Table 604.50.

Percentage of 16- to 19-year-olds who were not assessed in the problem solving in technology-rich environments domain and percentage distribution of those who were assessed, by proficiency level, selected U.S. and international respondent characteristics, and country or subnational region: 2012, 2014, and 2015

[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
U.S. or international respondent characteristic and country or subnational region1	Percent of 16- to 19-year-olds not assessed in problem solving in technology-rich environments2			Percentage distribution of those who were assessed,3 by level of proficiency on the problem solving in technology-rich environments scale4
				Below level 1			Level 1			Level 2			Level 3
1	2			3			4			5			6
United States5
U.S. total	7.4		(0.95)	18.5		(2.66)	46.7		(3.59)	31.0		(2.99)	3.8	!	(1.32)
Sex
Male	10.8		(1.54)	19.5		(3.58)	44.8		(4.04)	31.9		(3.43)	3.8	!	(1.78)
Female	3.2		(0.96)	17.3		(3.31)	48.8		(5.23)	30.1		(4.46)	3.8	!	(1.74)
Race/ethnicity
White	6.5		(1.32)	11.9		(2.55)	42.9		(3.85)	39.3		(3.99)	5.9	!	(2.21)
Black	10.0		(2.59)	31.7		(8.96)	57.2		(9.17)	11.0	!	(4.87)	‡		(†)
Hispanic	9.4		(2.51)	26.9		(5.98)	48.7		(7.25)	23.8		(5.64)	‡		(†)
Asian/Pacific Islander	7.7		(3.94)	‡		(†)	47.7	!	(15.17)	30.4	!	(13.27)	‡		(†)
Other6	3.3		(2.05)	16.2	!	(7.03)	52.3		(14.54)	26.5	!	(12.58)	‡		(†)
Highest level of parental education
Neither parent attained high school degree	14.1		(3.01)	22.8	!	(9.45)	56.0		(9.78)	21.2	!	(7.96)	‡		(†)
At least one parent attained high school degree	8.0		(1.90)	23.6		(3.50)	48.9		(5.46)	25.4		(3.89)	‡		(†)
At least one parent attained college degree	5.4		(1.31)	12.6		(3.35)	41.6		(4.45)	39.5		(4.66)	6.3	!	(2.67)
OECD average7,8
Total	9.0		(0.32)	12.4		(0.50)	40.2		(0.78)	40.9		(0.74)	6.5		(0.37)
Sex
Male	10.0		(0.44)	12.3		(0.67)	39.2		(1.04)	41.4		(1.01)	7.1		(0.54)
Female	7.9		(0.44)	12.4		(0.66)	41.3		(1.06)	40.5		(1.01)	5.8		(0.48)
Highest level of parental education
Neither parent attained high school degree	16.3		(1.33)	26.6		(2.70)	48.2		(3.25)	23.2		(2.45)	‡		(†)
At least one parent attained high school degree	8.6		(0.54)	13.3		(0.74)	44.7		(1.18)	37.5		(1.09)	4.5		(0.47)
At least one parent attained college degree	6.2		(0.58)	6.0		(0.66)	34.0		(1.32)	50.3		(1.37)	9.8		(0.73)
Individual OECD countries8
Austria	6.0		(1.28)	9.2		(2.11)	42.9		(3.60)	41.6		(3.36)	6.2		(1.71)
Canada	6.7		(0.87)	9.4		(1.21)	36.8		(2.79)	44.5		(2.56)	9.3		(1.57)
Chile9	9.5		(1.85)	30.3		(4.36)	43.2		(4.56)	24.3		(5.50)	2.2	!	(1.06)
Czech Republic	5.0		(1.28)	8.4		(2.12)	34.6		(4.80)	47.0		(4.17)	10.0	!	(3.39)
Denmark	7.1		(1.19)	8.7		(1.81)	42.2		(2.97)	44.5		(2.95)	4.6		(1.31)
England (UK)	5.2		(1.35)	9.0		(2.60)	50.8		(4.88)	35.6		(4.50)	4.5	!	(2.01)
Estonia	4.4		(1.00)	9.2		(1.53)	41.0		(3.57)	43.6		(3.02)	6.2		(1.31)
Finland	4.6		(1.02)	4.1		(1.22)	36.1		(2.98)	52.0		(3.11)	7.8		(2.02)
Flanders (Belgium)	2.5		(0.84)	8.3		(1.84)	34.4		(3.39)	49.0		(3.52)	8.3		(2.05)
Germany	3.0		(0.80)	9.9		(1.83)	36.8		(2.88)	44.0		(3.21)	9.3		(2.11)
Greece9	12.0		(2.69)	32.7		(5.24)	45.9		(6.28)	20.1		(4.75)	‡		(†)
Ireland	10.7		(1.91)	11.9		(2.84)	45.6		(4.57)	37.3		(4.50)	5.2	!	(2.06)
Israel9	20.6		(1.75)	19.2		(2.43)	39.5		(2.58)	33.6		(2.90)	7.6		(1.83)
Japan	26.4		(2.87)	6.9	!	(2.08)	34.8		(4.44)	46.6		(4.79)	11.7		(2.47)
Korea, Republic of	4.8		(0.95)	1.9	!	(0.81)	31.6		(3.33)	58.8		(3.15)	7.8		(2.11)
Netherlands	4.9		(1.07)	7.1		(1.86)	35.5		(3.03)	47.8		(2.97)	9.6		(1.88)
New Zealand9	4.7		(1.01)	7.6		(1.85)	32.7		(3.24)	46.5		(3.13)	13.2		(1.97)
Northern Ireland (UK)	3.7		(1.41)	9.7		(2.85)	49.6		(5.60)	37.7		(5.00)	‡		(†)
Norway	4.9		(1.04)	9.1		(1.68)	39.0		(2.91)	47.0		(2.92)	4.8		(1.43)
Poland	17.8		(1.54)	12.3		(1.78)	38.2		(2.66)	40.0		(3.57)	9.5		(2.21)
Slovak Republic	12.4		(1.48)	7.9		(1.66)	44.9		(3.73)	43.0		(3.56)	4.1	!	(1.84)
Slovenia9	2.2		(0.66)	11.7		(2.18)	41.3		(3.12)	43.1		(2.92)	3.9	!	(1.69)
Sweden	5.0		(1.33)	9.2		(2.01)	33.3		(3.36)	51.0		(3.99)	6.5		(1.60)
Turkey9	34.1		(3.71)	36.6		(4.31)	48.6		(5.04)	13.6		(3.10)	‡		(†)
Non-OECD participants
Lithuania9	3.6		(1.41)	24.39		(3.40)	45.1		(4.34)	29.0		(4.90)	‡		(†)
Russian Federation10	8.5		(1.74)	17.7		(4.43)	41.6		(5.01)	30.1		(4.59)	10.6	!	(3.57)
Singapore9	6.0		(0.95)	7.0		(1.66)	27.2		(2.79)	51.5		(3.25)	14.3		(2.28)

†Not applicable.

!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.

‡Reporting standards not met. Either there are too few cases for a reliable estimate or the coefficient of variation (CV) is 50 percent or greater.

1 Most entities participating in the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) survey are countries, but a few of them are subnational regions. Following the name of each subnational region, its country is indicated in parentheses. For example, England and Northern Ireland are both part of the United Kingdom (UK).

2 Items on the problem solving in technology-rich environments domain were offered only on computer. This column shows the percentages of 16- to 19-year-old respondents who were not assessed in this domain because they were unable to or elected not to take a computer-based assessment.

3 For each country/region, percentages are based on only those 16- to 19-year-old respondents who were assessed in the domain of problem solving in technology-rich environments, which is defined as "using digital technology, communication tools, and networks to acquire and evaluate information, communicate with others, and perform practical tasks."

4 The proficiency levels correspond to the following score ranges on a scale of 0 to 500: below level 1 (0-240.9), level 1 (241.0-290.9), level 2 (291.0-340.9), and level 3 (341.0-500.0). Tasks at a higher level are more demanding in terms of requirements such as using specific as well as generic technology applications, using multiple functions and navigation, performing a greater number of steps, generating subgoals, evaluating information, and applying higher level forms of reasoning. For detailed descriptions of each proficiency level, as well as specific examples of tasks at each level, see appendix B of the report Skills of U.S. Unemployed, Young, and Older Adults in Sharper Focus (NCES 2016-039rev), available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2016/2016039rev.pdf.

5 Results for the United States are based on combined data from 2012 and 2014.

6 Includes persons of all other races and those of Two or more races.

7 Refers to the mean of the data values for all reporting Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries and subnational regions, to which each country or subnational region reporting data contributes equally. The average in this table includes the United States and all other OECD countries/regions that assessed problem solving in technology-rich environments.

8 France, Italy, and Spain are omitted from this table because these OECD countries did not assess problem solving in technology-rich environments.

9 Data are from 2015. Except where otherwise noted, data for other countries/regions are from 2012.

10 The Russian Federation does not include the population of the Moscow municipal region.

NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, all countries' and subnational regions' data are from 2012. Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), U.S. PIAAC 2012/2014; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), PIAAC 2012 and 2015. (This table was prepared October 2016.)