The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assesses students’ reading achievement after their fourth year of elementary schooling and was approved by the General Assembly of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). It assesses students’ reading for literary experience and reading for information. Further, it integrates four types of comprehension processes: retrieving explicitly stated information, making inferences, interpreting and integrating ideas and information, and evaluating and critiquing content. The results of the study tell how well students can read and report on elements of literacy involving the home, student, classroom, school, community, and national curriculum policy. These results can be used to inform policy makers and researchers in every country about how to improve reading achievement and literacy.

PIRLS started in ...