PIRLS 2006 was designed to measure trends in children’s reading literacy achievement and policies and practices related to literacy. It assessed a range of reading comprehension strategies for two major reading purposes: literary and informational. The student questionnaire collected information about students’ attitudes toward reading and their reading habits. In addition, parent, teacher, and school questionnaires gathered information about students’ home and school experiences in developing reading literacy. A special questionnaire collected information about each participating country’s national context, including its reading goals and curricula.
PIRLS 2006 was the second, after PIRLS 2001, in a cycle of internationally comparable reading assessments. The study assessed students enrolled in the fourth grade.
The TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at the Lynch School of Education, Boston College, United States, served as the PIRLS 2006 international study center, working in close cooperation with the IEA, and the national centers of participating countries.
For more information, including in-depth reports and analyses, please visit the PIRLS 2006 website.
The PIRLS 2006 target population is the grade that represents four years of schooling, counting from the first year of ISCED Level 1, which corresponds to the fourth grade in most countries.
Austria, Belgium (Flemish), Belgium (French), Bulgaria, Canada, Chinese Taipei, Denmark, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Scotland, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, and United States.