Exhibit 2.3 presents the description of ePIRLS achievement at the Intermediate Benchmark. Because the
scale anchoring descriptions are cumulative, with students’ comprehension processes building on skills
demonstrated at the lower levels, as anticipated students at the Intermediate Benchmark demonstrated
greater facility in locating and reproducing explicitly stated information as well as skills in making
inferences, interpreting and integrating information across webpages, and beginning to evaluate
interactive features.
Exhibits 2.3.1 through 2.3.3 present three example items. Each exhibit shows achievement results,
with up and down arrows indicating a significantly higher or lower percentage of success for the
country compared to the international average on the item. The reading comprehension process and
scale anchoring description are provided above the item. For multiple-choice items, the correct
response is indicated. Constructed response questions were worth 1, 2, or 3 points. Each constructed
response item is shown with an illustrative student response and the amount of credit awarded the
response is shown across the bottom of the exhibit, usually full credit.
Example Item 2.3.1 shows that students were able to locate information about Elizabeth Blackwell by
scrolling through a timeline and 2.3.2 shows they could provide a reason from the text–both
were constructed response questions. Example 2.3.3 was one of the most difficult items in the ePIRLS
assessment, based on drawing an inference from text and an animation showing the orbits of Earth and
Mars around the Sun. Even students at the Advanced Benchmark did not provide a complete answer.
However, it is interesting that readers at the Intermediate Benchmark understood some part of the
difficulty in planning to get a rocket from Earth to Mars.
