Exploring the OECD survey of adult skills (PIAAC): implications for comparative education research and policy

The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) was designed to provide broad empirical evidence about adult skills and about the linkages between the formation of such skills and workplaces internationally. The survey measures adults’ proficiency in key information-processing skills – literacy, numeracy and problem solving – and gathers information and data on how adults use their skills at work and outside work. The OECD released PIAAC data and preliminary results to international research communities and policy circles for 24 countries in October 2013, for 9 more countries in June 2016, and for additional 6 countries in November 2019. Since the release of PIAAC, special attention has been paid to the OECD survey by international researchers and policy makers – e.g., European Commission’s Report on PIAAC in 2013, Educational Testing Services’ sponsored international conference in 2013, working papers from the U.S. National Centre for Educational Statistics in 2014, the U.S. National Association of Workforce Boards’ Forum on PIAAC in 2014, the AERA Symposium on PIAAC in 2014, and the U.K. Academy of Social Sciences’ Seminar in 2014, to name a few. These academic or policy meetings focusing on PIAAC reflect the burgeoning demand for comparative studies and empirical research-based debates on adult skills.