The Reading Literacy Study
1985–1994
The aims of the study were - to produce valid international tests and questionnaires that could be used to investigate reading literacy and its correlates across countries - to describe the achievement levels in reading literacy in participating educational systems - to describe the voluntary reading activities of nine- and 14-year-olds - to identify differences in policies and instructional practices in reading and their relation to students’ achievement and voluntary reading - to provide national baseline data for monitoring literacy levels over time. The data were collected in 1990–1991.
Target Population
Two populations were included in the study: nine-year-old students and 14-year-old students
Participating Educational Systems
Belgium (French), Botswana, Canada (British Columbia), Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany (FRG), Germany (GDR), Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, United States, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.
Key Findings
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The students of Finland showed the highest reading literacy levels at both nine and 14 years of age in almost all domains. Students in the United States also achieved relatively high scores at the nine-year-old level, as did students in Sweden, France, and New Zealand at the 14-year-old level.
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Students whose home languages differed from the language of instruction had lower literacy performance, with the exception of the students from Singapore, who achieved high levels of literacy despite being instructed in a non-native language from the beginning of their schooling.
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At the nine-year-old level, girls achieved better than boys in all countries for narrative passages. In 24 countries, girls had better scores for expository passages, whereas girls’ achievement was significantly better than boys’ achievement on documents in only seven countries. At the 14-year-old level, girls achieved at higher levels in the majority of the countries. However, fewer of these differences were significant and, for documents, in particular, several favored boys.
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The schools that were more effective in developing reading literacy had more female than male reading teachers, and the reading teachers were more experienced. Students in classes where teachers emphasized reading for comprehension and encouraged more reading also did better.
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The availability of books (home, school, nearby community library) was identified as a key factor for high achievements in reading literacy. The amount of voluntary book reading that students did during out-of-school time was also positively related to students’ achievement levels.
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For most countries, the achievement in reading literacy was closely related to their national indices of economic development, health, and adult literacy. However, Hong Kong attained high levels of achievement at both grade levels but had only average status on the developmental indices. Nine-year-olds in Finland and Italy and 14-year-olds in Hungary, Portugal, and Singapore also achieved above the expectations baseline on the developmental indices.
Major Publications
Elley, W.B. (Ed.). (1992).
How in the World do Students Read?
Hamburg: Grindeldruck GMBH.
Elley, W.B. (Ed.). (1994).
The IEA Study of Reading Literacy: Achievement and Instruction in Thirty-two School Systems.
Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Lundberg, I., & Linnakylä, P. (1993).
Teaching Reading Around the World: IEA Study of Reading Literacy.
Hamburg: IEA.
Papanastasiou, C., & Froese, V. (Eds.). (2002).
Reading Literacy in 14 Countries.
Cyprus: Cyprus University Press.
Postlethwaite, T.N., & Ross, K.N. (1992).
Effective Schools in Reading: Implications for Educational Planners: An Exploratory Study. The IEA Study of Reading Literacy II.
Hamburg: IEA.
Wagemaker, H. (Ed.). (1996).
Are Girls Better Readers? Gender Differences in Reading Literacy in 32 Countries.
The Hague: IEA.
© 2007 IEA