To meet a continuing growth in demand for learning, OECD countries seek to provide a wider array of education and training opportunities for learners in their earliest years through adult life. There are also pressures to ensure that resources are used efficiently, and opportunities provided for the most disadvantaged. The five chapters in Education Policy Analysis 2002 review the latest international experience on ways to meet these challenges, including coverage of eight key strategies for improving access to quality early childhood education and care; the characteristics of countries and schools that achieve both high-level and equitable performance in reading literacy skills; policy options for overcoming shortages; the growth of education across national borders; and  broadening the concept of "human capital" to help bridge the gap between education’s economic mission, and its wider social and personal benefits.