OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scaling methodologies are reviewed from the mathematical perspective. In particular, the paper aims to elucidate the model structures and the model assumptions of item response theory used in the item scaling phase, the latent regression...

This study investigates whether English formal instruction and a number of teaching practices are more strongly associated with reading or listening English skills, using data from a large-scale assessment of English skills among 14- and 15-year-olds in 15 European education systems in 2012. The...

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....

This paper compares the learning gain over one year of schooling among 15-year-old students in Austria and Scotland (United Kingdom). Common metrics for reading, mathematics and science learning, as established by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), are used. In order to...

All children experience some level of stress in their lives. If stress is persistent and accumulative, it may have detrimental effects on the social, emotional, and physical well-being of the individual child and long-term economic and health impacts on our societies. Understanding the causes,...

School accountability is one of the most controversial recent reforms taking place in education systems around the world, but evidence of whether and which accountability practices affect equity and performance in academic achievement has been difficult to isolate and establish. By using data...

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...

It is well-known that there are large disparities in academic achievement between children of different socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. This study examines the evolution of disparities in literacy skills between adults of different SES backgrounds. It compares countries’ patterns in...

We study the links between family configuration and formation on the one hand and adult literacy skills on the other by analysing data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), a survey of 250 000 people aged 16 to 65 conducted by the OECD in 33 countries...

This paper examines the relationship between age and literacy using data from the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), the Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (ALL) and The Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies...