Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) Part of OECD Skills program together with PISA and OECD Skills Strategy PISA looks at knowledge and skills of 15-year olds, PIAAC the entire adult population, (16-65). PISA tries to identify ways in which students can learn better, teachers can teach better, and schools can operate more effectively. PIAAC focuses on how adults develop their skills, how the use sills, and what benefits they gain from using them. PIAAC collects information on how skills are used at home, in the workplace and in the community, how these skills developed maintained and lost over a lifetime, and how these skills are related to labour market participation, income, health, and social and political engagement.

The PIAAC policy ambition (a) identify and measure differences between individuals and countries in competencies believed to underline both personal and societal success; (b) assess the impact of these competencies on social and economic outcomes at individual and aggregated levels; (c) gauge the performance of education and training systems, workplace practices and social policies in generating required competencies; and (d) help to clarify the policy levers that could contribute to enhancing competencies.

Overselling what PIAAC can do “For instance, it would be valuable to know whether six months of early childhood education is less, equally or more important in determining patterns of learning in adulthood than other policies (such as aspects of curriculum design, aims at increasing the motivation to learn, or financial incentives for adult learning)” OECD, 2007, p. 29). Original data collection ambition: Test to assess literacy, numeracy and problem solving Individual survey Workplace survey Collection of administrative and policy data from countries

The economistic discourse Education as a production function: Education - worker’s characteristics – productivity - wage individual and national prosperity. “Education is becoming less distinct from that which is he economy (OECD, 1989). Predictions of labour market structure where will the new jobs come and relationship between education and employment/wages, wellbeing, health Almost exclusively focus on supply of skilled workforce supply not demand “Education is the best economic policy we have” (Tony Blair) “When learning becomes profitable we capitalists must become humanists.” (Gyllenhammar)

Percentage of workers who are over or under qualified over- or under-skilled in literacy ( after Thorn, 2013) Sweden Finland Canada Netherlands Estonia Poland Denmark Flanders… England/N.… Norway United States Australia Japan Average Korea Italy Slovak… Germany Ireland Czech Republic Spain Austria Under-skilled Over-skilled % Under-qualification Over-qualification %%

Methods Target population: adults aged 16-65’ residing in the country, irrespective of nationality, citizenship or language status. Language of assessment: the official language or languages of each participating country. In some countries also conducted in widely spoken minority or regional language. Sample size: varies by country from 4,500 to (Canada), in total 24 countries, 22 OECD countries plus Russian Federation and Cypress. Data collection: survey undertaken in respondent’s home and administered on laptop computer or by a paper version depending on computer skills.

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. “Key information-processing skills” 4 Survey of Adult Skills Skills assessed (after Thorn, 2013)

The big message: Skills transforms lives and drives economies What people know and can do impact on their life chances On the average as proficiency increases: the chances of being in the labour force and being employed increases, wages increases, skills also positively associated with other aspects of wellbeing (health, trust, participation in volunteer work).

Summary of proficiency in key information-processing skills Significantly above the average Not significantly different from the average Significantly below the average CountriesLiteracy (mean score) Numeracy (mean score) Problem solving in technology-rich environments (% at level 2 or 3) OECD National entities Aus tralia Aus triaAus tria Canada Czech Republic Denm ark Es tonia Finland France m Germ any Ireland Italy m Japan KoreaKorea Netherlands NorwayNorway Poland Slovak Republic SpainSpain m Sweden United StatesUnited States Sub-national entities Flanders (Belgium ) England/N. Ireland (UK) AverageAverage (After Thorn, 2013)

Adult literacy proficiency by country, % Literacy by country by level

National inequalities High social inequalities: England, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United States Low social inequalities: Japan, Australia, Netherland, Norway and Sweden (mirrors PISA distributions)

UnadjustedAdjusted Score point difference 3.14 Literacy proficiency: score differences between native- and foreign-born adults (after Thorn, 2013) Higher scores for native-born adults Higher scores for foreign born-adults

Differences in literacy proficiency between 5 th and 95 th percentile (after Thorn, 2013) Score-point difference Sw e d en Canada U n i t ed S tat es Fi n la n d Spain Au s t r alia F r an c e N e t h erla n d s E n gla n d ( UK) E n gla n d /N. I r ela n d ( UK) P ola n d I r ela n d Ger m a n y De nm ark Fla nd e r s ( Belgi um ) N o r w a y A v e r a g e N ort h ern I r ela n d ( UK) I t aly E st onia Au s tria K o r ea C z e c h R e pub lic Slo v ak R e pub lic J a p an

Score A v e r a g e y ear-ol d s Literacy skills in younger and older generations ( after Thorn, 2013) A v e r a g e y e ar-olds A v e r a g e y e ar-olds UK US Canada Germany France Finland Spain Korea

Role of formal education More important in Canada, USA less in Austria, Australia, Estonia, Finland, Japan, Italy In some countries skill levels differ markedly from what data on formal qualifications suggest ( United States rank much higher level of formal qualifications than in numeracy, literacy and problem solving skills) Japanese and Dutch year-olds with only high school outperform Italian and Spanish university graduates of the same age. Interesting examples in many countries where those with less education outperformed those with higher education- especially in older groups. Raises questions about the relevance and quality of education in some countries.

5.6a (N) Mean numeracy proficiency in PISA and in the Survey of Adult Skills(after Thorn, 2013) year-olds 570 Australia Ger Austria Canada Czech Republic Denmark Finland many Ireland United States Italy Japan Korea Netherlands Slovak Republic Norway Poland Spain Sweden Survey of Adult Skills score

5.6a (L) Mean literacy proficiency in PISA and in the Survey of Adult Skills year-olds (after Thorn, 2013) PISA score Canada Australia Austria Denmark Czech Republic Finland Germany Ireland ItalyItaly Japan Korea Norway Poland Spain Sweden United States Survey of Adult Skills score 320

Level 1Level 2Level 3 Percent All adult education and training Below level 1Level 4/5 5.7 (L) Participation rate in adult education by literacy proficiency levels (after Thorn, 2013)

Use of skills at work ( after Thorn, 2013) Reading at work Least frequent use = 0 Writing at work Numeracy at work ICT at work Problem solving at work AverageAverage CanadaCanada Italy Japan United States Most frequent use = 4 Ind e x of u se

Use of skills at work ( after Thorn, 2013) Task discretionLearningInfluencingCo-operative Self-organisingDexterityPhysical AverageAverage CanadaCanada Italy Japan Most frequent use = United States Least frequent use = 0 Ind e x of u se

6.11(L) Volunteering and literacy proficiency Level 2Level 3Level 4/5 Odds ratio Statistically significant differences are marked in a darker tone Reference group: Level 1 or below ( after Thorn, 2013)

Per cent of workers who report experiencing change at their current workplace during the last 3 years which has affected their immediate working environment Source: European Working Conditions Survey, 2010.

Information about PIAAC OECD (2013). OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First results from the survey of adult skills. Paris: OECD (available from the web) OECD (2013). Technical Report of the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC). Paris: OECD (pre-publication copy available on the web). The Centre for Literacy:"Sabadooey PIAAC?": Interpreting PIAAC ResultsHowdy. Blog Name: "Sabadooey PIAAC?": Interpreting PIAAC Results Blog URL: The Centre for Literacy"Sabadooey PIAAC?": Interpreting PIAAC ResultsHowdy.