Value-added estimates are a significant improvement upon measures of school performance currently used in most education systems across OECD countries. They provide a fundamentally more accurate and valuable quantitative basis for school improvement planning, policy development and for enacting...

This first volume of PISA 2009 survey results provides comparable data on 15-year-olds' performance on reading, mathematics and science across 65 countries. The volume opens with an introduction explaining what PISA is and how PISA 2009 is different from previous PISA surveys. The introduction...

This report explores the educational performance and attitudes of males and females during childhood and adolescence. It opens with a general summary of gender differences measured outside of the PISA assessment programme and then considers the knowledge gained about gender-related issues from...

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 report links the results from the OECD PISA 2000 survey to qualitative evidence on important public policy measures in six countries that performed well in PISA. These measures included strategies for educational reform and innovation; issues of governance and resource allocation; national...

Many socio-economically disadvantaged students excel in PISA. Students who succeed at school despite a disadvantaged background -- resilient students -- are the focus of Against the Odds. The report shows that overcoming barriers to achievement is possible, and provides students, parents, policy...

The results of PISA 2000, OECD's groundbreaking comparison of the educational outcomes of 15-year-olds, shook the belief of Danes that theirs was the best education system in the world. In this report, a team of examiners determines why Denmark did worse than expected and recommends a series of...