Measuring student knowledge and skills

Measuring Student Knowledge and Skills
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OECD 1999
however, do not emphasise the active and initiative role of the reader in understanding or using informa-
tion. Thus the definition of reading literacy that is used in OECD/PISA is as follows:
“
Reading literacy is understanding, using, and reflecting on written texts, in order to achieve one’s goals, to develop one’s
knowledge and potential, and to participate in society.”
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The following remarks further explain this definition.
Reading literacy…
The term “reading literacy” is used in preference to “reading” because it is likely to convey more pre-
cisely to a non-expert audience what the survey is measuring. “Reading” is often understood as simply
decoding, or reading aloud, whereas the intention of this survey is to measure something broader and
deeper. The focus is on the application of reading in a range of situations for various purposes. Histori-
cally, the term “literacy” referred to a tool which readers use to acquire knowledge. The term literacy
alone is not sufficient since it is too often associated with illiteracy or some minimum level of skill needed
to function in a given society. However, the reference to literacy as a tool seems close to the connotations
that the term “reading literacy” is intended to convey in OECD/PISA, which covers a broad spectrum of
students. Some of these students will go on to a university, possibly to pursue an academic career; some
will pursue other secondary or tertiary education in preparation for their participation in the labour force;
and some will be entering the workforce directly upon completion of compulsory education. Regardless
of their academic or labour force aspirations, students are expected to become active participants in their
respective communities.
… is understanding, using, and reflecting on…
The words “reflecting on” were added to “understanding” (from IEA/RLS) and “using” (from IEA/RLS
and OECD/IALS) in order to emphasise the notion that reading is interactive: readers draw on their own
thoughts and experiences in engaging with a text. Reflection might require readers to think about the con-
tent of the text, exploiting their previous knowledge or understanding, or to think about the structure or
form of the text.