PIRLS 2021 International Results in Reading

School Composition, Resources, and Climate

Instruction Affected by Resource Shortages

The PIRLS 2021 Instruction Affected by Reading Resources scale summarizes principals’ reports about how much two kinds of resource shortages affect instruction: general school resources and resources specific to reading instruction. Students were categorized according to three levels of resource shortages experienced by their school—“not affected,” “somewhat affected,” and “affected a lot” (see “About the Scale”).

In Exhibit 6.3, countries are ordered by the percentage of fourth grade students in schools “not affected” by resource shortages. There was a positive association between the availability of resources and fourth grade students’ reading achievement. On average, 31 percent of students attended schools “not affected” by resource shortages, and they had the highest average reading achievement (519). Average reading achievement was comparatively lower for the 61 percent of students in schools “somewhat affected” by resource shortages (498) and even lower for the 8 percent of students in schools “affected a lot” by resource shortages (472).