Nova Scotia Students Perform Well Internationally
Nova Scotia Grade 4 students are among the world's best young readers, scoring significantly above average in an international reading assessment.
The 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), released today, Nov. 28, measures the reading achievement of Grade 4 students in 40 countries and five Canadian provinces.
Nova Scotia students outperformed England, the United States, and 26 other countries in the assessment, scoring 42-points above the PIRLS average of 500.
The study ranked each jurisdiction based on its students' ability to read and comprehend literary and informational texts. It also examined student reading behaviours and attitudes, as well as their ability to interpret, integrate and evaluate content.
This is the first time Nova Scotia has participated in the assessment, which was first conducted in 2001.
The top three jurisdictions were the Russian Federation, Hong Kong and Alberta. Nationally, Nova Scotia was behind British Columbia and Ontario, but ranked significantly higher than Quebec.
"It is important to see how we measure up against the rest of the world and I am pleased with how well our Grade 4 students have done," said Education Minister Karen Casey. "Literacy is one of our top priorities and we will continue to work hard to ensure all our students improve at reading."
The assessment was administered to 4,436 Grade 4 students at 201 randomly selected English and French-language public schools across Nova Scotia in April and May of 2006.
The Nova Scotia report card also isolated board-by-board results and compared them internationally. Grade 4 students from each the province's seven regional school boards performed well above the international average, while the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial performed at the international average.
The PIRLS assessment also noted that girls continue to be better readers than boys. In 43 of the 45 countries, Grade 4 girls performed significantly higher than boys in overall reading achievement. In Nova Scotia, girls outperformed boys by 22 points, one of the largest gender gaps among participating jurisdictions.
"It is obvious that we need to do more to engage boys when it comes to reading," said Ms. Casey. "This gender disparity is a worldwide phenomenon, but it appears to be especially pronounced in Nova Scotia."
The PIRLS assessment also found that students who do well come from a home environment where parents promote reading. Students who had access to an early education program that builds the foundations of literacy also tended to experience increased success reading.
PIRLS is administered every five years by the International Association of Educational Achievement, based in Amsterdam. The report can be viewed at http://plans.ednet.ns.ca/