Performance at International Benchmarks

Exhibit 2.6 describes the reading comprehension skills and strategies demonstrated by fourth grade students at the Advanced International Benchmark. Students at the Advanced International Benchmark can take the entire text into account to provide full text-based support for their interpretations and explanations. They are able to evaluate the effect of the author’s choices and visual elements.

Exhibits 2.6.1 through 2.6.8 contain examples of the types of items successfully answered by students achieving at the Advanced International Benchmark, two based on the literary text “Flowers on the Roof,” two based on the literary text “Macy,” and four based on the informational text “The Green Sea Turtle’s Journey” (see Appendix H). It can be seen that these items answered correctly by Advanced readers (50% or more of them) were very difficult for students internationally. Each exhibit shows achievement results for the countries that participated in PIRLS (and PIRLS Literacy for “Flowers on the Roof”), with up and down arrows indicating a significantly higher or lower percentage of success than the international average. The reading purpose, 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 Items 2.6.1 and 2.6.2 are based on students integrating information across “Flowers on the Roof” to fully answer constructed response questions, first to interpret and explain how a character’s actions reflected her feelings and second to explain how feelings changed across the story. Example Item 2.6.3 asked students to integrate ideas across the “Macy” story to describe what she was like and give two examples, which was a challenge for the Advanced readers such that the item actually was a little too difficult to anchor and illustrates their boundaries. Example Item 2.6.4 illustrates how students at the Advanced International Benchmark were able to evaluate text, in this case to explain why an alternative title would be better.

Example Items 2.6.5, 2.6.6, and 2.6.7 (which just missed anchoring) illustrate that fourth grade readers at the Advanced International Benchmark can distinguish and integrate information across a relatively complex scientific text. In particular, the second two examples require students to interpret and integrate information to provide a full explanation. Example Item 2.6.8 asks students to evaluate the text about “The Green Sea Turtle’s Journey” from the writer’s point of view. Indeed, the fourth grade students performing at the Advanced International Benchmark are accomplished readers.