There were some surprising results from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) that was released today. For those not in the know, PIRLS is an assessment of reading skills of fourth graders from more than 40 countries. It was first administered in 2001 and U.S. fourth graders performed very well. They were outperformed only by students in Sweden, the Netherlands, and England. Although the 2006 results were not as rosy, U.S. fourth graders still held their own against their international peers.
BoardBuzz is fairly certain that some critics will decry that the U.S. ranks 18th in the world in reading achievement but don’t be fooled. But, if you have read the Center for Public Education’s More than a horse race: A guide to international assessments of student achievement you know that reporting scores in straight rankings is misleading and flatly inaccurate. You also know that in 2001 only three countries outperformed the U.S. by a statistically significant margin (meaning the difference in scores did not happen by chance). However, in 2006 that number grew to ten, although three of the ten were Canadian provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario) not full countries. This is not because U.S. performance had declined; it is due to several countries, including Russia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Italy, making dramatic gains from 2001 to 2006 while U.S. performance remained relatively flat. As a matter of fact, U.S. fourth graders lost little ground to the highest performing nation. The United States scored only 25 points below the highest scoring nationRussiain 2006 compared to 19 points below 2001′s highest performer Sweden.
There will be those who debate where the United States actually ranks. But on the merits of such rankings, what shouldn’t be lost is the wealth of information these assessments provide to both educators and policymakers. As the Center for Public Education report states, this is what international assessments are meant to providea wealth of information. Educators and policymakers should analyze PIRLS’ rich data on reading policies and school-based reading practices to determine what work in other countries that may also be effective in this country. By having access to best practices from around the world, educators, school board members, and other policymakers can make better informed decisions about the policies and practices that could work best for their students.
For more information on the PIRLS results and other international assessments check out www.centerforpubliceducation.org.
