Learning to Read: The Reading Performance of Hong Kong Primary Students Compared with that in Developed Countries Around the World in PIRLS 2001 and 2006.

Being literate is fundamental for learning most school subjects. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) conducts a regular cycle of studies of children's reading literacy and the factors associated with literacy acquisition in countries around the world. The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) focuses on the reading attainment of children in their fourth year of schooling and the experiences at home and at school that help them learn how to read well. Designed specifically to measure trends in reading attainment, PIRLS is conducted every five years. The first PIRLS assessment took place in 2001, the second in 2006, and the next is planned for 2011. More than fifty of the countries and regions participating in PIRLS 2001 also took part in the 2006 study, Hong Kong being one such region. Involvement enabled education authorities in the countries and regions to monitor trends in reading attainment across the five-year period from 2001 to 2006. H...