The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment(PISA) assesses the extent to which students, who are near the end of compulsory education, have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in society. It presents evidence on student performance in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy; reveals factors that influence the development of these skills at home and at school; and examines the implications for policy development. With to report Literacy Skills for the World of Tomorrow--Further results from PISA 2000, OECD and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics extend the picture that PISA provides to additional countries that have recently joined the programme. The report shows considerable variation in levels of knowledge and skills between students, schools and countries. Not all of these differences are due to the social and economic conditions in which students live and schools or countries operate. Some countries have managed to mitigate the influence of social background and some have achieved this while reaching a high overall level of performance. These are noteworthy achievements. Will other countries take up to challenge?

This report extends the picture of literacy skills th PISA 2000 provides to additional countries that have recently joined the programme: Albania; Argentina; Bulgaria; Chile; Hong Kong-China; Indonesia; Israel; FYR Macedonia; Peru; Romania and Thailand.

This wrap-up volume of the PISA 2000 project presents the key findings, including fascinating findings on reading performance, characteristics of successful students, differences between the interests and study habits of boys and girls, the effect of school climate and resources on student performance, and the effect of school autonomy on performance. The book includes country-by-country profiles that provide information on student performance, socio-economic status, student characteristics, school characteristics, and system characteristics.

What must we teach students to enable them to fully participate in a world community where science and technology play an increasingly significant role? Comprehensive, thought-provoking, and indispensable, PISA Science 2006, provides educators with a top-down view of where we stand today in science education and what this means for students and educators.

International comparisons of student achievement in mathematics, science, and reading have consistently shown that Japanese and Korean students outperform their peers in other parts of world. Understandably, this has attracted many policymakers and researchers seeking to emulate this success, but it has also attracted strong criticism and a range of misconceptions of the Japanese and Korean education system. Directly challenging these misconceptions, which are prevalent in both academic and public discourses, this book seeks to provide a more nuanced view of the Japanese and Korean education systems. This includes the idea that the highly standardized means of education makes outstanding students mediocre; that the emphasis on memorization leads to a lack of creativity and independent thinking; that students’ successes are a result of private supplementary education; and that the Japanese and Korean education systems are homogenous to the point of being one single system. Using empirical data Hyunjoon Park re-evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of the existing education systems in Japan and Korea and reveals whether the issues detailed above are real or unfounded and misinformed. Offering a balanced view of the evolving and complex nature of academic achievement among Japanese and Korean students, this book will appeal to students and scholars of Asian, international and comparative education, as well as those interested in Asian society more broadly.

Vol. 4/edited by Eric A. Hanushek, Stephen Machin, Ludger Woessmann. What is the value of an education? Volume 4 combines recent data with new methodologies to examine this and related questions from diverse perspectives. School choice and school competition, educator incentives, the college premium, and other considerations help make sense of the investments and returns associated with education.