How Reading and Mathematics Performance at Age 15 Relate to Life Outcomes at Age 19

Today, IES released a new report, 2012–2016 Program for International Student Assessment Young Adult Follow-up Study (PISA YAFS): How reading and mathematics performance at age 15 relate to literacy and numeracy skills and education, workforce, and life outcomes at age 19. Key findings include: Most 15- and 19-year-olds were middle performers, with 77 percent of U.S. young adults performing in the middle levels of proficiency in reading at age 15 and 72 percent performing in the middle levels of proficiency in literacy at age 19. Proficiency at age 19 was most closely related to proficiency at age 15 among the middle performers. Of the middle performers in reading at age 15, about 78 percent also performed in the middle level of proficiency at age 19. Meanwhile, 7 percent of middle performers in reading at age 15 performed at the high proficiency level in literacy at age 19, and 15 percent demonstrated performance at the low level. High reading proficiency and high mathematics proficiency at age 15 were associated with higher education trajectories and other potentially advantageous life outcomes at age 19. For example, high performers in reading at age 15 were enrolled in bachelor’s degree programs at age 19 at a higher rate (84 percent) than the population overall (45 percent). This report draws on data from the Program for International Student Assessment Follow-up Study (PISA YAFS), which followed a sample of U.S. students who participated in PISA 2012 when they were 15 years old and assessed their literacy and numeracy skills four years later using the Education and Skills Online (ESO) tool, which is based on the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).