Participating in OECD education activities allows the United States to compare its educational system with those of other countries. OECD provides an opportunity to learn how others approach similar challenges, such as mathematics and reading instruction, student assessment, the use of computers in schools, school-to-work transitions, and school safety and security. The U.S. Department of Education takes the lead on education at the OECD.

As mandated by member country education ministries, OECD education activities are organized into six strategic objectives. These are:

1. connecting lifelong learning policy with other socio-economic policies;
2. evaluating and improving outcomes of education;
3. promoting quality teaching;
4. rethinking tertiary education in a global economy;
5. building social cohesion through education; and
6. building new futures for education.

As a full participant in the OECD's Education Committee and other education-related bodies, the United States contributes to and benefits from many different OECD education activities. Within the U.S., OECD work on the first three objectives cited above, which include the well-known INES and PISA projects, receives the most attention.

The Indicators of National Educational Systems (INES) project brings together reliable educational indicators by using comparable data to track trends in education among participating countries.

Of high interest to the United States, this project was initiated in the late 1980s partly as an answer to the question posed by the U.S. Congress, "How does the U.S. educational system compare with those of our industrial competitors?"

The results of the INES project are published annually in Education at a Glance, which covers indicators of education spending, achievement, attainment, and other measures across participating countries. The U.S. Department of Education considers the project a high priority.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures 15-year-olds' performance in reading, mathematics, science and problem solving. It also examines the extent to which they are able to identify and pursue their own learning goals by applying strategies and drawing on their motivation, as well as factors that influence the development of knowledge and skills at home and at school.

With significant U.S. support, PISA began in 2000, and is implemented on a three-year cycle. Second cycle results were released in December 2004. The last PISA assessment in 2006 emphasized science literacy. Though it focuses on OECD member countries, the PISA assessment is also administered in several non-member countries.