IAP - International Activities Program

What are NCES’s main roles and responsibilities in large-scale international studies?

1. Design and development: In collaboration with organizations such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED) and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), as well as representatives of other nations, NCES provides input to incorporate U.S. research and policy priorities into existing and future international assessments. In addition, NCES represents the United States in the governing bodies of the OECD and IEA to ensure the international comparability and quality of education data, to monitor and promote international development efforts that improve best practices in surveys and assessments, and to represent U.S. interests in the future development of international studies.
2. Data collection and operations: NCES conducts all data collection activities for international education studies in the United States, coordinating participation with U.S. states, distracts, schools, students, adults, teachers, and principals. NCES also is responsible for ensuring the confidentiality and security of U.S. data.
3. Analysis, reporting and dissemination: NCES analyzes the data from international large-scale assessments and disseminates the results in many forms, including web reports, data files, data tools, tables, charts, and blog post. NCES also serves as a resource for the US. Department of Education, other federal agencies, and other U.S. stakeholders on international education data.

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

¹ The United States did not participate in this cycle.

² The United States conducted an additional round of data collection between international cycles.

Table 2. Past U.S. International Survey Participation

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.

As part of the development of each study, a field test is conducted to evaluate the study in two areas: (a) its assessment and background questions; and (b) its data collection operations, procedures, and equipment. Based on the results of the field test, any questions that are found to be problematic are dropped or fixed, and operational challenges that are uncovered are addressed in preparation for the main data collection.

The administration of each international assessment or survey is known as the "main study data collection." Each study has its own required timeframe during which data must be collected to be internationally comparable.

After each international assessment or survey is administered, the data are checked, compiled, and prepared for analyses, which include deriving variables, creating indexes, and calculating weights and plausible values. Once these steps have been completed, the data are analyzed and the results are compiled in a report. It typically takes 18 to 24 months from the data collection to the release of the international results.

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)

International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS)

Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)

Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)

Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)