The role of phonics instruction in early reading development has been the subject of significant conjecture. Recently, England implemented a phonics screening check to assess the phonetic decoding of 6-year-old students, to ensure that all students master this foundational literacy skill and attain adequate phonemic awareness in the early years of…

This study examines the effectiveness of cooperative reading teaching activities and independent reading activities for English language learner (ELL) students at 4th grade level. Based on simple linear regression and correlational analyses of data collected from two large data bases, PIRLS and NAEP, the study found that cooperative reading…

The regional and cultural closeness of Botswana and South Africa, as well as differences in their political histories and language policy stances, offers a unique opportunity to evaluate the role of language in reading outcomes. This study aims to empirically test the effect of exposure to mother tongue and English instruction on the reading…

The aim of this study is to determine how the TIMSS mathematics success of the 8th grade students differentiates according to the school type, gender, mathematics report mark, parents' education level, cognitive domains and cognitive domains by gender. Relational survey method was used in the study. Six-hundred fifty two 8th grade students…

International achievement comparison studies assess students on core subjects such as Reading, Mathematics and Science. Students who do not speak the test language at home can be expected to be disadvantaged because of language proficiency. The test language effect has not been given sufficient attention. The present study investigated probable…

Reading for personal interest and acquiring and using information using various reading processes are important parts of reading literacy that students need to develop in order to progress successfully through their schooling and fully function in the information society. Computer assisted reading instructional activities are assumed useful in…

A study involving 106 fourth graders and two teachers from a school in Beijing investigated the impact of a peer-led, open-format discussion approach, called collaborative reasoning (CR), on students' reading comprehension and teacher's professional learning. Mixed results of effects of CR on children's reading comprehension were found. After…

The evidence of the huge challenges of literacy development faced by South African learners is primarily gleaned from the results of learners' external assessments. There is little research which explores, in-depth, the strategies used by teachers to teach reading literacy and reading comprehension specifically. Questions remain about what is…

Concern over worldwide literacy rates prompted the United Nations to establish the UN Literacy Decade (2003-2012) with one area of focus being to provide support to schools to develop effective literacy programs (UNESCO, 2005). This study addressed the area of providing support to schools to develop effective literacy programs by exploring the…

How well do U.S. students read? In this article, Sean Reardon, Rachel Valentino, and Kenneth Shores rely on studies using data from national and international literacy assessments to answer this question. In part, the answer depends on the specific literacy skills assessed. The authors show that almost all U.S. students can "read" by…

This study, through multilevel analyses of the data of four English-speaking nations (i.e., Canada, England, New Zealand and the United States) from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2001 database, investigated the relationship between teachers' uses of various types of classroom assessments and their fourth-graders'…

Using data from the international Teacher Education and Development Study: Learning to Teach Mathematics (TEDS-M), the measurement equivalence of teachers' beliefs across countries is investigated for the case of "mathematics-as-a fixed-ability". Measurement equivalence is a crucial topic in all international large-scale assessments and…

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assessment is an international comparative study of reading skills of Grade Four learners. South Africa's first participation in the study took place in the 2006 cycle (Mullis "et al.", 2007), with repeat participation planned to take place for PIRLS 2011. PIRLS 2006 results…

This document talks about immigrant children, who are defined here as either children born in another country (within or outside Europe) or children whose parents or grandparents were born in another country. So the term "immigrant children" used here covers various situations, which can be referred to in other contexts as…

Finland and Singapore are both nations that have excelled in mathematics on international assessments, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Evidence of Finland's educational success emerged with the outcome of the first PISA study in 2000. Since…