1111

Literacy skills for the world of

tomorrow

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

21st World Congress on Reading, 7-10 August 2006

Andreas SchleicherHead, Indicators and Analysis Division

OECD Directorate for Education

2222

3333 In the dark……all students, schools and education systems look the same…

But with a little light….

4444

But with a little light….

…important differences become apparent….

In the dark……all students, schools and education systems look the same…

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gary

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tral

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gdom

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and

Jap

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man

y

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nd

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ch R

epub

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vak

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gium

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ece

Tur

key

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ico

Ital

y

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tria

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mbou

rg

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ugal

1960's 1970's 1980's 1990's

High-level qualificationsApproximated by the percentage of persons with ISCED 5A/6 qualfication in the

age groups 55-64, 45-55, 45-44 und 25-34 years (2003)

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20

3

21

6666 Overview

11.. Why literacy skills matter Literacy and the knowledge economy

2.2. Where we are today - and where we can be

What PISA shows students in different countries can do with what they have learned

Examples from the best performing countries

3.3. How we can get there Some policy levers that emerge from

international comparisons

7777

Why literacy matters

Literacy and the knowledge economy

8888 Who will be “safe” from outsourcing, digitalisation and automatisation?

The great synthesisers Conventionally, our approach to problems was

breaking them down into manageable bits and pieces, today we create value by synthesising disparate bits together

The great explainers The more content we can search and access, the

more important the filters and explainers become The great collaborators and orchestrators

The more complex the globalised world becomes, the more individuals and companies need various forms of co-ordination and management

9999 Who will be “safe” from outsourcing, digitalisation and automatisation?

The great versatilists Specialists generally have deep skills and narrow scope,

giving them expertise that is recognised by peers but not valued outside their domain

Generalists have broad scope but shallow skills Versatilists apply depth of skill to a progressively widening

scope of situations and experiences, gaining new competencies, building relationships, and assuming new roles.

They are capable not only of constantly adapting but also of constantly learning and growing

The great personalisers A revival of interpersonal skills, skills that have atrhophied to

some degree because of the industrial age and the Internet The great localisers

Localising the global

10101010 Why literacy skills matter Reading is the currency in the

knowledge society Just as those with little money have

difficulty meeting their basic needs, those with limited literacy are likely to find it more challenging to pursue their goals

Like most currencies, reading literacy has been subject to inflation over the years

Despite the rapid growth in the supply of qualifications, demand grows even faster Such that the earnings and employment

gap continues to grow

11111111 Why literacy skills matter Approximately three quarters of adults with

the lowest level of reading literacy in IALS were either not working or, if working, in relatively low-paying jobs (in the bottom 40% of wage earners)

Adults in the two lowest reading literacy levels were typically twice as likely to be unemployed as those in the highest three levels

Lower skills place individuals at higher risks of dependency and also influence civic, community and political behaviour

12121212

Where we are - and where we can be

What PISA shows students can doExamples of the best performing countries

13131313 PISA country participationKey features of PISA 2003Information collected

volume of the tests6½ hours of assessment material

each student2 hours on paper-and-pencil tasks (subset of all

questions)½ hour for questionnaire on background, learning

habits, learning environment, engagement and motivation

school principalsquestionnaire (school demography, learning environment quality)

CoveragePISA covers roughly nine tens of the world economyIn Iceland all 15-year-olds in school took part, in other

countries representative samples of between 3,500 and 50,000 students

OECD partner countries participating from PISA 2006

OECD partner countries participating from PISA 2003

OECD partner countries participating from PISA 2000

OECD countries participating from PISA from 2003

OECD countries participating from PISA 2000

14141414 Average performanceof 15-year-olds in reading literacy

High reading performance

Low reading performance441

Greece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Macao- China Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia

Iceland

Czech Republic

Sweden

France

Denmark

I reland

Germany Austria

Slovak Republic

Luxembourg

Poland

Hungary

Norway

Spain

United StatesLatvia

PortugalI taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

15151515 Average performanceof 15-year-olds in reading literacy

Low average performance

Large socio-economic disparities

High average performance

Large socio-economic disparities

Low average performance

High social equity

High average performance

High social equity

Strong socio-economic impact

on student performance

Socially equitable distribution of

learning opportunities

High reading performance

Low reading performance441

Greece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Macao- China Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia

Iceland

Czech Republic

Sweden

France

Denmark

I reland

Germany Austria

Slovak Republic

Luxembourg

Poland

Hungary

Norway

Spain

United StatesLatvia

PortugalI taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

16161616 Durchschnittliche Schülerleistungen im Bereich Mathematik

Low average performance

Large socio-economic disparities

High average performance

Large socio-economic disparities

Low average performance

High social equity

High average performance

High social equity

Strong socio-economic impact

on student performance

Socially equitable distribution of

learning opportunities

High reading performance

Low reading performance441

Greece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia

IcelandCzech Republic

Sweden

France

Denmark

I reland

Germany Austria

Slovak Republic

Luxembourg

Poland

Hungary

Norway

Spain

United StatesLatvia

PortugalI taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

17171717

300

500

700

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Stu

dent

perf

orm

ance

School performance and schools’ socio-economic background - Hungary

AdvantagePISA Index of social backgroundDisadvantage

Figure 4.13

School proportional to size

Student performance and student SES

Student performance and student SES within schools

School performance and school SES

18181818

300

500

700

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Stu

dent

perf

orm

ance

School performance and schools’ socio-economic background - Hungary

AdvantagePISA Index of social backgroundDisadvantage

Figure 4.13

School proportional to size

Student performance and student SES

Student performance and student SES within schools

School performance and school SES

19191919

300

500

700

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Stu

dent

perf

orm

ance

School performance and schools’ socio-economic background - Hungary

AdvantagePISA Index of social backgroundDisadvantage

Figure 4.13

School proportional to size

Student performance and student SES

Student performance and student SES within schools

School performance and school SES

OECD

OECD

OECD

20202020

300

500

700

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Stu

dent

perf

orm

ance

School performance and schools’ socio-economic background - Hungary

AdvantagePISA Index of social backgroundDisadvantage

Figure 4.13

School proportional to size

Student performance and student SES

Student performance and student SES within schools

School performance and school SES

OECD

OECD

OECD

21212121

200

500

800

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Stu

dent

perf

orm

ance

School performance and schools’ socio-economic background - Finland

AdvantagePISA Index of social backgroundDisadvantage

Figure 4.13

Student performance and student SES

Student performance and student SES within schools

School performance and school SES

School proportional to size

24242424

How can we get there?

Levers for policy that emerge from international comparisons

25252525High ambitions

and clear standards

Access to best practice and quality

professional development

Sympathy doesn’t raise standards – aspiration does PISA suggests that students and schools

perform better in a climate characterised by high expectations and the readiness to invest effort, the enjoyment of learning, a strong disciplinary climate, and good teacher-student relations– Among these aspects, students’ perception of

teacher-student relations and classroom disciplinary climate display the strongest relationships

26262626 Reading in competition with professionals

More people can identify the golden arches of McDonalds

than the Christian Cross(Sponsor Research International)

Every girl knows Barbie

Every boy knows Nintendo

27272727 The role of books and engagement with reading

Results from PISA show… Students from advantaged backgrounds…

… have a greater chance of coming to school more engaged in reading and entering into a virtuous circle of increasing reading interest and improved reading performance

… but not all engaged students come from privileged homes…… and those from more modest backgrounds who read

regularly and feel positive about it are better readers than students with home advantages and weaker reading engagement

Schools can make a significant difference to bring students into the virtuous circle– Seeking mutual reinforcement of cognitive skills and

motivation, particularly for boys

28282828

Access to books at home

Low Performan

ce

HighPerforman

ce

OECD average performance of students who have 10 or fewer books

at home

Performance of students with 11 – 50 books at home

Performance of students with 51 – 100 books at home

Performance of students with 101 – 250 books at home

OECD average performance of students with more than 250 books

441

Greece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Macao- China Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia

Iceland

Czech Republic

Sweden

France

Denmark

I reland

Germany Austria

Slovak Republic

Luxembourg

Poland

Hungary

Norway

Spain

United StatesLatvia

PortugalI taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

And moreover…

“Cultural capital” appears more closely related to student performance than family wealth

29292929

Low Performan

ce

HighPerforman

ce

Public and school libraries

441

Greece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Macao- China Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia

Iceland

Czech Republic

Sweden

France

Denmark

I reland

Germany Austria

Slovak Republic

Luxembourg

Poland

Hungary

Norway

Spain

United StatesLatvia

PortugalI taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

OECD average performance of students who never or hardly ever borrow books to read for pleasure

from a public library

A few times per year

About once a month or more .

30303030

Reading for enjoyment

Low Performan

ce

HighPerforman

ce

441

Greece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Macao- China Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia

Iceland

Czech Republic

Sweden

France

Denmark

I reland

Germany Austria

Slovak Republic

Luxembourg

Poland

Hungary

Norway

Spain

United StatesLatvia

PortugalI taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

OECD average performance of students who never or hardly ever read for

enjoyment

30 minutes or less each day

30 minutes to one hourOne hour or more

And moreover…

Predictive power of reading activities almost equally strong for mathematics and science

performance

31313131

A profile of reading engagement

Low Performan

ce

HighPerforman

ce

441

Greece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Macao- China Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia

Iceland

Czech Republic

Sweden

France

Denmark

I reland

Germany Austria

Slovak Republic

Luxembourg

Poland

Hungary

Norway

Spain

United StatesLatvia

PortugalI taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

OECD average performance of least diversified readers (22%)(only magazines frequently read)

Moderately diversified readers (27%)(Typical materials are magazines or

newspapers)

Diversified readers in short texts (28%)(Magazines, newspapers, comics and

moderate readers of fiction and non-fiction)

Diversified readers in long texts (22%)(Magazines, newspapers, demanding texts

and books)

32323232 Some conclusions Having diverse reading material at home is

strongly associated with high overall student performane and engagement in reading, which includes positive attitudes towards reading…

…but there is much schools can do to bring students into the virtuous circle of increasing reading interest and student performance

Improvement in literacy performance relies not just on improving student cognitive skills but also on increasing their engagement in reading

Engagement in reading may be an effective policy lever to mediate the impact of social background on performance

The emergence at relatively early ages of, for example, gender differences in reading performance and engagement underline the importance of an early start

33333333 Challenge and support

Weak support

Strong support

Lowchallenge

Highchallenge

Strong performance

Systemic improvement

Poor performance

Improvements idiosyncratic

Conflict

Demoralisation

Poor performance

Stagnation

34343434High ambitions

Access to best practice and quality

professional development

Accountability and intervention in inverse proportion

to success

Devolved responsibility,

the school as the centre of action

35353535 Durchschnittliche Schülerleistungen im Bereich Mathematik

Low average performance

Large socio-economic disparities

High average performance

Large socio-economic disparities

Low average performance

High social equity

High average performance

High social equity

Strong socio-economic impact

on student performance

Socially equitable distribution of

learning opportunities

High mathematics performance

Low mathematics performanceGreece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia

I celandCzech Republic

SwedenFrance

Denmark

I relandGermanyAustria

Slovak Republic

LuxembourgPolandHungary

Norway

SpainUnited States Latvia

Portugal I taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

36363636 Durchschnittliche Schülerleistungen im Bereich Mathematik

Strong socio-economic impact

on student performance

Socially equitable distribution of

learning opportunities

High mathematics performance

Low mathematics performance

School with responsibility for deciding which courses are offered

High degree of autonomy

Low degree of autonomy Greece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia

I celandCzech Republic

SwedenFrance

Denmark

I relandGermanyAustria

Slovak Republic

LuxembourgPolandHungary

Norway

SpainUnited States Latvia

Portugal I taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

37373737 Durchschnittliche Schülerleistungen im Bereich Mathematik

Strong socio-economic impact

on student performance

Socially equitable distribution of

learning opportunities

High mathematics performance

Low mathematics performance

Early selection and institutional differentiation

High degree of stratification

Low degree of stratification Greece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia

I celandCzech Republic

SwedenFrance

Denmark

I relandGermanyAustria

Slovak Republic

LuxembourgPolandHungary

Norway

SpainUnited States Latvia

Portugal I taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

38383838Strong ambitions

Access to best practice and quality

professional development

Accountability

Devolvedresponsibility,

the school as the centre of action

Integrated educational opportunities

Individualisedlearning

39393939High ambitions

Access to best practice and quality

professional development

Accountabilityand intervention in inverse proportion

to success

Individualisedlearning

Devolved responsibility,

the school as the centre of action

Integrated educational opportunities

40404040 The past

41414141 The future

The tradition of education systems

has been “knowledge poor”

Creating a knowledge-rich profession in which schools and teachers have the capacity to act, the knowledge to do so

wisely, and access to effective support systems

National prescription

Professional judgement

Informed professional judgement, the teacher

as a “knowledge worker”

Informed prescription

Uninformed professional judgement, teachers working in isolation

Uninformed prescription,

teachers implement curricula

42424242 Paradigm shifts

Prescription Informed profession

Uniformity Embracing diversity

Demarcation Collaboration

Provision Outcomes

Bureaucratic – look up Devolved – look outwards

Talk equity Deliver equity

Hit & miss Universal high standards

Received wisdom Data and best practice

The old bureaucratic education system

The modern enabling education system

43434343 Further information

www.pisa.oecd.org– All national and international publications– The complete micro-level database

email: pisa@oecd.org

Andreas.Schleicher@OECD.org

…and remember:

Without data, you are just another person with an opinion