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IEA's International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) 2018 investigated how well students are prepared for study, work, and life in a digital world. ICILS 2018 measured international differences in students' computer and information literacy (CIL): their ability to use computers to investigate, create, participate, and communicate at home, at school, in the workplace, and in the community. Participating countries had an additional option for their students to complete an assessment of computational thinking (CT): their ability to recognize aspects of real-world problems appropriate for computational formulation, and to evaluate and develop algorithmic solutions to those problems, so that the solutions could be operationalized with a computer. This technical report follows the publication of several international and regional reports that presented the results of ICILS 2018. It provides a comprehensive account of the conceptual, methodological, and analytical implementation of the study. It includes detailed information on the development of the data-collection instruments used, including their translation and translation verification, on sampling design and implementation, sampling weights and participation rates, survey operation procedures, quality control of data collection, data management and creation of the international database, scaling procedures, and analysis of ICILS 2018 data. The technical report enables researchers to evaluate published reports and articles based on data from this study and, used in conjunction with the ICILS 2018 User Guide for the International Database, will provide guidance for their own analyses. [Contributors to this report include: John Ainley, Sebastian Meyer, Ralph Carstens, Ekaterina Mikheeva, Alex Daraganov, Lauren Musu, Lauren Musu, Louise Ockwell, David Ebbs, Wolfram Schulz, Julian Fraillon, Sabine Tieck, and Tim Friedman. For "IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2018. User Guide for the International Database," see ED610700.]

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) has been researching the impact of information and communications technologies (ICT) on educational processes, and factors supporting or impeding the pedagogical use of ICT, since the late-1980s. More recently it has turned its attention to investigating ICT-related educational outcomes. IEA's International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) was developed in response to the increasing use of ICT in modern society and the need for people to have the capabilities necessary to participate effectively in a digital world. The first cycle of ICILS in 2013 (ICILS 2013) assessed students' computer and information literacy (CIL) which brings together technical competence with computer applications and the capacity to manage information. This places an emphasis on the use of computers as information seeking, management, and communication tools which are key to participation in the digital age. This second cycle of ICILS in 2018 (ICILS 2018) continued to investigate students' CIL but also investigated students' computational thinking (CT). This dimension involves conceptualizing problems (through algorithmic or systems thinking) and operationalizing solutions (creating, implementing, and evaluating computer-based responses to problems). Authentic computer-based assessments administered to students in their eighth year of schooling generated data that provided measures of these two domains of digital competence (CIL and CT). The inclusion of CT as an option in ICILS 2018 reflects recent interest by educators, researchers, and policymakers in the value of CT in schooling. ICILS 2018 studied how these components of digital competence related to each other and to the school and out-of-school contexts that support learning with and about computer technology. This report presents the outcomes at the international level of analyses of data collected in the ICILS main survey in 2018. The report aims to provide an international perspective on the ICILS data relating to CIL collected across countries. Twelve countries participated in ICILS 2018: Chile, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea (hereafter referred to as Korea, for ease of reading), Luxembourg, Portugal, the United States, and Uruguay. The city of Moscow (Russian Federation) and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) participated as benchmarking participants. Eight countries completed the CT assessment: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Korea, Luxembourg, Portugal, and the United States. The CT option was also completed by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) as a benchmarking participant. This report responds to the ICILS research questions and provides observations and interpretations that may stimulate further investigation within and across countries. [This report was published by SpringerOpen. For "ICILS 2013 Technical Report," see ED610534. For the accompanying report, "IEA International Computer and Information Literacy Study 2018 Assessment Framework," see ED610537.]