The World Yearbook of Education was first published by the Evans Brothers in 1965 in association with the University of London Institute of Education and Teachers College, Columbia University. Since then it has become established as one of the most important forums for work in comparative education in the world.

Each volume addresses a major issue in comparative education and includes contributions from a range of leading international scholars. The World Yearbook was originally published by Evans Brothers, then by Kogan Page and is now published by Routledge. It has not appeared in every year since its initial publication.