Glossary

Academic higher education below the doctoral level (ISCED 5A)

These tertiary education programs are intended to provide sufficient qualifications to gain entry into advanced research programs and professions with high skill requirements. The international classification includes programs of medium length that last less than 5 years and long programs that last 5 to 7 years. In the United States, bachelor's, master's, and first professional degree programs are classified at this level.

Class size

Average class size is calculated by dividing the number of students enrolled by the number of classes. Average class size refers to the division of students who are following a common course of study, based on the highest number of common courses (usually compulsory studies), and excludes teaching in subgroups outside the regular classroom setting. In order to ensure comparability among countries, the data include only regular programs at the primary level of education; special-needs programs have been excluded from the calculation.

Doctoral level of academic higher education (ISCED 6)

These tertiary education programs usually require the completion of a research thesis or dissertation.

Employment rate

The employment rate of adults at a particular level of educational attainment is calculated as the number of individuals aged 25 to 64 with the particular level of educational attainment who are in employment divided by the number of individuals aged 25 to 64 with the same level of educational attainment.

Ending age of compulsory education

The ending age of compulsory education is the age at which individuals are no longer required to participate in formal education.

Expenditures per student

Direct public and private expenditures on educational institutions in relation to the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) students enrolled in these institutions. See Full-Time Equivalent

Expenditures per student as a percentage of GDP

Direct public and private expenditures on educational institutions in relation to the gross domestic product (GDP). See Gross Domestic Product

First university degree

A bachelor’s degree in the United States, the first university degree is typically of medium length (three to five years duration in the international classification). In Germany it is called the Diplom, in Italy the Laurea, and is generally a long degree (five to six years duration in the international classification).

Foreign students

Foreign students are defined as noncitizens enrolled in education programs in a host country (thus, some permanent residents are included).

Full-time-equivalent (FTE)

This FTE count attempts to standardize a student or teacher’s actual load against the normal load. For the reduction of head-count data to FTEs, where data and norms on individual participation are available, course load is measured as the product of the fraction of the normal course load for a full-time student or teacher and the fraction of the school/academic year [FTE = (actual course load/normal course load) * (actual duration of study during reference period/normal duration of study during reference period)]. When actual course load information is not available, a full-time student or teacher is considered equal to one FTE.

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G7 countries

See Group of Seven

G8 countries

See Group of Eight

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The producers’ value of the gross outputs of resident producers, including distributive trades and transport, less the value of the purchasers’ intermediate consumption plus import duties. GDP is expressed in local money (in millions).

Gross teachers’ salaries

The salaries reported are defined as gross salaries (total sum of money that is paid by the employer for the labor supplied) excluding the employer’s contribution to social security and pension (according to existing salary scales). Salaries are “before tax,” i.e., before deductions for income taxes. Gross teachers’ salaries were converted to U.S. dollars using national Purchasing Power Parities (PPPs) exchange rate data from the OECD National Accounts 1999. See Purchasing Power Parity

Group of Eight (G8)

This group is composed of eight industrialized nations with large economies, essentially the G7 with the Russian Federation also included: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Group of Seven (G7)

This group is composed of seven industrialized nations with large economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Higher education

Study beyond secondary school at an institution that offers programs leading to an associate, baccalaureate, or higher degree (or equivalent degrees in other countries). It also is called tertiary or postsecondary education.

Highest International Socioeconomic Index of Occupational Status (HISEI)

In PISA, socioeconomic status is measured by the HISEI, which corresponds to the highest occupational index score of the student's father or mother. Parental occupation, as reported by the student, was coded based on the current version of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-88) (International Labor Organization 1988). Occupational codes were, in turn, mapped onto an internationally comparable index of occupational status, the International Socioeconomic Index of Occupational Status (ISEI), developed by Ganzeboom, De Graaf, and Treiman (1992). The ISEI captures the attributes of occupations that convert parents' education into income. It is derived by optimally scaling occupation groups to maximize the indirect effect of education on income through occupation and to minimize the direct effect of education on income, net of occupation (both effects being net of age).

Land (plural = Länder)

The German equivalent to a state in the United States.

Long first university degree

A first university degree that is five to six years duration in the international classification.

Lower secondary education (ISCED 2)

Lower secondary education is designed to complete the provision of basic education that began at ISCED level 1. In most countries, the educational aim is to lay the foundation for lifelong learning and human development on which countries may expand, systematically, further educational opportunities. At this level, programs use a more subject-oriented pattern with specialized teachers and more often several teachers conducting classes in their field of specialization. The full implementation of basic skills occurs at this level. The end of this level often coincides with the end of compulsory education where it exists. This education is approximately equivalent to grades 7, 8, and 9 in the United States.

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Mathematics learning in at-school and out-of-school settings

PISA 2003 asked 15-year-olds to report how much time they spent learning mathematics at school and outside of school. At-school time included (a) formal instructional time in the classroom (calculated by multiplying the average length of a class period reported in minutes by the number of class periods receiving mathematics instruction per week), (b) number of hours spent each week on remedial classes, and (c) number of hours spent each week on enrichment classes. Out-of-school activities included number of hours spent each week on (a) homework or other study set by the mathematics teacher, (b) working with a mathematics tutor, (c) attending out-of-school mathematics classes, and (d) other mathematics activities (e.g., mathematics competitions and mathematics clubs)

Mathematics literacy content areas on the PISA assessment

In PISA 2003, students were assessed on their mathematical knowledge in four content areas (space and shape, change and relationships, quantity, and uncertainty), as well as the processes that need to be performed to solve mathematical problems in these four content areas and the real-world situations in which students encounter such mathematical problems. The space and shape subscale is related to spatial and geometric phenomena and relationships. The change and relationships subscale pertains to mathematical manifestations of change, functional relationships, and dependency among variables. The quantity subscale is related to numeric phenomena and quantitative relationships and patterns. The uncertainty subscale focuses on probabilistic and statistical phenomena and relationships.

Mathematics proficiency on the PISA assessment

To facilitate the cross country comparison of achievement scores on the PISA 2003 combined mathematics literacy scale, an OECD average was calculated whereby all the participating OECD countries contributed equally. The data were then standardized to set the OECD average at 500, with a range from 0 to 1000 and a standard deviation of 100. Since the individual country means were weighted averages of the student scores, this standardization implied that about two-thirds of the students across all the participating OECD countries scored between 400 and 600.

Mathematics proficiency was defined in terms of six levels (levels 1 through 6) based on student performance scores on the combined mathematics literacy scale. Exact cut point scores are as follows: below level 1 (a score less than or equal to 357.77); level 1 (a score greater than 357.77 and less than or equal to 420.07); level 2 (a score greater than 420.07 and less than or equal to 482.38); level 3 (a score greater than 482.38 and less than or equal to 544.68); level 4 (a score greater than 544.68 and less than or equal to 606.99); level 5 (a score greater than 606.99 and less than or equal to 669.30); and level 6 (a score greater than 669.30). In order to reach a particular proficiency level, a student must have been able to correctly answer a majority of items at that level. Students at each succeeding level are capable of solving mathematical problems of increasing complexity.

Students proficient at level 1 are able to identify information and carry out routine procedures according to direct instructions in explicit situations, such as locating and reading a specified value in a simple table or performing simple calculations involving relationships between two familiar variables. Level 2 can be considered the baseline at which students begin to demonstrate mathematical skills allowing them to use mathematics actively; they can extract relevant information from a single source and make literal interpretations of the results, such as recognizing simple geometric patterns and identifying relevant information in a simple and familiar graph. At level 3, students can use simple problem-solving strategies and skills, such as reasoning in familiar contexts, interpreting tables to locate information, and basic reasoning with simple probability concepts; they can link and connect multiple related representations (e.g., a formula and a graph) and carry out clearly described procedures requiring sequential processes. At level 4, students can reason flexibly and with some insight; they can solve problems that involve reasoning and argumentation in unfamiliar contexts, interpret complex text and graphs, and use multiple representations and multi-step calculations to solve practical problems. Students at level 5 can use well-developed reasoning skills, insight, and interpretation with different representations; interpret complex information about real-world situations; work strategically; use complex and multistep problem-solving skills; and make assumptions or work with assumptions to solve problems. Students proficient at level 6 can identify and combine multiple pieces of information to solve complex problems in the context of unfamiliar real-world situations; they can carry out a complex sequence of calculations and communicate complex arguments and explanations through reflection, insight, and generalization of the results. For more information about how proficiency levels were set for PISA 2003, see the technical appendix in Lemke et al. (2004).

Medium first university degree

A first university degree that is three to five years duration in the international classification.

Net enrollment rate

Total full-time enrollment in public and private institutions of an age group divided by the total population of the same age group.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

The OECD is an organization of 30 nations (as of 2002) whose purpose is to promote trade and economic growth in both member and nonmember nations. OECD’s activities cover almost all aspects of economic and social policy. The member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Post-secondary non-tertiary education (ISCED 4)

Post-secondary non-tertiary education covers education between upper secondary education and tertiary education, internationally, but may be considered as upper secondary or post-secondary programs from a national perspective. Programs at this level of education are generally from 6 months to two years in duration and are not often significantly more advanced than upper secondary education programs but serve to broaden the knowledge of participants who have already completed an upper secondary level education program.

Preprimary education (ISCED 0)

Preprimary education is the initial stage of organized instruction and designed primarily to introduce very young children to a school-type environment. The institution must be school- or center-based, to distinguish activities in primary schools, pre-schools, and kindergartens from services provided in households or family settings. Typically, programs start at this level at age 3 or later.

Primary education (ISCED 1)

Primary education is the beginning of a systematic set of studies in reading, writing, and mathematics. In countries where the age of compulsory attendance comes after the beginning of this systematic set of studies, the first year of compulsory attendance determines the beginning of the primary level of education. The customary or legal age of entrance is for children not younger than five years or older than seven years. This level covers in principle, six years of full-time schooling.

Private expenditures

Private expenditures refer to expenditures funded by private sources, i.e. households and other private entities. “Households” means students and their families. Other private entities include private business firms and non-profit organizations, including religious organizations, charitable organizations, and business and labor associations. Private expenditures comprise school fees; materials such as textbooks and teaching equipment; school transportation (if organized by the school); meals (if provided by the school); boarding fees; and expenditures by employers on initial vocational training. Private expenditures do not include public subsidies attributable to institutions. Note that private educational institutions are considered service providers, not funding sources.

Private schools or institutions

Schools or institutions organized and controlled independently of public authorities, even though they may receive public funding. Private schools include both government-dependent and independent private schools. Government-dependent private schools have private governing boards, but receive at least 50 percent of their funds from public sources. Independent private schools receive less than 50 percent of their funds from public sources.

Public expenditures

Include direct expenditures on institutions and subsidies to households attributable to institutions.

Purchasing power parity

Purchasing power parities (PPPs) are the currency exchange rates that equalize the purchasing power of different currencies. This means that a given sum of money, when converted into different currencies at the PPP rates, will buy the same basket of goods and services in all countries. In other words, PPPs are the rates of currency conversion that eliminate the differences in price levels among countries. Thus, when expenditures on GDP for different countries is converted into a common currency by means of PPPs, it is, in effect, expressed at the same set of international prices so that comparisons between countries reflect only differences in the volume of goods and services purchased.

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Reading proficiency on the PISA assessment

Reading performance on PISA 2000 is reported as a scale score ranging from 0 to 1,000; the scale is constructed so that the average score for students from all OECD countries is 500. Combined reading literacy levels are reported in five levels from students whose literacy levels can be accurately predicted. The combined scale includes the following subtasks: retrieving information; interpreting texts; reflecting on texts.

Level 1, the lowest level of proficiency contains scores in the range from 335 to 407. The lowest level of literacy requires that students locate one or more independent pieces of explicitly stated information, with little or no competing information in the text; recognize the main theme or author’s purpose in a text about a familiar topic; make a simple connection between information in the text and common, everyday knowledge.

Level 2 contains scores in the range from 408 to 480. This level requires that students locate one or more pieces of information; with some competing information present in the text; recognize the main idea in a text when the information is not prominent; make a comparison or several connections between the text and outside knowledge.

Level 3 contains scores in the range from 481 to 552. This level requires that students locate the relationship between several pieces of information that must meet multiple conditions set by the question, with prominent competing information; integrate several parts of a text in order to identify a main idea, understand a relationship, or construe the meaning of a word or phrase; make connections, comparisons, and explanations, or evaluate a feature of the text.

Level 4 contains scores in the range from 553 to 625. This level requires that students locate and organize several pieces of embedded information, typically in a text whose content and form are unfamiliar; construe the meaning of nuances of language in a section of text by taking into account the text as a whole; critically evaluate a text or hypothesize about information in the text, using formal or public knowledge.

Level 5, the highest level of proficiency, contains scores of 626 and above. This level requires that students locate and organize several pieces of information in unfamiliar contexts; demonstrate a full and detailed understanding of a text whose content or form is unfamiliar; critically evaluate or hypothesize about the content of texts, drawing on specialized knowledge.

Statutory salaries

Statutory salaries refer to scheduled salaries according to official pay scales. The annual statutory teachers’ salaries are in equivalent U.S. dollars, converted using purchasing power parities (PPPs). See Purchasing Power Parity

Student/teacher ratio

Student enrollment at a given period of time divided by the full-time-equivalent number of classroom teachers serving these students during the same period.

Tertiary education

In the international classification, more advanced postsecondary education (such as attending a 4-year college or university) is referred to as tertiary education. Tertiary programs are divided into ISCED levels 5A, 5B, and 6. ISCED level 5A refers to academic higher education below the doctoral level. ISCED level 5B refers to vocational higher education. ISCED level 6 refers to the doctoral level of academic higher education.

TIMSS assessment of mathematics and science achievement at the fourth-grade level

Since the TIMSS mathematics and science achievement scales were designed to provide reliable measures of student achievement over time, the metric of the scale was established originally with the 1995 assessment. To facilitate the cross country comparison of achievement scores, an international average was calculated whereby all the participating countries contributed equally. The data were then standardized to set the international average at 500, with a range from 0 to 1000 and a standard deviation of 100. Since the individual country means were weighted averages of the student scores, this standardization implied that about two-thirds of the students across all the participating countries scored between 400 and 600.

In order to provide meaningful descriptions of what performance on the scales could mean in terms of the mathematics or science that students know and can do, TIMSS established four international achievement benchmarks in mathematics and science (low, intermediate, high, and advanced). Four points on the scales were identified for use as international benchmarks: 625 for the advanced benchmark, 550 for the high benchmark, 475 for the intermediate benchmark, and 400 for the low benchmark. These were selected to represent the range of performance shown by students internationally.

At the fourth-grade level in mathematics, students at the low benchmark demonstrate some basic mathematical knowledge, such as an understanding of whole numbers and the properties of basic geometric shapes. At the intermediate benchmark, students can apply basic mathematical knowledge in straightforward situations, such as performing operations with 3- and 4-digit numbers and decimals and extending simple patterns. At the high benchmark, students can apply their knowledge and understanding to solve problems, such as multistep word problems involving addition, multiplication, and division and problems requiring the use of data in tables and graphs. Students at the advanced benchmark demonstrate an understanding of fractions, decimals, and measurement concepts, and use data interpretation in a wide variety of relatively complex situations.

At the fourth-grade level in science, students at the low benchmark demonstrate some elementary knowledge of the earth, life, and physical sciences, such as simple facts about magnets, electricity, and boiling. At the intermediate benchmark, students can apply basic knowledge and understanding to practical situations in the sciences, such as knowing some basic information about Earth's features and processes, human biology, and health. At the high benchmark, students can apply knowledge and understanding to explain everyday phenomena, such as demonstrating some knowledge of life processes, physical states, and chemical changes. Students at the advanced benchmark can apply knowledge and understanding in beginning scientific inquiry, such as classifying organisms according to major physical and behavioral features.

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Upper secondary education (ISCED 3)

Upper secondary education typically begins at the end of full-time compulsory education for those countries that have a system of compulsory education. More specialization may be observed at this level and often teachers need to be more qualified or specialized than in lower secondary education (ISCED 2). The entrance age to this level is typically 15 or 16 years. There are 3 programs of upper secondary education that lead to different types of subsequent education: ISCED level 3A, designed to provide direct access to tertiary academic education (ISCED level 5A); ISCED level 3B, designed to provide direct access to tertiary vocational education (ISCED level 5B); and ISCED level 3C, designed for education that provides direct entry into the labor market or other upper secondary education programs. See First Stage of Tertiary Education

Vocational higher education (ISCED 5B)

These tertiary education programs provide a higher level of career and technical education and are designed to prepare students for the labor market. In the international classification, these programs last 2 to 4 years.

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