Examination of low scoring nine year old respondents in the IEA reading literacy study from English speaking countries

The reading literacy study, conducted in 1990/91 by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), measured the performance of 9 year old students from 27 countries across the world. Until now, no specific analyses of the low scoring students has been undertaken. The aim of this secondary analysis of lEA reading literacy data was to examine the following question:

• What factors operate to influence the identification of low scores in reading literacy within and between identifiable cultural categories?

Low scoring students were included when their scores fell below 100 rasch points (approximately 2.5 years) below their respective country mean. English speaking countries included in the analysis, all of which have historical ties to England, were Canada, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United States. Low scoring sample sizes exceeded 12% of their respective total sample. Typical differences featured when the background qualities of students (i.e. sex, language background, wealth) in the low scoring and respective country samples were compared.

To examine the reading factors influencing low scores, the models of reading proposed by the lEA were tested across and within low scoring country and international data sets. Through conducting principal components analyses (PCA), it was found that the text and skills based models proposed by the lEA were not supported. New models of reading for each data set were devised and saved for further multivariate analyses. The factors of the newly theorized reading literacy constructs are concerning with poor fitting data, though similar patterns are found across the data sets. These results indicate that the variables in the reading test examined other skills, knowledge and experiences.

Procedures of MANCOVA or MANOVA were applied to each data set to facilitate identification of significant personal background factors (independent variables) on the saved component scores (dependent variables). The reading behaviour constructs (Reading in Class, Voluntary Reading, Home Literacy Interaction) devised by the lEA were included as covariates following respecification using PCA where appropriate. A socio-economic construct was devised for each country using PCA and was included as another covariate. Canada was the only country to have no significant covariates, and so, a straight MANOVA was applied.

Socioeconomic status predicted student performance in all countries except Canada. Home Literacy Interaction predicted performance on one component in the United States and Internationally. Low scoring boys obtained higher scores than the girls on items with a mathematical component, and girls tended to obtain higher scores when information was presented in a narrative or literal form. Where significant differences feature, native English speaking students consistently out perform non-native speakers. Questions are raised about traditional cognitive views of reading comprehension and standardized testing. Evidence accumulated throughout the thesis lends credence for explanations of reading literacy favouring sociocultural viewpoints.