Many Perspectives on Engagement in PIRLS 2011  Instruction to Engage Students in Learning  Students Engaged in Reading Lessons  Instruction Limited by Students Lacking Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills  Instruction Limited by Students Suffering from Lack of Nutrition or Sleep  Instruction Limited by Disruptive or Uninterested Students  Students Like Reading  Students as Motivated Readers  Students as Confident Readers

Students Like Reading (PIRLS 2011) Components  Six Interest in Reading items (e.g., I think reading is boring; I enjoy reading; I only read if I have to) [Level of agreement]  Two Reading Out of School items (I read for fun, I read things I choose for myself) [Frequency] Example Items I enjoy reading - Agree a lot, agree a little, disagree a little, disagree a lot I read for fun (out of school) - Every day or almost every day, Once or twice a week, Once or twice a month, Never or almost never

Students Like Reading (PIRLS 2011)  Students who ‘like reading’ achieve a score of at least 11 on the 6 agreement items (i.e., ‘agreeing a lot’ with three statements and ‘agreeing a little’ with 3); they also do both reading activities (I read for fun; I read things I choose myself) outside of school ‘everyday or almost everyday’.  Students who ‘do not like reading’ score below 8.2 on the 6 agreement items, agree a little with three of the six statements, and disagree a little with the other 3, and do both reading activities once or twice a month at least  All others fall into the ‘somewhat like reading’ category.

Students Like Reading – PIRLS 2011

Is Student’s Liking for Reading Associated with Reading Performance?

Association between Liking Reading and Achievement (IRL, PIRLS 2011)

Are There Gender Differences Associated with Students Liking of Reading? (PIRLS 2011)

Is Parents’ Enjoyment of Reading Associated with Children’s Liking of Reading?  Finland: Parents vs. Children

Scatterplot: Parents Like Reading vs. Students Like Reading – Finland, PIRLS 2011

Association between SES and Students’ Liking of Reading (FIN, IRL, GER, PIRLS 2011)

Students’ Motivation to Read (PIRLS 2011)  Index based on students’ level of agreement with 6 statements:  I like to read things that make me think  It is important to be a good reader  My parents like it when I read  I learn a lot from reading  I need to read well for my future  I like it when a book helps me imagine other worlds

Motivation to Read, by Country – PIRLS 2011

Confidence in Reading  Based on students’ levels of agreement with 7 statements – e.g.  I usually do well in reading  Reading is easy for me  If a book is interesting, I don’t care how hard it is to read*  My teacher tells me I am a good reader

Confidence in Reading, by Country – PIRLS 2011

Gender Differences in Confidence in Reading – PIRLS 2011

Correlations Among Reading Engagement Measures – (PIRLS 2011)

Multi-level Model (IRL, PIRLS 2011)

Multi-level Model (IRL, PIRLS 2011) - Continued

Interaction between Gender and Frequency of Reading for Enjoyment 19 Cosgrove & Craven, 2013.

Conclusions on Engagement  Importance of engagement in reading variable, and the need to promote children’s engagement in reading, improve their motivation to read, and increase their confidence as readers.  Need to recognise gender differences associated with motivational variables (Bill to address this)  Multi-level model (IRL)– Students’ enjoyment of reading explains performance in reading, even when other school and student-level variables are included in the model (but it’s not a causal model)  PIRLS 2016 – Transition to computer-based assessment. Need to explore ways of measuring children’s engagement with electronic and paper-based texts.