Use and Impact of PIRLS
In general, the PIRLS 2006 findings received little public attention in Flanders, with information related to the study being made available mainly to the participating schools, policymakers, and educational researchers. When the results were first released, a few newspaper reports (e.g., in De Standaard) and radio items featuring the findings reached the general public. Later, the fact that only a small percentage of students were positioned as advanced readers attracted commentary in journals (e.g., in Onderwijskrant) and led to various groups such as parents of gifted children engaging in actions directed at influencing educational policy.12
The PIRLS results also have been mentioned in various other contexts over time, such as in recent discussions on reform of secondary education. In a document setting out government policy for education for 2009 to 2014, the Minister of Education stated that “our well-performing children do not perform very well.”13 This comment was a direct reaction to the PIRLS 2006 results.
A follow-up study conducted by Driessens and Faes on the impact of PIRLS 2006 in participating schools found only limited evidence of influence on school policy and practice relating to reading.14 Driessens and Faes were particularly interested in how schools interpreted and used the school feedback reports. Based on the findings of their quantitative and qualitative analyses, they concluded that although school principals and some other school staff read the feedback report for their school, most of these readers had difficulty interpreting the feedback results. This difficulty may partly explain why only a few principals used these data to adjust school policy. Driessens and Faes also noted that schools generally were only motivated to address issues highlighted by the data when stakeholders such as parents exerted pressure on them to do so.