Glossary

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  • participating entities
    overarching term for the various geographic or administrative units participating in a study, for example, countries, provinces, states, regions, or cities; participating entities are listed in the gateway as reported in study documents
    Author: Falk Brese, IEA, Nathalie Mertes, IEA
  • PASEC
    Programme d’analyse des systèmes éducatifs de la CONFEMEN
    (in English: Programme for the Analysis of Education Systems); a study conducted by the CONFEMEN
  • PGB
    PISA Governing Board
  • PIAAC
    Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies; a study conducted by the OECD
  • PIRLS
    Progress in International Reading Literacy Study; a study conducted by the IEA
  • PIRLS Literacy
    (formerly prePIRLS) was developed in order to extend the measurement of reading literacy at the lower end of the PIRLS achievement scale; it is equivalent to PIRLS in scope and based on the same conception of reading; linkage mechanisms between the PIRLS and PIRLS Literacy assessments allow for the reporting of PIRLS Literacy results on the PIRLS achievement scale and a comparison of results
    Author: Adeoye Oyekan, IEA, Nathalie Mertes, IEA, based on IEA website
  • PISA
    Programme for International Student Assessment; a study conducted by the OECD
  • PISA-D
    PISA for Development
  • plausible values
    random selections made from the distribution of possible scores for individuals participating in an assessment or survey; a minimum of five selections is usually made for each individual; the aggregated variance of these selections provides an estimate of the measurement uncertainty
    Author: Eugene Gonzalez, ETS
  • PMK
    parent/person most knowledgeable
  • population model
    statistical function defining the relationship between responses to an assessment and background questionnaire items, and the proficiency estimates; used to estimate the distribution of possible scores for the individuals responding to the assessment, from which the plausible values are selected
    Author: Eugene Gonzalez, ETS
  • PPS
    probability proportional to size
  • PQM
    PISA quality monitor
  • prePIRLS
    prePIRLS (now PIRLS Literacy) was developed in order to extend the measurement of reading literacy at the lower end of the achievement scale
    Author: Adeoye Oyekan, IEA, Nathalie Mertes, IEA, based on IEA website
  • PRIDI
    Programa Regional de Indicadores de Desarrollo Infantil
    (in English: Regional Project on Child Development Indicators); a study conducted by the IDB
  • probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling
    a probability sampling procedure according to which the size of the unit determines its probability of inclusion in the sample; can be used to enhance precision
    Author: Nathalie Mertes, IEA, based on Statistics Canada (2010), p. 98
  • probability sampling
    random selection (i.e., a selection exempt from bias and founded on chance) of units from a population such that inferences can be made about the population based on observations from the sample; units do not necessarily have the same probability of inclusion; in most complex studies, the inclusion probability differs from one unit to another
    Author: Nathalie Mertes, IEA, based on Statistics Canada (2010), p. 98
  • PSI
    problem solving and inquiry
  • PUF
    public use files
  • PV
    plausible value