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.
