “Because Estonian students are the best in Europe. According to recent PISA results, the Estonian 15-year olds have Europe’s highest scores in all disciplines.” Can you outline 3 main factors (or more, if you wish), which led to […]

Educational innovation in Estonia — getting ready for the future

“What are the reasons behind Estonia’s education system success? What part does technology play in it?” asks Victoria Klimova in her blog post about the Winter School at Tallinn University. Last January, before the pandemic crisis shifted everything online, I attended a winter school at Tallinn University School of Educational Sciences. The program included various […]

New book discusses PISA 2018 results in 10 countries

The new book on PISA 2018 results analyzes 10 countries with very different educational systems, including Estonia. The open-access book “Improving a Country’s Education: PISA 2018 Results in 10 Countries” was published by Springer. The book was edited by Prof Nuno Crato, former minister of Education of Portugal. The Estonian chapter “A Positive PISA Experience” […]

PISA 2018: Young Estonians are citizens of the world

OECD released the final volume on PISA 2018 data. The report “Are students ready to thrive in an interconnected world?” discloses young people’s attitudes towards global issues. According to the survey the attitudes of Estonian students towards global problems are similar to their peers in other countries. Minister of Education and Research of Estonia Mailis Reps is […]