PIRLS and ePIRLS Results

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Figure 2. Change in PIRLS overall reading average scale scores of fourth-grade students, by education system: 2001 to 2016 and 2011 to 2016


Education system 2001
Average
score
2001
▼▲
2001
s.e.
2011
Average
score
2011
▼▲
2011
s.e.
2016
Average
score
2016
▼▲
2016
s.e.
Change in
average
score
2001-2016
2001-
2016
stat.
sig.
Change in
average
score
2011-2016
2011-
2016
stat.
sig.
 
Russian Federation 528 4.3 568 2.7 581 2.2 53 * 12 * Visual/Graphic representation of Russian Federation's data
Singapore1 528 5.2 567 3.3 576 3.2 48 * 9 | Visual/Graphic representation of Singapore's data
Hong Kong-CHN2,3 528 3.1 571 2.3 569 2.7 41 * -2 | Visual/Graphic representation of Hong Kong-CHN's data
Ireland | 552 | 2.3 567 2.5 | | 15 * Visual/Graphic representation of Ireland's data
Finland | 568 1.8 566 1.8 | | -2 * Visual/Graphic representation of Finland's data
Northern Ireland-GBR | 558 | 2.3 565 2.2 | | 6 | Visual/Graphic representation of Northern Ireland-GBR's data
Chinese Taipei-CHN | 553 | 1.8 559 2.0 | | 6 * Visual/Graphic representation of Chinese Taipei-CHN's data
England-GBR 553 3.5 552 | 2.6 559 1.9 6 | 7 * Visual/Graphic representation of England-GBR's data
Latvia2 545 | 2.3 | 558 1.7 13 * | | Visual/Graphic representation of Latvia's data
Sweden 561 2.2 542 2.1 555 | 2.4 -6 | 13 * Visual/Graphic representation of Sweden's data
Hungary 543 | 2.2 539 2.8 554 | 2.9 11 * 15 * Visual/Graphic representation of Hungary's data
Bulgaria 550 | 3.8 532 4.1 552 | 4.2 1 | 20 * Visual/Graphic representation of Bulgaria's data
Lithuania4 543 | 2.6 528 2.0 550 | 2.8 6 | 22 * Visual/Graphic representation of Lithuania's data
United States3 542 | 3.8 556 | 1.6 549 | 3.1 7 | -7 * Visual/Graphic representation of United States's data
Italy 541 | 2.4 541 2.2 548 | 2.2 7 * 7 * Visual/Graphic representation of Italy's data
Denmark2 | 554 | 1.7 547 | 2.1 | | -7 * Visual/Graphic representation of Denmark's data
Netherlands3 554 2.4 546 2.0 545 | 1.7 -9 * -1 * Visual/Graphic representation of Netherlands's data
Australia | 527 2.3 544 | 2.5 | | 17 * Visual/Graphic representation of Australia's data
Czech Republic 537 | 2.3 545 2.2 543 | 2.1 6 * -2 | Visual/Graphic representation of Czech Republic's data
Canada2,5 | 548 1.6 543 | 1.8 | | -5 * Visual/Graphic representation of Canada's data
Slovenia 502 1.9 530 2.0 542 | 2.0 41 * 12 * Visual/Graphic representation of Slovenia's data
Austria2 | 529 1.9 541 2.4 | | 12 * Visual/Graphic representation of Austria's data
Germany 539 | 1.9 541 2.3 537 3.2 -2   -4 | Visual/Graphic representation of Germany's data
Slovak Republic 518 2.8 535 2.7 535 3.1 17 * # | Visual/Graphic representation of Slovak Republic's data
Israel1 | 541 2.7 530 2.5 | | -11 * Visual/Graphic representation of Israel's data
Portugal2 | 541 2.5 528 2.3 | | -13 * Visual/Graphic representation of Portugal's data
Spain | 513 2.3 528 1.7 | | 15 * Visual/Graphic representation of Spain's data
New Zealand 529 3.7 531 1.9 523 2.2 -6   -8 * Visual/Graphic representation of New Zealand's data
Norway (4)6 499 2.9 507 2.0 517 2.0 18 * 10 * Visual/Graphic representation of Norway's data
France 525 2.4 520 2.7 511 2.2 -14 * -9 * Visual/Graphic representation of France's data
Belgium (French)-BEL2 | 506 2.9 497 2.6 | | -9 * Visual/Graphic representation of Belgium (French)-BEL's data
Georgia5 | 488 3.1 488 2.8 | | 1 | Visual/Graphic representation of Georgia's data
Trinidad and Tobago | 471 3.8 479 3.3 | | 9 | Visual/Graphic representation of Trinidad and Tobago's data
Azerbaijan | 462 3.3 470 4.4 | | 8 | Visual/Graphic representation of Azerbaijan's data
Malta2 | 457 1.4 452 1.8 | | -5 * Visual/Graphic representation of Malta's data
United Arab Emirates | 439 2.2 450 3.2 | | 12 * Visual/Graphic representation of United Arab Emirates's data
Qatar | 425 3.6 442 1.8 | | 17 * Visual/Graphic representation of Qatar's data
Saudi Arabia | 430 4.3 430 4.2 | | # | Visual/Graphic representation of Saudi Arabia's data
Iran, Islamic Republic of 414 4.3 457 2.9 428 4.0 14 * -29 * Visual/Graphic representation of Iran, Islamic Republic of's data
Oman | 391 2.8 418 3.3 | | 28 * Visual/Graphic representation of Oman's data
Morocco | 310 3.9 358 3.9 | | 47 * Visual/Graphic representation of Morocco's data
Benchmarking education systems | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Quebec-CAN7 537 | 3.0 538 2.2 547 | 2.8 10 * 10 * Visual/Graphic representation of Quebec-CAN's data
Ontario-CAN 548 | 3.3 552 | 2.5 544 | 3.2 -4   -8 * Visual/Graphic representation of Ontario-CAN's data
Andalusia-ESP | 515 2.2 525 2.1 | | 10 * Visual/Graphic representation of Andalusia-ESP's data
Dubai-UAE | 476 2.0 515 1.9 | | 39 * Visual/Graphic representation of Dubai-UAE's data
Abu Dhabi-UAE | 424 4.7 414 4.7 | | -10 | Visual/Graphic representation of Abu Dhabi-UAE's data
                            Visual/Graphic representation of the legend's data
| Blank cell.
▼ Score is higher than U.S. average score.
▲ Score is lower than U.S. average score.
— Not available.
† Not applicable.
# Rounds to zero.
* p<.05. Change in average scores is significant at the05 level of statistical significance.
1 National Defined Population covers less than 90 percent of National Target Population (but at least 77 percent).
2 National Defined Population covers 90 to 95 percent of the National Target Population.
3 Met guidelines for sample participation rates only after replacement schools were included.
4 Trend results for Lithuania do not include students taught in Polish or in Russian.
5 National Target Population does not include all of the International Target Population.
6 The number in parentheses indicates the grade level. For PIRLS 2016, Norway revised its assessed population to students in the fifth grade to obtain better comparisons with Sweden and Finland. However, in previous PIRLS cycles Norway assessed students in the fourth grade, which is similar to third grade in many other education systems because grade 1 in Norway is considered the equivalent of a year of kindergarten. To maintain trend with previous PIRLS cycles, in 2016 Norway also collected data from fourth-grade students, which is used in this trend table.
7 Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates.
NOTE: Education systems are ordered by 2016 average scores. Italics indicate participants identified as a non-national entity that represents a portion of a country. Data are not shown for some education systems because comparable data from previous cycles are not available. All average scores reported as higher or lower than the U.S. average score are different at the05 level of statistical significance. The tests for significance take into account the standard error for the reported difference. Thus, a small difference between the United States and one education system may be significant, while a large difference between the United States and another education system may not be significant. Education systems that did not administer PIRLS at the target grade are not shown; see the international report for their results. In 2016, Iran and Morocco participated in both PIRLS and PIRLS Literacy. More detail on PIRLS Literacy is available at https://timssandpirls.bc.edu/pirls2016/framework.html. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard error is abbreviated as s.e.
For 2001, Lithuania, Ontario-CAN, and Quebec-CAN had a National Target Population that did not include all of the International Target Population; England-GBR and the Russian Federation had a National Defined Population that covered 90-95 percent of the National Target Population; Israel had a National Defined Population that covered less than 80 percent of the National Target Population; England-GBR, the Netherlands, and the United States met guidelines for sample participation rates only after replacement schools were included; and Morocco nearly satisfied guidelines for sample participation rates after replacement schools were included.
For 2011, Georgia and Lithuania had a National Target Population that did not include all of the International Target Population; Azerbaijan, Denmark, Canada, Lithuania, Qatar, Singapore, the United States, Belgium (French)-BEL, and Ontario-CAN had a National Defined Population that covered 90-95 percent of the National Target Population; Hong Kong-CHN and Israel had a National Defined Population that covered less than 90 percent of the National Target Population (but at least 77 percent); England-GBR, the Netherlands, Norther Ireland-GBR, and Belgium (French)-BEL met guidelines for sample participation rates only after replacement schools were included; Norway (4) nearly satisfied guidelines for sample participation rates after replacement schools were included; in Oman there were reservations about reliability because the percentage of students with achievement too low to estimate exceed 15 percent, though it was less than 25 percent; in Morocco there were reservations about reliability because the percentage of students with achievement too low to estimate exceeded 25 percent.
SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), 2001, 2011, and 2016.