Hello everyone and welcome to the discussion on Formative Assessment in International Education. I am pleased to welcome and thank Ms. Janet Looney from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), for spending the next few days helping us better understand international education. 

The National Institute for Literacy has recently begun work with OECD to identify and describe high quality adult literacy programs around the world. We are very excited to host Ms. Looney for this week's discussion, and encourage all of you to participate in this discussion with an expert in international education. I know you will find this to be a stimulating and informative discussion. 

Coinciding with this week's discussion, the National Institute for Literacy has launched a special section on our website dedicated to international literacy, http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/international/intro.html. The site provides valuable information and resources about worldwide education and literacy, and to some of the key organizations, including OECD, currently engaged in addressing and eradicating the problem of access to education and illiteracy around the world.

This week's discussion and the launch of our new international literacy web resources come as the world is preparing to observe International Literacy Day on September 8. We encourage you to participate in this discussion and visit our website for more information on how the United States and other countries are tackling the issue of literacy. 

Finally, I would like to thank our Special Topics moderator David Rosen for organizing both the international literacy web resources and this special discussion. 

Thank you for participating, now let's begin the discussion!

Sandra L. Baxter
Director
National Institute for Literacy
http://www.nifl.gov