Monitoring of the sustainable development goals using large-scale international assessments. A strategy for reporting SDG 4 indicators using data from cross-national assessments

International and regional student learning assessments have a vital role to play in monitoring the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). First, they provide internationally comparable measures of minimum learning proficiency needed for SDG 4.1. Second, they provide information about students and schools that many countries’ administrative data does not include. This paper provides guidance on how to estimate SDG 4 indicators using data obtained from international and regional student assessments tests based on the large scale assessments aimed to measure reading and mathematics, including the reporting of Indicator 4.1.1 and the selection of reporting sources and methodology to estimate indicators within the SDG 4 framework that are not related to cognitive outcomes (including school infrastructure, teachers’ professional development, students’ exposure to bullying and whether students are learning in their home language) among others.