Publication/Product Release
Past
Highlights from PIRLS 2011: Reading Achievement of U.S. Fourth-Grade Students in an International Context (NCES 2013-010)
NCES
Virtual
Dec 11, 2012
About this event
This report from the National Center for Education Statistics in the Institute of Education Sciences summarizes the performance of U.S. fourth-grade students on the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011 assessment, comparing their scores with their peers internationally.
PIRLS is led by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and has been administered in 2001, 2006, and 2011. The United States participated in all three years. In 2011, 40 countries and 13 other education systems participated in PIRLS.
The focus of the report is on the performance of U.S. students relative to their peers in other countries in 2011, and on changes in reading since 2001 and 2006. For a number of participating countries and education systems, changes in achievement can be documented over the last 10 years, from 2001 to 2011. This report also describes achievement within the United States by sex, race/ethnicity, and enrollment in public schools with different levels of poverty. In addition, it describes achievement in one state (Florida) that participated in PIRLS both as part of the U.S. national sample of public and private schools as well as individually with a state-level sample of public schools.
In addition to numerical scale results, PIRLS also includes international benchmarks. The PIRLS international benchmarks provide a way to interpret the scale scores by describing the types of knowledge and skills students demonstrate at different levels along the PIRLS scale.
PIRLS is led by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and has been administered in 2001, 2006, and 2011. The United States participated in all three years. In 2011, 40 countries and 13 other education systems participated in PIRLS.
The focus of the report is on the performance of U.S. students relative to their peers in other countries in 2011, and on changes in reading since 2001 and 2006. For a number of participating countries and education systems, changes in achievement can be documented over the last 10 years, from 2001 to 2011. This report also describes achievement within the United States by sex, race/ethnicity, and enrollment in public schools with different levels of poverty. In addition, it describes achievement in one state (Florida) that participated in PIRLS both as part of the U.S. national sample of public and private schools as well as individually with a state-level sample of public schools.
In addition to numerical scale results, PIRLS also includes international benchmarks. The PIRLS international benchmarks provide a way to interpret the scale scores by describing the types of knowledge and skills students demonstrate at different levels along the PIRLS scale.
