The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

The effects of post‐compulsory education and training systems on literacy and numeracy skills: a comparative analysis using PISA 2000 and the 2011 survey of adult skills

The effects of post‐compulsory education and training systems on literacy and numeracy skills: a comparative analysis using PISA 2000 and the 2011 survey of adult skills
The effects of post‐compulsory education and training systems on literacy and numeracy skills: a comparative analysis using PISA 2000 and the 2011 survey of adult skills
This article analyses the contribution of post‐compulsory education and training systems to the development of literacy and numeracy skills across OECD countries. While there is extensive cross‐country comparative research on the effects of primary and lower secondary education systems on aggregate skills levels, there has been little comparative analysis of system effects after the end of lower secondary education. This article uses a quasi‐cohort analysis of the tested literacy and numeracy skills of 15‐year‐olds in PISA 2000 and 27‐year‐olds in the 2011 OECD Survey of Adult Skills (SAS) to estimate the gains in different countries in mean levels of competence in literacy and numeracy. We found that Nordic countries (Norway and Sweden) with comprehensive upper secondary education and training systems and German‐speaking countries (Austria and Germany) with dual systems of apprenticeship were particular effective, whilst countries with mixed systems (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Spain) showed a relative decline in both literacy and numeracy. The education system characteristics that account for these differences are (a) the inclusiveness – as proxied by high rates of participation at 17/18 and low social gradients of level 3 completion; (b) the esteem of vocational programmes; and (c) curriculum standardisation with regard to the study of maths and the national language.
0141-8211
238-253
Pensiero, Nicola
a4abb10f-51db-493d-9dcc-5259e526e96b
Green, Andy
8a3d99e5-0a0a-4df0-8725-df42a39ce3df
Pensiero, Nicola
a4abb10f-51db-493d-9dcc-5259e526e96b
Green, Andy
8a3d99e5-0a0a-4df0-8725-df42a39ce3df

Pensiero, Nicola and Green, Andy (2018) The effects of post‐compulsory education and training systems on literacy and numeracy skills: a comparative analysis using PISA 2000 and the 2011 survey of adult skills. European Journal of Education, 53 (2), 238-253. (doi:10.1111/ejed.12268).

Record type: Article

Abstract

This article analyses the contribution of post‐compulsory education and training systems to the development of literacy and numeracy skills across OECD countries. While there is extensive cross‐country comparative research on the effects of primary and lower secondary education systems on aggregate skills levels, there has been little comparative analysis of system effects after the end of lower secondary education. This article uses a quasi‐cohort analysis of the tested literacy and numeracy skills of 15‐year‐olds in PISA 2000 and 27‐year‐olds in the 2011 OECD Survey of Adult Skills (SAS) to estimate the gains in different countries in mean levels of competence in literacy and numeracy. We found that Nordic countries (Norway and Sweden) with comprehensive upper secondary education and training systems and German‐speaking countries (Austria and Germany) with dual systems of apprenticeship were particular effective, whilst countries with mixed systems (England, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Spain) showed a relative decline in both literacy and numeracy. The education system characteristics that account for these differences are (a) the inclusiveness – as proxied by high rates of participation at 17/18 and low social gradients of level 3 completion; (b) the esteem of vocational programmes; and (c) curriculum standardisation with regard to the study of maths and the national language.

Text
ejed.12268 - Version of Record
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution.
Download (676kB)

More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 15 March 2018
Published date: 6 May 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 439314
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/439314
ISSN: 0141-8211
PURE UUID: 3103832c-8c9e-4983-b215-2e7789e7f662
ORCID for Nicola Pensiero: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2823-9852

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 08 Apr 2020 16:32
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:01

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Nicola Pensiero ORCID iD
Author: Andy Green

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×