Global evidence linking home literacy activities to school readiness and reading achievement at Grade 4: Insights from PIRLS 2021

• In Event: Teachers, the Curriculum and Literacy

Proposal

Background

United Nations (UN) Member States are committed to ensuring that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education before 2030 (SDG 4.2). However, most countries are off track in achieving SDG 4.2 (UNESCO GEMR, 2023), and a recent estimate shows that over 70% of children from low-income countries cannot read or understand a simple text by age 10 (World Bank et al., 2022). This ‘learning crisis’ prompted Member States attending the UN Transforming Education Summit to recognize early childhood care and education (ECCE) as instrumental for foundational learning. However, while countries have made some progress towards ensuring at least one year of pre-primary education, early learning opportunities prior to pre-primary entry have not been sufficiently addressed.

Theoretical framework

As proposed in the bioecological model for human development (Bronfencrenner & Ceci, 1994), family members are critical actors in children’s early environments for providing learning opportunities. This theory is supported by an abundance of scientific evidence from both empirical research and intervention programs (e.g., Cuartas et al., 2023; Jeong et al., 2021). Yet, little research has been done at a global level to examine how home environment varies across gender and family socio-economic status (SES) and how home stimulation provides opportunities for early learning that can support reading achievement in primary school.

Research Questions

1.Do girls and boys experience different literacy environments at home?

2.Do early home environments differ for children growing up in low- versus high-SES families?

3.What home environment factors support children’s early learning and reading achievement at Grade 4?

Data

We use data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2021, which provides an internationally comparable measure of reading achievement at Grade 4. This research focuses on the 54 educational systems that administered a parental questionnaire to collect information about students’ early home environments before entering primary school (Mullis, et al., 2023). A home environment scale was constructed for items asking parents whether they enjoyed reading and how often they engaged in early learning activities with their children. A scale of parents’ evaluation of their child’s ability to do six literacy tasks before entering primary school (e.g., recognize letters, read some words, write letters, etc.) was used as an intermediate outcomes, and Grade 4 reading achievement as assessed by PIRLS was used as the outcome measure. An SES scale was constructed to account for parental education, occupation and the number of books in the home.

Preliminary Results

To examine gender differences in home learning environments, we compared the percentages of parents who responded that they often engaged their child in specific learning activities separately for girls and boys. Results show that parents engage girls slightly more compared to boys in literacy activities, and similar patterns are found across all 54 educational systems.

To examine socioeconomic inequalities in home learning environments, we compared the means of home environment scales across low- and high-SES families. Results show that low-SES parents report engaging in less early learning activities with their children and less enjoyment of reading. Consistent patterns are found when examining differences at item level and for individual educational systems.

To examine the link between home learning environment and early literacy and Grade 4 reading achievement, we ran two multiple regression models. Results indicate that early literacy activities are strongly related to children’s literacy skills at primary school entry. In addition, early literacy skills are relatively strongly related to Grade 4 reading achievement. In future analyses, we will estimate a structural equation model to better describe the more complex relationships between all these variables.

Conclusions

This study reveals: (1) Parents tend to engage girls more than boys in early literacy activities (at least those included in the PIRLS questionnaire); (2) Greater disparities are observed between low- and high-SES families; (3) Children who were engaged more frequently in early literacy activities tend to be equipped with better literacy skills hence more prepared for primary school, and they are more likely to show higher reading achievement at Grade 4.

These findings can have the following policy implications. First, relevant social policies can be put in place to support parents and caregivers of young children, especially those from low-SES households. Poverty alleviation policies for low-SES families, parental leaves, and flexible working hours can support parents to spend more time at home with their young children. Second, governments can implement parenting support programs targeting low-SES families to learn about age-appropriate home literacy activities. Third, the international community can raise awareness about the importance of engaging children in home literacy activities for school readiness and later reading achievement, and that boys and girls should be equally involved.

Significance of this research

Findings of this research are the first to use an international dataset to show that children’s early literacy experiences in the home are linked to school readiness and reading achievement at Grade 4. These findings can support the international community to address the global learning crisis and support countries to meet SDG 4.2 commitments by arguing for increasing investment in early childhood care and education.

Authors

• Alec Ito Kennedy, IEA Hamburg

• Yufang Ruan, UNESCO

• Sonia Guerriero, UNESCO

• Huong Le Thu, UNESCO