Page 69 - Štremfel, Urška, ed., 2016. Student (Under)achievement: Perspectives, Approaches, Challenges. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut. Digital Library, Documenta 11.
P. 69
up; this group consists of two thirds of female students (66%, Table 2) and 69
their mean of values of the index of economic, social and cultural status is more
similar to the common population mean (which equals 0). Correlations of this
index by groups of low, basic and higher achievement are relatively similar
(Figure 4).4
As previously established, the following two indices have a strong posi-
tive correlation with reading achievement: the index of summarising and the
index of understanding and remembering. Figure 3 indicates that the mean val-
ues in both indices by groups of low, basic and higher achievement are high-
er in female students. Of note is that the difference in these means between
genders is lowest in the low-achievement group. This indicates that in terms
of these values the differences are greater between higher-achieving stu-
dents than low-achieving students. This is further confirmed with an analy-
sis of correlations with reading achievement by groups of low, basic and high-
er achievement in Figure 4. Both indices have a similar pattern of correlations
by achievement groups, with correlations at their lowest (and not significant-
ly different from 0) for both female and male students in the low-achievement
group. Both data – the low mean values of indices in low-achievement groups
and low correlations with reading achievement – indicate poor familiarity of
the aforementioned strategies in these female and male students. The ques-
tion that arises at this point is whether improving familiarity with, and use of,
these strategies by these students specifically would foster improved achieve-
ment. What is most encouraging here is that familiarity with, and the use of,
strategies can be improved by means of planned and systematic integration
of these strategies into school work.
The index of enjoyment of reading is characterised by vast differences both
in terms of gender and achievement groups. In the group of female students
with higher-achievement, this index has (relatively speaking) by far the high-
est value among all indices (0.91), whereas for higher-achieving male students,
i.e. students who achieve a minimum of Level 4 on the PISA scale, this index
is relatively low (0.26). The greater part of similarly large differences in read-
ing achievement, possibly also originates from this difference. This index is al-
so characterised by the lowest, although still relatively large, difference be-
tween genders in the low-achievement group. This probably means both
male and female students can gain a lot through being given more encour-
agement for, and enjoyment of, reading. In relation to this index, a peculiari-
ty in the low-achieving groups is also highlighted, i.e. correlations of this index
with reading achievement by achievement groups are positive (and relatively
– considering other indices – high) only in the last two groups. For the groups
of low-achieving female and male students the correlations are negative (the
4 Mean index values (Figure 2) and the values of correlation coefficients by groups (Figure 3) are pre-
sented in the appendix.
low reading achievement in pisa 2009
their mean of values of the index of economic, social and cultural status is more
similar to the common population mean (which equals 0). Correlations of this
index by groups of low, basic and higher achievement are relatively similar
(Figure 4).4
As previously established, the following two indices have a strong posi-
tive correlation with reading achievement: the index of summarising and the
index of understanding and remembering. Figure 3 indicates that the mean val-
ues in both indices by groups of low, basic and higher achievement are high-
er in female students. Of note is that the difference in these means between
genders is lowest in the low-achievement group. This indicates that in terms
of these values the differences are greater between higher-achieving stu-
dents than low-achieving students. This is further confirmed with an analy-
sis of correlations with reading achievement by groups of low, basic and high-
er achievement in Figure 4. Both indices have a similar pattern of correlations
by achievement groups, with correlations at their lowest (and not significant-
ly different from 0) for both female and male students in the low-achievement
group. Both data – the low mean values of indices in low-achievement groups
and low correlations with reading achievement – indicate poor familiarity of
the aforementioned strategies in these female and male students. The ques-
tion that arises at this point is whether improving familiarity with, and use of,
these strategies by these students specifically would foster improved achieve-
ment. What is most encouraging here is that familiarity with, and the use of,
strategies can be improved by means of planned and systematic integration
of these strategies into school work.
The index of enjoyment of reading is characterised by vast differences both
in terms of gender and achievement groups. In the group of female students
with higher-achievement, this index has (relatively speaking) by far the high-
est value among all indices (0.91), whereas for higher-achieving male students,
i.e. students who achieve a minimum of Level 4 on the PISA scale, this index
is relatively low (0.26). The greater part of similarly large differences in read-
ing achievement, possibly also originates from this difference. This index is al-
so characterised by the lowest, although still relatively large, difference be-
tween genders in the low-achievement group. This probably means both
male and female students can gain a lot through being given more encour-
agement for, and enjoyment of, reading. In relation to this index, a peculiari-
ty in the low-achieving groups is also highlighted, i.e. correlations of this index
with reading achievement by achievement groups are positive (and relatively
– considering other indices – high) only in the last two groups. For the groups
of low-achieving female and male students the correlations are negative (the
4 Mean index values (Figure 2) and the values of correlation coefficients by groups (Figure 3) are pre-
sented in the appendix.
low reading achievement in pisa 2009
