PIAAC study
PIAAC stands for Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies . Similar to PISA (Program for International Student Assessment), it is an international comparative study commissioned by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to record basic competencies. A sample of the adult resident population aged between 16 and 65 is examined.
Objectives of the study
According to the organizers, PIAAC “examines basic competencies that are necessary in order to be able to successfully meet everyday and professional requirements.” PIAAC provides “indications of the extent to which school and training systems in the individual countries are capable of the necessary competencies for successful participation to promote society. These findings provide a scientific basis for possible political interventions and social changes. "
Reading skills, everyday mathematical skills and technology-based problem-solving skills of adults are examined. With additionally collected socio-demographic characteristics and background information, indicators can also be identified that are related to the acquisition of skills. Thus, PIAAC provides "a comprehensive picture of the human capital of the participating countries both at national level and in an international comparison ."
Content of the study
In PIAAC the following competencies are examined:
- Reading competence (literacy) as well as basic components of reading competence (Reading Components): This means understanding, using and interpreting written texts. Reading skills are a prerequisite for achieving your own goals, developing your own knowledge and potential, and participating in social life. In addition to tasks such as reading and understanding a drug package insert or a short newspaper article, tasks that require reading in electronic media are also included, such as B. a job advertisement in an online portal.
- Everyday mathematical competence (numeracy): It describes the ability to call up, use and interpret everyday mathematical information and to successfully meet the various mathematical requirements in everyday life. Everyday mathematical competence is operationalized with tasks such as B. the assessment of a special offer or the interpretation of numerical information in graphics and tables.
- Technology-based problem solving (Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments): Technology-based problem solving is operationalized as a competence domain for the first time in PIAAC. It describes the use of digital technologies, communication aids and networks for successful information searches, conveyance and interpretation. The focus of the first survey wave at PIAAC is how people successfully obtain information in a computer-aided environment and how they use it. This domain includes tasks such as sorting and sending e-mails, processing virtual forms and assessing the information content and trustworthiness of various Internet sites.
In addition, a comprehensive background questionnaire provides information on the respondents from the following areas:
- socio-demographic characteristics (e.g. age, gender)
- Education and training (e.g. highest educational qualification, subject area and participation in further training)
- Employment status, employment biography and job characteristics (e.g. occupation of current or last employment, earned income)
- Social commitment, attitudes and health (e.g. voluntary work, self-assessment of one's own health)
- general and professional activities (e.g. frequency of different reading and writing activities)
methodology
Project structure
International project structure
PIAAC is carried out on behalf of the OECD , which at the beginning of 2008 entrusted the international project implementation to a consortium led by Educational Testing Service (ETS) . The central decision-making body for PIAAC is the Board of Participating Countries (BPC), in which the donors of the participating countries are represented.
Participating countries were in Round I: Australia, Denmark, Germany, England / Northern Ireland (GB), Estonia, Finland, Flanders (Belgium), France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Austria, Poland, Russian Federation, Sweden, Slovak Republic, Spain, South Korea, Czech Republic, United States, Cyprus; in round II: Chile, Greece, Indonesia, Israel, Lithuania, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovenia, Turkey
The international study was led by Andreas Schleicher . The German part of the study was carried out by the social science research institute Gesis in Mannheim under the direction of the psychologist Beatrice Rammstedt. 166,000 people were tested representatively worldwide, in Germany 5,465.
Project structure in Germany
In Germany, PIAAC was carried out by GESIS - Leibniz Institute for Social Sciences under the direction of Beatrice Rammstedt . The German implementation was financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research with the participation of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs . As part of the national PIAAC implementation, GESIS entrusted other institutions with tasks:
- German Institute for International Educational Research (DIPF): national IT coordination
- TNS Infratest : data collection
- IEA Data Processing and Research Center (IEA DPC): Evaluation of the paper-based exercise books and coding of the open occupational information in the international classification scheme for occupations ( International Standard Classification of Occupations, ISCO ).
In Germany, PIAAC is supplemented by networked studies that collect additional samples. At the moment there are two supplementary studies:
- CiLL - Competencies in Later Life: Implementation of the PIAAC study with older people (66 to 80 year olds)
- PIAAC extension on "low-skilled": Study on the connection between skills and job market opportunities of low-skilled in Germany
In addition, as part of a cooperation between GESIS, the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories (LIfBi), the long-term study PIAAC-L is carried out, in which the PIAAC sample is further monitored in order to develop the skills of To study adults and their importance over time.
Test cycle and sample
PIAAC 2012 is the starting point, with repetitions being planned every 10 years. The first PIAAC survey was carried out in almost all participating countries between summer 2011 and spring 2012.
The population in PIAAC consists of people living in private households in a country between the ages of 16 and 65, regardless of their nationality and residence status. In each participating country, the sample is based on a representative random selection from this population. For this purpose, at least 5,000 randomly selected adults between the ages of 16 and 65 were interviewed and tested in each participating country.
Data evaluation
→ See also: Methodology of the PISA studies
As with PISA, the data evaluation is purely quantitative-reductionistic: Participant performances are coded as correct or incorrect and converted into “competence points”, with the performance of participants who had to work on different sets of tasks being scaled to one another using the Rasch model ; this scaling also ensures that the competence points for the OECD as a whole are roughly distributed according to Gauss . Country mean values are then calculated from the point scoring determined in this way and published as rankings.
To interpret the scores, the continuous Gaussian distribution is arbitrarily divided into competence classes. A qualitative description of the requirements is then worked out on the basis of tasks that are typically mastered from a certain point result. The proportion of the population at the lowest level of competence (“can read like a ten-year-old”) is particularly emphasized and given special attention by the media.
Language and culture blind test
→ See also: Criticism of the PISA studies
A central assumption at PIAAC is that it is possible and successful to construct a test that uses the same construct in different countries regardless of language and culture, e.g. B. Reading literacy, measures. This approach was already the basis of the PISA studies and has been heavily criticized there: Among other things, it was worked out that there have been translation errors, that texts tend to be longer when translating and that German texts are already longer than English ones, and that most of them Origin of the test items from the Anglo-Saxon culture could cause a significant bias. In any case, there is no compensation mechanism for any of these factors in the PIAAC evaluation process. In addition to the ability to understand meaningful reading, PIAAC should also measure a test ability that is shaped by the school system .
Results
The first results were published on October 8, 2013. As with PISA, the press mainly reported on the country rankings (Finland and Japan in the lead, Germany in the middle) and otherwise took up what was highlighted in the national results presentations (in Germany: strong dependency of competencies on parental home). The results show that the basic skills of adults living in Germany are on average relatively average in all three domains. For example, Germany has slightly below average reading skills, slightly above average everyday math skills and average technology-based problem-solving skills.
Reading literacy results
| country | Average | Standard error |
|---|---|---|
 Japan
|
296 | (0.7) |
 Finland
|
288 | (0.7) |
 Netherlands
|
284 | (0.7) |
 Australia
|
280 | (0.9) |
 Sweden
|
279 | (0.7) |
 Norway
|
278 | (0.6) |
 Estonia
|
276 | (0.7) |
 Flanders
|
275 | (0.8) |
 Czech Republic
|
274 | (1.0) |
 Slovakia
|
274 | (0.6) |
 Canada
|
273 | (0.6) |
| OECD average | 273 | (0.2) |
 South Korea
|
273 | (0.6) |
 United Kingdom
|
272 | (1.0) |
 Denmark
|
271 | (0.6) |
 Germany
|
270 | (0.9) |
 United States
|
270 | (1.0) |
 Austria
|
269 | (0.7) |
 Cyprus
|
269 | (0.8) |
 Poland
|
267 | (0.6) |
 Ireland
|
267 | (0.9) |
 France
|
262 | (0.6) |
 Spain
|
252 | (0.7) |
 Italy
|
250 | (1.1) |
| Statistically significantly above the OECD average | Not statistically significantly different from the OECD average | Statistically significantly below the OECD average |
Remarks. Countries are sorted in descending order according to their mean reading proficiency. The OECD average includes all countries participating in PIAAC except Cyprus. Statistical significance (p <0.05) refers to differences in mean values between the country and the OECD average.
Everyday mathematical competence
| country | Average | Standard error |
|---|---|---|
|
Japan
|
288 | (0.7) |
|
Finland
|
282 | (0.7) |
|
Flanders
|
280 | (0.8) |
|
Netherlands
|
280 | (0.7) |
|
Sweden
|
279 | (0.8) |
|
Norway
|
278 | (0.8) |
|
Denmark
|
278 | (0.7) |
|
Slovakia
|
276 | (0.8) |
|
Czech Republic
|
276 | (0.9) |
|
Austria
|
275 | (0.9) |
|
Estonia
|
273 | (0.5) |
|
Germany
|
272 | (1.0) |
| OECD average | 269 | (0.2) |
|
Australia
|
268 | (0.9) |
|
Canada
|
265 | (0.7) |
|
Cyprus
|
265 | (0.8) |
|
South Korea
|
263 | (0.7) |
|
United Kingdom
|
262 | (1.1) |
|
Poland
|
260 | (0.8) |
|
Ireland
|
256 | (1.0) |
|
France
|
254 | (0.6) |
|
United States
|
253 | (1.2) |
|
Italy
|
247 | (1.1) |
|
Spain
|
246 | (0.6) |
| Statistically significantly above the OECD average | Not statistically significantly different from the OECD average | Statistically significantly below the OECD average |
Remarks. Countries are sorted in descending order according to their mean everyday mathematical competence. The OECD average includes all countries participating in PIAAC except Cyprus. Statistical significance (p <0.05) refers to differences in mean values between the country and the OECD average.
Technology-based problem solving
Since this competence domain was by definition only surveyed on a computer basis, no values could be determined for this competence for people who did not have sufficient computer skills or who refused to be interviewed on the computer for other reasons. Therefore, no mean values can be estimated for the total population. Instead, the results are only reported in the form of population shares in the three skill levels of technology-based problem-solving.
| countries | People with competence values in technology-based problem solving according to competence levels | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under level I. | Level I. | Stage II | Stage III | |||||
| % | Standard error | % | Standard error | % | Standard error | % | Standard error | |
|
Sweden
|
13.1 | (0.5) | 30.8 | (0.8) | 35.2 | (0.9) | 8.8 | (0.6) |
|
Finland
|
11.0 | (0.5) | 28.9 | (0.8) | 33.2 | (0.7) | 8.4 | (0.6) |
|
Netherlands
|
12.5 | (0.6) | 32.6 | (0.7) | 34.3 | (0.8) | 7.3 | (0.4) |
|
Norway
|
11.4 | (0.6) | 31.8 | (0.8) | 34.9 | (0.9) | 6.1 | (0.4) |
|
Denmark
|
13.9 | (0.6) | 32.9 | (0.8) | 32.3 | (0.7) | 6.3 | (0.4) |
|
Australia
|
9.2 | (0.6) | 28.9 | (0.8) | 31.8 | (1.0) | 6.2 | (0.5) |
|
Canada
|
14.8 | (0.4) | 30.0 | (0.7) | 29.4 | (0.5) | 7.1 | (0.4) |
|
Germany
|
14.4 | (0.8) | 30.5 | (0.8) | 29.2 | (0.8) | 6.8 | (0.6) |
|
United Kingdom
|
15.1 | (0.8) | 33.9 | (1.0) | 29.1 | (0.9) | 5.6 | (0.5) |
|
Japan
|
7.6 | (0.6) | 19.7 | (0.8) | 26.3 | (0.8) | 8.3 | (0.5) |
|
Flanders
|
14.8 | (0.6) | 29.8 | (0.8) | 28.7 | (0.8) | 5.8 | (0.4) |
| OECD average | 12.3 | (0.1) | 29.4 | (0.2) | 28.2 | (0.2) | 5.8 | (0.1) |
|
Czech Republic
|
12.9 | (0.9) | 28.8 | (1.3) | 26.5 | (1.1) | 6.6 | (0.6) |
|
Austria
|
9.9 | (0.5) | 30.6 | (0.9) | 28.1 | (0.8) | 4.3 | (0.4) |
|
United States
|
15.8 | (0.9) | 33.1 | (0.9) | 26.0 | (0.9) | 5.1 | (0.4) |
|
South Korea
|
9.8 | (0.5) | 29.6 | (0.9) | 26.8 | (0.8) | 3.6 | (0.3) |
|
Estonia
|
13.8 | (0.5) | 29.0 | (0.7) | 23.2 | (0.6) | 4.3 | (0.4) |
|
Slovakia
|
8.9 | (0.5) | 28.8 | (0.9) | 22.8 | (0.7) | 2.9 | (0.3) |
|
Ireland
|
12.6 | (0.7) | 29.5 | (0.9) | 22.1 | (0.8) | 3.1 | (0.3) |
|
Poland
|
12.0 | (0.6) | 19.0 | (0.7) | 15.4 | (0.7) | 3.8 | (0.3) |
Notes: Countries are sorted in descending order according to the proportion of adults at Levels II and III of technology-based problem-solving skills. The OECD average includes all countries participating in PIAAC except France, Italy, Spain and Cyprus. Statistical significance (according to OECD Skills Outlook, 2013) relates to differences in the summary proportions at levels II and III between the country and the OECD average.
17.5 percent of the people tested in Germany do not have basic knowledge of reading and mathematics.
For Germany, the study found a strong correlation between social origin and reading performance; only in the United States is this relationship more pronounced.
literature
- B. Rammstedt (Ed.): Basic skills of adults in international comparison. Results from PIAAC 2012. Waxmann , Münster 2013, ISBN 978-3-8309-2999-4 .
- OECD: OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results from the Survey of Adult Skills . OECD Publishing, Paris 2013, ISBN 978-92-64-20398-3 .
- Amory Burchard: PISA for Adults. In: Der Tagesspiegel . September 30, 2013, p. 25.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Practice, practice, practice . In: The time . No. 42 , 2013, ISSN 0044-2070 , p. 71 f .
- ↑ PIAAC at a glance - PIAAC website. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
- ^ Aims of PIAAC - PIAAC website. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
- ↑ Reading Literacy - PIAAC website. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
- ↑ Everyday Mathematical Competence (Numeracy) - PIAAC website. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
- ↑ Problem Solving in Technology Rich Environments - PIAAC website. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
- ↑ B. Rammstedt, D. Ackermann, S. Helmschrott, A. Klaukien, DB Maehler, S. Martin, N. Massing, A. Zabal: Fundamental skills of adults in international comparison. Results from PIAAC 2012. Waxmann , Münster 2013, ISBN 978-3-8309-2999-4 .
- ↑ Participating countries - PIAAC website. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
- ↑ project homepage Cill DIE - German Institute for Adult Education . Retrieved October 1, 2013.
- ↑ Study on the connection between skills and job market opportunities of low-skilled people in Germany ( memento of the original from October 1, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - PIAAC website. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
- ↑ Wolfram Meyerhöfer: PISA - A test in the test. Lecture at the GDM annual conference in Klagenfurt, March 2000. In: kentron. Teacher Education Journal. extra 2004, pp. 4-7.
- ↑ B. Rammstedt, D. Ackermann, S. Helmschrott, A. Klaukien, DB Maehler, S. Martin, N. Massing, A. Zabal: Fundamental skills of adults in international comparison. Results from PIAAC 2012. Waxmann, Münster 2013, ISBN 978-3-8309-2999-4 .
- ↑ B. Rammstedt, D. Ackermann, S. Helmschrott, A. Klaukien, DB Maehler, S. Martin, N. Massing, A. Zabal: Fundamental skills of adults in international comparison. Results from PIAAC 2012. Waxmann, Münster 2013, ISBN 978-3-8309-2999-4 .
- ↑ B. Rammstedt, D. Ackermann, S. Helmschrott, A. Klaukien, DB Maehler, S. Martin, N. Massing, A. Zabal: Fundamental skills of adults in international comparison. Results from PIAAC 2012. Waxmann, Münster 2013, ISBN 978-3-8309-2999-4 .
- ↑ B. Rammstedt, D. Ackermann, S. Helmschrott, A. Klaukien, DB Maehler, S. Martin, N. Massing, A. Zabal: Fundamental skills of adults in international comparison. Results from PIAAC 2012. Waxmann, Münster 2013, ISBN 978-3-8309-2999-4 .
