This report uses recent economic modelling to relate cognitive skills – as measured by PISA and other international instruments – to economic growth, demonstrating that relatively small improvements to labour force skills can largely impact the future well-being of a nation. The report also...

This publication provides all the information required to understand the PISA 2003 educational performance database and perform analyses in accordance with the complex methodologies used to collect and process the data. It enables researchers to both reproduce the initial results and to...

This publication provides all the information required to understand the PISA 2003 educational performance database and perform analyses in accordance with the complex methodologies used to collect and process the data. It enables researchers to both reproduce the initial results and to...

Across OECD countries, almost one in every five students does not reach a basic minimum level of skills. In addition, students from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds are twice as likely to be low performers. Lack of fairness and inclusion can lead to school failure and this means that one...

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) surveys collected data on students’ performance in reading, mathematics and science, as well as contextual information on students’ background, home characteristics and school factors which could influence performance. This...

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) surveys collected data on students’ performances in reading, mathematics and science, as well as contextual information on students’ background, home characteristics and school factors which could influence performance. This...

It’s elementary: students benefit from pre-primary education. The OECD’s PISA 2009 results show that in practically all OECD countries 15-year-old students who had attended some pre-primary school outperformed students who had not. In fact, the difference between students who had attended...

Knowledge and Skills for Life assesses how far students near the end of compulsory education (15-year-olds) have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in society. It presents evidence on student performance in reading, mathematical and scientific...

This report documents the initial step towards an electronically-delivered Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) test pioneered by Denmark, Iceland and Korea. In 2006, the PISA assessment of science included for the first time a computer-based test. The results discussed in this...

School systems handle the challenges of diverse student populations in different ways. Some countries have non-selective and comprehensive school systems that seek to provide all students with similar opportunities, leaving it to individual schools and teachers to meet the particular needs of...