The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) coordinates the United States' participation in international studies.
These studies include large-scale assessments and surveys comparing early childhood learning, student performance, teacher
training and teaching, and adult skills (International Studies Brochure).
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NCES also contributes timely and accurate U.S. data on wide-ranging topics including enrollment, graduates, teachers’ salaries and earnings by educational attainment for use in international indicators published annually by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Over the past 30 years, these international studies and indicators of education statistics have provided the United States with valuable information on
Below are two videos that summarize some of the information learned from these international studies over the past 30 years.
Over the past 30 years, the United States has expanded its participation in international studies to include comparisons of early childhood learning, K-12 student performance, teacher training and practices, and adult skills in the domains of reading, mathematics, science, civics, financial literacy, problem solving, and computer and information literacy.
Below are two tables on U.S. participation in comparative international studies: the first lists the studies in which the United States currently participates; the second lists the studies in which the United States participated in the past. Both tables are ordered by the target age groups. The tables identify the domains surveyed by each study and the years in which each was conducted.
Table 1. Current U.S. International Survey Participation
Study | What's Surveyed? | Who's Surveyed? | When? |
---|---|---|---|
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) |
|
4th-graders | 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016, 2021 |
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) |
|
4th-graders 8th-graders |
1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019, 2023 |
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Advanced |
|
Advanced 12th-graders | 1995, 2008,1 2015 |
International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) |
|
8th-graders | 2013,1 2018, 2023 |
Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) |
|
15-year-olds | 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2022 |
Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) |
|
Teachers in grades 7, 8, and 9 | 2008,1 2013, 2018, 2024 |
Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) |
|
Adults ages 16-65 (16-74 in the U.S.) | 2012, 2014,2 20172, 2022 |
Table 2. Past U.S. International Survey Participation
Study | What's Surveyed? | Who's Surveyed? | When? |
---|---|---|---|
Civic Education Study (CivEd) |
|
9th-graders | 1999 |
International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) |
|
Adults ages 16-65 | 1994 |
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Video Study |
|
Teachers of 8th-grade mathematics and science | 1995, 1999 |
Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALL) |
|
Adults ages 16-65 | 2003 |
International Early Learning Study (IELS) |
|
5-year-olds | 2018 |
The special analyses of U.S. data conducted by NCES in response to requests from the OECD, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and Eurostat culminate in the release of the OECD's Education at a Glance in the early fall each year. Education at a Glance provides comparative data on education in OECD and selected non-OECD partner countries on a wide array of topics drawing from many sources, both government and private. While NCES contributes U.S. data and collaborates to develop indicators for the report, the report is an OECD product with commentary and policy recommendations written from an OECD perspective. Topics covered in this annual publication include participation in early childhood programs; salaries and working hours for public school teachers; high school graduation rates; college attendance and graduation rates; education expenditures; educational attainment; and employment outcomes.
The data prepared for and presented in Education at a Glance on topics of high policy interest in the United States are also featured in NCES reports, including the Condition of Education and Digest of Education Statistics.