Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC): State and County Estimation Methodology Report

The Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) is a multicycle survey of adult skills and competencies sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The survey examines a range of basic skills in the information age and assesses these adult skills consistently across participating countries. The first cycle of PIAAC included three rounds: 24 countries participated in 2011–12 (round 1); 9 additional countries participated in 2014–15 (round 2); and 5 additional countries participated in 2017–18 (round 3).

The United States has participated in all three rounds of the first cycle of PIAAC. The round 1 (PIAAC 2012) survey design was consistent with the international requirements (OECD 2016). In round 2 (PIAAC 2014), a supplemental sample was drawn to enhance the round 1 sample (Hogan et al. 2016). The combined PIAAC 2012/2014 sample is nationally representative of the U.S. adult population 16–74 years old. The round 3 (PIAAC 2017) data collection had two core objectives. First, it was designed to produce a nationally representative sample of the U.S. adult population 16–74 years old. Second, the sample was designed to arrive at a large enough sample size that, when combined with the 2012 and 2014 samples, can produce small area estimates for the U.S. counties.