The OECD

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), based in Paris, has thirty member countries and commits itself to "democratic government and the market economy" (www.oecd.org).

The OECD emerged from the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) founded in 1947 as NATO's economic counterpart, in order to reconstruct Europe after World War II.  

Today, the OECD views education within a lifelong learning context.  The OECD also publishes Education at a Glance every year, which lists a number of policy-oriented indicators, developed by the countries themselves.  The aim is to provide OECD countries with comparative information about the differing organization and function of their education systems.  

In response to the member countries' interest in comparative student performance, the OECD created PISA.