This paper explores the participation of low- and middle-income countries in OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). It provides a detailed description of partner countries’ participation across PISA rounds and the challenges faced by low- and middle-income partner...

We assess the relationship between general literacy skills and health status by analysing data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), an international survey of about 250 000 adults aged 16-65 years conducted by the Organisation for Economic...

Across OECD countries, the increasing demand for evidence-based policy making has further led governments to design policies jointly with clear measurable objectives, and to define relevant indicators to monitor their achievement. This paper discusses the importance of such indicators in...

Human capital – the productive capacity that is embedded in people – is one of the most important contributors to the growth in nations’ output and standard of living. Globalisation and technological change have increased the importance of human capital in recent years, to the point that...

This paper provides an account of the main approaches, debates and evidence in the literature on the role of workforce skills in the innovation process in developed economies. It draws on multiple sources including the innovation studies discipline, neoclassical Human Capital theory,...

An international linking study was conducted in order to link parameters of PISA-based Test for Schools (PBTS) cognitive items to PISA international scales. New booklets for the linking study were designed in which the PISA trend items were inserted as anchor items in addition to the PBTS items....

Students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex or somewhere else on the gender/sexuality spectrum (LGBTQI+) are among the diverse student groups in need of extra support and protection in order to succeed in education and reach their full potential. Because they...

This paper quantifies the learning gain that accrues to 15‑year-old students over one year of schooling in 18 countries and economies, where the cohort eligible to sit the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)ISA test overlaps with two distinct school cohorts. School-entry...