PIRLS 2021 International Results in Reading
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Could Do Early Literacy Tasks When Beginning Primary School
The Could Do Early Literacy Tasks When Beginning Primary School scale is based on parents’ reports of how well their child could do six literacy tasks when their child began the first grade of primary school. For example, parents were asked how well their children could read sentences, read stories, or write words. Consistent with existing research, the PIRLS 2021 results show that students with an early start in literacy learning had higher average reading achievement at the fourth grade.
Exhibit 5.4 presents the percentages of students who could do early literacy tasks “very well,” “moderately well,” and “not well” when they began the first grade of primary school based on their parents’ reports, together with the students’ average reading achievement. Countries are listed in descending order by the percentage of students who could do the tasks “very well.”
Across countries, on average, similar percentages of students could do the early literacy tasks “very well” (32%), “moderately well” (35%), or “not well” (34%) before beginning primary school. Literacy readiness when beginning primary school was associated with higher reading achievement at the fourth grade. On average, students who could do the early literacy tasks “very well” when they began primary school had higher average reading achievement at fourth grade (524) than students who could do the early literacy tasks “moderately well” (498). The students in the “not well” category had the lowest average achievement (475).
