Progress in International Reading Literacy Study

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assesses students’ reading achievement after their fourth year of elementary schooling and was approved by the General Assembly of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). It assesses students’ reading for literary experience and reading for information. Further, it integrates four types of comprehension processes: retrieving explicitly stated information, making inferences, interpreting and integrating ideas and information, and evaluating and critiquing content. The results of the study tell how well students can read and report on elements of literacy involving the home, student, classroom, school, community, and national curriculum policy. These results can be used to inform policy makers and researchers in every country about how to improve reading achievement and literacy.

PIRLS started in 2001 as a continuation of IEA’s 1991 Reading Literacy Study. It is conducted every 5 years with administrations in year 2001, 2006, 2011, and 2016. It is a complement assessment to IEA’s assessment of mathematics and science at the fourth grade of elementary schooling. Over 60 countries participated in the 2016 PIRLS. The countries that participated in the previous years’ studies have access to data to evaluate progress in reading achievement across multiple years.

PIRLS is a collaborative effort among multiple agencies. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study and PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College directs PIRLS in collaboration with the IEA Secretariat in Amsterdam and IEA’s Data Processing and Research Center in Hamburg. Sampling is monitored and implemented by Statistics Canada. Item development is supported by the National Foundation for Educational Research in England and the Australian Council for Educational Research, while Educational Testing Service in the United States conducts psychometric analysis.

The framework and the types of data provided by PIRLS evolved over the years. PIRLS 2011 included student, teacher, and school questionnaires; the Learning to Read Survey completed by students’ parents or caregivers; and the PIRLS Encyclopedia describing the reading curriculum and instruction by each participating country. PIRLS 2006 reported results on comprehension processes as well as literacy and informational reading purposes with the PIRLS Curriculum Questionnaire. The same fourth-grade students participated in PIRLS 2011 and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2011 assessments, and data are available on their achievement in reading, mathematics, and science.

The PIRLS 2016 suite included two new assessments of reading comprehension: PIRLS Literacy and ePIRLS in addition to PIRLS 2016. PIRLS Literacy targets at the lower end of the ability scale with shorter passages and more straightforward questions, which are linked to PIRLS 2016, so that comparisons could be made between the two assessments. Countries can participate in either or both of these two assessments with the goal of providing policy makers with more relevant information about how to improve teaching and learning. ePIRLS is a computer-based online assessment of reading. ePIRLS simulates authentic school-like assignments on topics related to science and social studies. PIRLS data, framework, released items, and scoring guides are often used to guide selection of curriculum and textbooks for improving classroom instruction and research in reading and literacy.

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