Page 58 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 58
Metacognitive competencies are activated when readers think about, mon-
itor and adjust their reading activity for a particular goal. PISA defines read-
ing literacy as understanding, using, reflecting on and engaging with written
texts, in order to achieve one’s goals, to develop one’s knowledge and poten-
tial and to participate in society. The PISA definition of literacy is broader than
the usual definition of reading and writing skills, i.e. literacy is understood as
increasing from low to higher literacy and not as a quality that an individual
either has or does not have. The basic level of reading literacy is the ability to
search for a piece, or several pieces, of information by drawing (simple) con-
clusions and considering different information-related criteria, identifying the
main idea of a text, understanding associations or formulating the meaning
within a limited text section when the piece of information may not be given
perfectly clearly, making comparisons based on one text characteristic, or re-
lating pieces of information from the text to one’s own knowledge and experi-
ences (ibid.). In summary, low-achieving students in PISA (below Level 2) have
difficulties locating basic information according to the search criteria, compar-
ing information based on a single characteristic, formulating the meaning of a
58 clearly structured text and relating the content of the text with other pieces of
information from their own experience or beliefs.
It needs to be acknowledged that, in general, there is no straightforward
or simple answer to the question about the definition of low achievement and
measures to improve it. PISA itself has also been subject to criticism (Bonderup
Dohn, 2007; Murphy, 2010; Sjoeberg, 2012; Topping et al., 2003), however, the
fact that it attracts a lot of international attention makes it an important ba-
sis for assessing student achievement and searching for means of improving
the quality of the educational system. Data about the Slovenian 15-year-old
students’ (non-)achievement of basic levels of literacy in the fields of reading,
mathematics and science, and comparisons with their peers from other coun-
tries, are known from international and national PISA reports (e.g. OECD, 2007;
OECD, 2010a; OECD, 2013). Basic results of these comparisons for Slovenian
15-year-old students are presented in Table 2.
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
itor and adjust their reading activity for a particular goal. PISA defines read-
ing literacy as understanding, using, reflecting on and engaging with written
texts, in order to achieve one’s goals, to develop one’s knowledge and poten-
tial and to participate in society. The PISA definition of literacy is broader than
the usual definition of reading and writing skills, i.e. literacy is understood as
increasing from low to higher literacy and not as a quality that an individual
either has or does not have. The basic level of reading literacy is the ability to
search for a piece, or several pieces, of information by drawing (simple) con-
clusions and considering different information-related criteria, identifying the
main idea of a text, understanding associations or formulating the meaning
within a limited text section when the piece of information may not be given
perfectly clearly, making comparisons based on one text characteristic, or re-
lating pieces of information from the text to one’s own knowledge and experi-
ences (ibid.). In summary, low-achieving students in PISA (below Level 2) have
difficulties locating basic information according to the search criteria, compar-
ing information based on a single characteristic, formulating the meaning of a
58 clearly structured text and relating the content of the text with other pieces of
information from their own experience or beliefs.
It needs to be acknowledged that, in general, there is no straightforward
or simple answer to the question about the definition of low achievement and
measures to improve it. PISA itself has also been subject to criticism (Bonderup
Dohn, 2007; Murphy, 2010; Sjoeberg, 2012; Topping et al., 2003), however, the
fact that it attracts a lot of international attention makes it an important ba-
sis for assessing student achievement and searching for means of improving
the quality of the educational system. Data about the Slovenian 15-year-old
students’ (non-)achievement of basic levels of literacy in the fields of reading,
mathematics and science, and comparisons with their peers from other coun-
tries, are known from international and national PISA reports (e.g. OECD, 2007;
OECD, 2010a; OECD, 2013). Basic results of these comparisons for Slovenian
15-year-old students are presented in Table 2.
student (under)achievement: perspectives, approaches, challenges
