Cross-National Surveys of Learning Achievement: How Robust are the Findings?

International surveys of learning achievement and functional literacy are increasingly common. We consider two aspects of the robustness of their results. First, we compare results from four surveys: TIMSS, PISA, PIRLS and IALS. This contrasts with the standard approach which is to analyse a single survey with no regard as to whether it agrees or not with other sources. Second, we investigate whether results are sensitive to the choice of item response model used by survey organisers to aggregate respondents' answers. In both cases we focus on countries' average scores, the within-country differences in scores, and on the association between the two. There is mixed news to report

Educational achievement in English-speaking countries: do different surveys tell the same story?

International surveys of educational achievement are typically analysed in isolation from each other with no indication as to whether new results confirm or contradict those from earlier surveys. The paper pulls together results from four surveys to compare average levels of achievement, inequality of achievement, and the correlates of achievement (especially family background) among the six English-speaking OECD countries and between them and countries from Continental Europe. Our aim is to see whether a robust pattern emerges across the different sources: the Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS), the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA), the Programme of International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS)

Instructional variables involved in problems associated with diglossia in Arabic speaking schools in Israel. PIRLS 2006 findings

PIRLS 2006 findings establish that reading literacy attainments of 4th graders in Arabic-speaking countries are poor. This low attainment is also reflected in the findings of PIRLS 2006 in Israel when comparing Arabic-speaking 4th graders\u27 reading literacy mean score with that of their Hebrew-speaking peers (428 vs. 528). Findings of a previous study (Zuzovsky, 2008) supported an explanation that the existence of diglossia typical of the Arabic language (two linguistic codes - written and spoken) is the main cause of the low results of Arabic-speaking students in Israel and recommended educational interventions aimed to directly treat the problems of diglossia. Following these recommendations the present study aims to identify specific instructional activities that are significant in the effort to overcome the problems associated with Arabic diglossia. Of fourteen reading literacy activities positively associated with reading attainment, six exhibited significant interaction effects with the ethnic group variable indicating their relatively higher contribution to the achievement of students in Arabic-speaking schools. The most effective variables for Arabic-speaking students appear to be those indicating early home literacy activities that foster phonemic awareness and letter sound recognition. Among the school literacy activities, repeated listening to the sounds of written Arabic and being actively engaged in reading text and gradually in more challenging tasks, are promising school practices. (DIPF/Orig.)Bei PIRLS 2006 zeigen die Viertklässler in arabischsprachigen Ländern nur schwache Leseleistungen. Diese geringen Leistungswerte lassen sich auch in den israelischen PIRLS 2006-Resultaten nachweisen, wenn man dort den Leistungsmittelwert der arabischsprechenden Viertklässler mit dem ihrer hebräischsprechenden Mitschüler vergleicht (428 vs. 528 Skalenpunkte). Ergebnisse einer früheren Studie (…) unterstützen einen Erklärungsansatz, dem zufolge die für die arabische Sprache typische Diglossie (zwei unterschiedliche linguistische Codes für geschriebene und gesprochene Sprache) der Hauptgrund für die geringen Leistungswerte der arabischsprechenden Schüler in Israel ist. Diese Studie empfiehlt pädagogische Interventionen, die direkt auf die mit Diglossie verbundenen Probleme wirken sollen. Die vorliegende Studie folgt diesen Empfehlungen und zielt darauf ab, diejenigen spezifischen Unterrichtsaktivitäten zu identifizieren, die sich bei dem Bemühen, die mit arabischer Diglossie verbundenen Probleme zu überwinden, als signifikant herausstellen. Von 14 Leseaktivitäten, die mit positiven Auswirkungen auf die Leseleistung verbunden sind, zeigen 5 einen signifikanten Interaktionseffekt mit der Variable der ethnischen Gruppenzugehörigkeit, was auf ihren relativ gesehen höheren Beitrag zu der Leseleistung in arabischsprachigen Schulen hindeutet. Die Variablen mit dem großen leseförderlichen Effekt für arabischsprachige Schüler scheinen Aktivitäten früher Leseförderung in den Elternhäusern zu sein, die sich auf phonemische Bewusstheit und auf das Erkennen von Buchstaben und Lauten beziehen. Zu den schulischen Leseaktivitäten, die sich als vielversprechend erweisen, zählen das wiederholte Anhören von Lauten der geschriebenen arabischen Sprache und ein aktives Eingebundensein in das Lesen von Texten und zunehmend anspruchsvollere Leseaufgaben. (DIPF/Orig.

An International Reading Literacy Study: Factor Structure of the Chinese Version of the Student Questionnaire (PIRLS-SQCV 2011)

The student questionnaire (PIRLS-SQ 2011) of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) was designed to gather information from pupils on reading literacy development as to aspects of pupils’ self-lives, home, and school lives across countries/districts. In order to serve the purposes of research and international comparison, the questionnaire was translated into various languages. Using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), the current study investigates the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the student questionnaire (PIRLS-SQCV 2011) and identifies its underlying factor structure among Chinese fourth-grade pupils in Hong Kong. A 10-factor structure model was identified and much resemblance could be drawn to the original PIRLS structure. While the similarity allows international comparisons of studies in different places following the PIRLS strategy, the findings of this study add to extant literature on the relationship between student factors and reading achievement.published_or_final_versio

The effect of school starting age on academic performance in Hungary

The study estimates the effect of school starting age on academic performance for Hungarian grade four students using the "Progress in International Reading Literacy Study" (PIRLS) and the "Trends in Mathematics and Science Study" (TIMMS). The study uses the control function approach, exploiting the exogenous variation in school starting age driven by the children's month of birth and the cut-off date regulation for enrolment. The results indicate a positive age effect on Reading, Mathematics and Science performance.Education, student test scores, enrolment age, identification

The costs of illiteracy in South Africa

In South Africa there has been a surge in publicly funded adult literacy education in recent years. There is a recognition that for the effective monitoring of adult literacy, direct measures of literacy are required. Grade attainment, self-reported ability to read and behavioural variables relating to, for instance, reading habits produce vastly different measures of adult literacy in South Africa. It is noteworthy that self-reported values change over time as people’s perceptions of what consitutes literacy shifts. A 75% literacy rate is arguably a plausible figure, though the absence of a direct measure is problematic. An education production function suggests that literacy-related parent behaviour, independently of parent years of education, influences performance of learners in school. In a multivariate employment model, self-reported literacy is a statistically significant predictor of being employed. In a cross-country growth model, poor quality schooling emerges as the variable requiring the most urgent policy attention to sustain and improve South Africa’s economic development. Both microeconomic and macroeconomic estimates suggest that with a more typical level of school performance South Africa’s GDP would be 23% to 30% higher than it currently is.Literacy, Illiteracy, South Africa, Education production function, Economic growth

Migration Background and Educational Tracking: Is there a Double Disadvantage for Second-Generation Immigrants?

Research on immigrants’ educational disadvantages largely focuses on differences in student achievement tests. Exploiting data from the German PIRLS extension, we find that second-generation immigrants face additional disadvantages with respect to grades and teacher recommendations for secondary school tracks that cannot be explained by differences in student achievement tests and general intelligence. Second-generation immigrations are disproportionately affected by prevailing social inequalities at the transition to secondary school tracks due to their generally less favorable socio-economic background. We additionally provide new evidence suggesting that these inequalities might be related to the failing economic assimilation of immigrants.immigration, educational inequalities, educational tracking, Germany

Patterns in PIRLS performance: The importance of liking to read, SES, and the effect of test prep

Analysis of PIRLS data on liking reading and SES revealed five consistent patterns: (1) 'basline': locations with high PIRLS scores, high SES, and a high level of 'liking reading' among both children and their parents. (2) 'test-prep' locations, with high SES and PIRLS scores, but little interest in reading. Our conjecture is that these students achieved high scores through test-preparation (strategy instruction) and through diligently reading very hard texts. (3) 'late-bloomers' with high SES and high PIRLS scores, with parents but not children liking reading, In most of these locations, reading instruction starts late. (4) middle SES countries and locations; (5) Lower SES countries and locations, with children liking to read but adults much less. The problem in cases in category (5) is lack of access to reading material.published_or_final_versio

How immigrant children affect the academic achievement of native Dutch children

In this paper, we analyze how the share of immigrant children in the classroom affects the educational attainment of native Dutch children. Our analysis uses data from various sources, which allow us to characterize educational attainment in terms of reading literacy, mathematical skills and science skills. We do not find strong evidence of negative spill-over effects from immigrant children to native Dutch children. Immigrant children themselves experience negative language spill-over effects from a high share of immigrant children in the classroom but no spill-over effects on maths and science skills.educational attainment, immigrant children, peer effects.