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ICILS 2023 U.S. Results

In 2023, the United States' computer and informational literacy score was not measurably different from the ICILS international average. The U.S. computational thinking score was 22 points lower than the ICILS international average.

The 2023 International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) is the third cycle of a computer-based international assessment sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). ICILS is designed to measure 8th-grade students’ capacities to use information and communication technology (ICT) productively for a variety of different purposes beyond basic use of digital technology and consists of two tests, one required, computer and information literacy (CIL), and one optional, computational thinking (CT). The United States participated in both tests in 2018 and 2023.

The study also offers contextual data from students, teachers, principals, and ICT coordinators to provide information on experiences that may influence CIL and CT success. The findings from this study provide relevant information for the U.S. Department of Education’s 2024 National Education Technology Plan which highlights the potential of technology to be “a powerful tool to helptransform learning.”¹

As the 2023 ICILS results show, the average score for U.S. 8th-grade students was not measurably different from the average of students in other participating education systems (the ICILS average²) in CIL and 22 points below the ICILS average in CT. The U.S. average score was 482 for CIL and 461 for CT. The scores on both scales were lower in 2023 compared to U.S. performance in 2018. U.S. female 8th-grade students outperformed their male peers in CIL, but female and male scores in CT were not measurably different. U.S. students in the highest socioeconomic group had a higher average score compared to U.S. students in the lowest socioeconomic group (102 points higher on CIL and 115 points higher on CT). Among U.S. 8th-grade students, while 76 percent agreed that using ICT at school makes learning more fun, 54 percent hoped that using ICT would be an important part of their future job. An even smaller percentage (37 percent) hoped that their future job would involve programming.

More than half of U.S. 8th-grade teachers reported using word-processor (58 percent) and presentation software (57 percent) in most, almost every, or every lesson (a higher percentage than the ICILS average). A higher percentage of U.S. 8th-grade teachers also rated their ability to produce presentations (91 percent), create computer-based assessments (87 percent), use a spreadsheet program (83 percent), use a learning management system (80 percent), and edit video content (66 percent) moderately or very well than the ICILS average. Similarly, a lower percentage of U.S. 8th-grade teachers indicated the need for professional learning on most ICT content areas than the ICILS average. Finally, 52 percent of U.S. students attended schools where principals reported that teachers’ willingness to use ICT in their teaching substantially increased because of COVID-19 experiences.

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