Executive summary

This publication contains the frameworks for the assessment of literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem solving in the second cycle of the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC Cycle 2).

The assessment frameworks represent key documents for understanding what is measured by PIAAC and for interpreting its results.

The introductory chapter provides an overview of the PIAAC assessment and its relationship to previous international assessments of adult skills. It also describes the purpose of the assessment frameworks and the evolution of the concepts of literacy, numeracy and problem solving since the first international assessment of adult literacy was conducted in the mid-1990s as well as the relationship of PIAAC to the OECD’s assessment of 15-year-old school students, PISA.

The individual frameworks are presented in separate chapters: literacy (Chapter 2), numeracy (Chapter 3) and adaptive problem solving (Chapter 4). They define the particular skills assessed, describe their salient features, outline a recommended approach to the assessment of the skill and identify other matters relevant to test development. The similarities and differences with the frameworks of previous assessments are outlined with a focus on the social, theoretical and measurement considerations that have contributed to the development of the frameworks over time.

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