PIAAC: SOME THINGS IT TELLS US ABOUT HIGHER EDUCATION New England Association of Colleges Conference 2014 William Thorn Senior Analyst, OECD

Briefly describe PIAAC Give an overview of some of the results that are relevant to higher education Objectives

International assessment of adults skills in ‘literacy’, ‘numeracy’ and ‘problem solving in technology-rich environments’. Target population: adults aged years (i.e. born between 1946 and 1996) Data collection: countries in first round (including USA) What is PIAAC?

Literacy The ability to... Understand, evaluate, use and engage with written texts. In order to.. Achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential. Literacy encompasses a range of skills from.. The decoding of written words and sentences The comprehension, interpretation and evaluation of complex texts. Numeracy The ability to… Access, use, interpret and communicate mathematical information and ideas In order to.. Engage in and manage the mathematical demands of a range of situations in adults. Numeracy involves Managing a situation or solving a problem in a real context, by responding to mathematical content/information/ideas represented in multiple ways. Problem Solving In Technology-rich Environments The ability to… Use digital technology communication tools and networks to acquire and evaluate information, communicate with others and perform practical tasks. The assessment focuses on the abilities to… Solve problems for personal, work and civic purposes by setting up appropriate goals and plans, and accessing and making use of information through computers and computer networks. 4 The skills assessed

SectionContent ABasic demographics (age, sex) BEducational attainment and participation CLabour Force status and work history DCharacteristics of current job E Characteristics of last job (if unemployed and worked in last 5 years) FSkill use at work (generic skills) GSkill use at work (literacy, numeracy and ICTs) HSkill use in everyday life (literacy, numeracy and ICTs) I‘Social outcomes’ and learning strategies JBackground characteristics (social, linguistic and migration background and family composition) The background questionnaire

Percentage of adults by level of educational attainment and age

Literacy mean scores by age (25-65) and educational attainment

Average literacy proficiency of higher education graduates aged and years

Literacy proficiency by proficiency levels and educational attainment: year olds

Characteristics of graduates: literacy levels 2 and below and level 3 and above

Variation in literacy scores (90 th /10 th percentile): year old tertiary graduates

The literacy proficiency of higher education graduates represent the cumulative outcome of participation in education (schooling as well as higher education) as well as the impact of a range of other factors (the home environment, work, reading practices, etc.) Isolating the effect of participation in HE is difficult The performance of higher education systems?

Young people entering higher education are likely to have higher average literacy scores than their peers – Access to HE is selective on the basis of academic performance – Students also ‘self-select’ on the basis of interests, perceived ability, etc. Selection effects

Proficiency growth?

Respondents aged between 16 and 26/27 belong to PISA cohorts. – Can compare the performance of cohorts in PISA (in 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009) and in PIAAC in 2011/12 – Performance in PISA a reasonable predictor of performance in PIAAC (at cohort level) Suggests that there is less variation between countries in learning gain occurring from age 15 than up to age 15. Proficiency gain in post-secondary education

Relationship between the literacy proficiency of a cohort at age 15 in 2000 and age 26/27 in 2011/12

PIAAC provides some information on: – Cognitive style interest in new ideas, extent to which new information is related to what is already known – Use of some generic skills at work Co-operation Planning Influencing Learning Physical skills Non-cognitive skills

Cognitive style: year olds who completed their highest qualification less than 5 years ago

Use of generic skills at work (25-34 year olds who completed their highest qualification less than 5 years ago)

Use of generic skills at work: year workers who completed their highest qualification less than 5 years ago

Find Out More About PIAAC at: All national and international publications The complete micro-level database Thank you