Measuring SDG 4: how PIRLS can help; how the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) helps monitor Sustainable Development Goal 4 targets

This booklet has been prepared for the international release of the 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and ePIRLS at UNESCO. PIRLS is one of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement’s (IEA) core largescale international assessment projects, successfully administered every five years since 2001. It provides internationally comparative data on how well children read by assessing grade 4 students’ reading achievement and offers policyrelevant information for improving teaching and learning. Initiated in 2016, ePIRLS is an extension of PIRLS that monitors how well grade 4 students read, interpret, and critique online information in an environment that looks and feels like the Internet. The analyses presented in this booklet exemplify ways in which data from a cross-national learning assessment such as PIRLS can help monitor progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which aims to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all“. This booklet accompanies the PIRLS and ePIRLS international reports and provides further insights on how learning assessments not only can help monitor learning outcomes but also other indicators in the SDG 4 monitoring framework, such as equity, school violence or teacher qualifications. In addition, it shows how learning is associated with particular factors that also need to be closely monitored. These include children’s early childhood experiences, their motivation and educational aspirations, their home background and support they receive from their parents, as well as their learning and teaching environments. UNESCO and IEA have released this booklet to increase participants’ understanding of PIRLS and ePIRLS findings and their relevance for policymaking, the application of learning assessments to measure global education targets, and actions needed to translate the Education 2030 Agenda commitments into national education development efforts.