A trend study of changes in reading interest and out-of-school activities of fourth-grade students and their role in student reading performance based on Longitudinal PIRLS Studies data (2001- 2011)
Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social and Humanitic, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University,Tehran, Iran
2 Department of psychology, Faculty of social and humanities, Science and research branch, Islamic Azad university, Tehran, Iran
3 Research Institute for Education (RIE), Ministry of Education, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Background: In this study, we reviewed the trend of changes and the role of interest in reading and reading out-of-school activities on the prediction of the performance of 4th- grade students, based on international PIRLS studies conducted in 2001, 2006 and 2011.
Method: The confirmatory factor analysis, effect sizes, and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to examine the data of 18599 fourth graders who had participated in the three PIRLS studies. Findings: According to the study findings, changes interest in reading and reading out-of-school activities are almost consistent with changes in reading performance. Between 2001 and 2006, the average of reading performance increased, and the average of reading interest in 2006 was also higher than in 2001. The increasing interest in reading (though minor) has continued in 2011 as well. Average of reading out-of-school activities after the increase in 2006 was also a slight increase in the 2011 study. The SEM findings showed that the interest in reading, directly and indirectly, predicts students' reading performance. Considering the reasons for changing interest in out-of-school reading activities is essential.
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