Report on the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment: The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) provides

some answers to these questions. It assesses the extent to which students,

who are near the end of compulsory education, have acquired some of the

knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in society. It

presents evidence on student performance in reading, mathematical and

scientific literacy; reveals factors that influence the development of these

skills at home and at school; and examines the implications for policy

development.

With the report Literacy Skills for the World of Tomorrow - Further results from

PISA 2000, OECD and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics extend the picture

that PISA provides to additional countries that have recently joined the

programme: Albania, Argentina, Bulgaria, Chile, Hong Kong-China,

Indonesia, Israel, FYR Macedonia, Peru, Romania and Thailand.

The report shows considerable variation in levels of knowledge and skills

between students, schools and countries. Not all of these differences are due

to the social and economic conditions in which students live and schools or

countries operate. Some countries have managed to mitigate the influence

of social background and some have achieved this while reaching a high

overall level of performance. These are noteworthy achievements. Will

other countries take up the challenge