ABSTRACT

The chapter provides a brief introduction to and history of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It describes the conditions in which Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) emerged and had its initial impact and the conditions that have developed as OECD expands PISA and other related dimensions of its education work. 'The OECD Skills Strategy' has enhanced the position of the OECD's education work, with PISA data and other education data now being included. The chapter traces the OECD's recent evolution in response to important global political and economic events that have bearing on the emergence of global educational accountabilities. The conditions that have enabled, and followed from, the success of the OECD's PISA and its related education work are also discussed. Also the OECD's role in globalizing educational accountabilities is linked to its global governance role in relation to education.