Progress in International Reading Literacy Study

Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading Program Receives 2023 SmartBrief EdTech Readers' Choice Award

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Science, Education, Teaching, Educational technology, Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, Literacy, Student, Reader, Legislation, Tutoring, Savvas

PARAMUS, N.J., May 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Savvas Learning Company, a K-12 next-generation learning solutions leader, is proud to announce that its Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading has earned a 2023 Readers' Choice Award presented by SmartBrief on EdTech. The new Savvas K-2 supplemental program, which supports the development of foundational skills that are so critical to the success of young readers, was recognized in the "Reading & Literacy" category.

Key Points: 
  • New supplemental literacy program, aligned to the Science of Reading, honored as an innovative edtech solution
    PARAMUS, N.J., May 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Savvas Learning Company , a K-12 next-generation learning solutions leader, is proud to announce that its Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading has earned a 2023 Readers' Choice Award presented by SmartBrief on EdTech.
  • We are so pleased that our Foundational Reading program has been chosen as an exceptional reading and literacy solution.
  • "We are so pleased that our Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading program has been chosen by SmartBrief's educator-readers as an exceptional reading and literacy solution," said Bethlam Forsa, CEO of Savvas Learning Company.
  • With its three-step instructional routine, Savvas Essentials: Foundational Reading provides explicit instruction, systematic modeling, and ample multisensory practice for all foundational reading skills.

Australia’s Year 4 students have not lost ground on reading, despite pandemic disruptions

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Learning, Mechanics, Mathematics, Student, Internet, Professional, Parent, Head, Human, COVID, Progress, Science, School, Programme for International Student Assessment (2000 to 2012), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, Child, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, Reading, NAPLAN, First Nations, TIMSS, Research, Year 4, Tutoring, Book, Film industry, Nursing, PIRLS

Australia’s Year 4 students have not lost ground on their reading skills, despite all the disruptions to schooling during the pandemic.

Key Points: 
  • Australia’s Year 4 students have not lost ground on their reading skills, despite all the disruptions to schooling during the pandemic.
  • But reading performance among students from disadvantaged backgrounds and rural areas still tends to be lower than among other students.

Why is PIRLS important?

    • The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study – PIRLS for short – is an international assessment of Year 4 students’ reading comprehension skills.
    • The results provide an overview of how different groups of students are performing in these key areas of learning, both within and between countries.

What does PIRLS measure?

    • PIRLS has been conducted about every five years since 2001, and Australia has taken part since 2011.
    • The Year 4 students who participate in PIRLS each read two texts – either two narrative texts, like a short story; two non-fiction texts, like a short article; or one of each.

How did Australia go?

    • The 2021 PIRLS assessment was conducted in the midst of the COVID pandemic, which saw interruptions to normal schooling in many participating countries, including Australia.
    • In Australia, 281 schools and 5,487 students were involved.

Meeting the ‘proficient standard’

    • Australian students also held their ground when it came to the proportion who met the Australian “proficient standard” for reading.
    • About 80% of Australian students met or exceeded the proficient standard in 2021, as they did in 2016.

We still have 20% of students behind


    At the same time, this means we still have about 20% of students who do not meet the proficient standard, compared to just one in ten in the highest performing countries, such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Russia. These figures increase if students are from an equity group. For example, 42% of students in remote schools, 40% of First Nations students and 31% of students in disadvantaged schools did not meet the proficient standard.

How can we improve?

    • The PIRLS study highlights behaviours, attitudes and strategies that seem to be associated with higher scores on the reading assessment.
    • Read more:
      What is that voice in your head when you read?
    • Australia’s achievement in PIRLS 2021 is a good result in the context of the pandemic and a testament to our teachers’ dedication and professionalism.

First comprehensive analysis finds broad gains in U.S. student test scores over last five decades

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
Intelligence, Hoover Institution, GLOBE, Educational Psychology Review, Growth, Brain, Programme for International Student Assessment (2000 to 2012), Stanford University, Learning, Progress, 2009 Davis Cup, National Assessment of Educational Progress, Life, University of Buckingham, Reading, PIRLS, Harvard Kennedy School, LTT, Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, Student, SES, Policy, Hoover, Education policy, Neuroscience, University, Harvard University, TIMSS, Education, Management, Tutoring, Medicine, Program

Clear progress for U.S. students over 50 years of testing in both subjects, but steeper gains in math than reading.

Key Points: 
  • Clear progress for U.S. students over 50 years of testing in both subjects, but steeper gains in math than reading.
  • In reading, the gains are only 4 percent of a standard deviation, just short of about one year of additional reading over the entire period.
  • The differences shrink in middle school and by high school, the highest socioeconomic group makes larger gains.
  • In particular, improved conditions for brain development may benefit student abilities to analyze abstract relationships crucial for math achievement.