Skilled Students and Effective Schools: Reading Achievement in Denmark, Sweden, and France

ABSTRACT

This study investigates how reading achievement relates to student and school characteristics in countries with different reading scores at the fourth grade level. Data comes from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011 for Denmark, Sweden, and France and the multilevel analysis includes two levels: student/home and schools. The school effectiveness and the home literacy models informed the selection of the independent variables. Results show that students’ early literacy skills, home literacy practices and resources, and reading behavior are associated with reading scores in all countries. Furthermore, across different countries there are student/home universals and school particulars that explain variation in reading achievement. Educational policies should address home and school literacy skills and practices, school climate, and school composition to improve students’ reading ability.

KEYWORDS:

• Reading achievement
• PIRLS
• home literacy model
• school effectiveness

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Patrícia Costa http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2943-4270

Luísa Araújo http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6491-5777

Notes

1 Fourth grade TIMSS—The Third International Mathematics and Science Study 2011.