Close to one in four Danish fourth-grade students has difficulty reading, and the group of weak readers has grown. This is the result of the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which was published today. The study indicates that a targeted effort is needed to support weak readers. This includes enhancing students’ motivation to read in their free time, so they find greater enjoyment in reading.

Main results of PIRLS 2021

• Danish fourth-grade students have an average score of 539 points in PIRLS 2021, which is significantly lower than all previous Danish PIRLS results.
• Despite the decline, Danish students are ranked in the upper tier of all participants in PIRLS 2021, alongside students from Sweden and Norway, among others.
• Students in five countries score significantly higher on average than Danish students in PIRLS 2021: Singapore, Hong Kong, England, Finland and Poland.
• The average reading scores of students in most participating countries and regions in PIRLS 2021 have declined significantly.
• The significant decline in Denmark is among the smallest of the significant declines internationally.
• The decline in the Danish average reading score is primarily connected to the increased number of weak readers.
• The spread in the reading scores of Danish fourth-grade students is increasing, and the gap between the weakest and strongest readers has widened.
• Students read fiction better than non-fiction, and their reading skills in non-fiction texts have significantly declined since 2016. However, this decline does not apply to their reading skills in fiction texts.
• In Denmark, girls generally still read significantly better than boys. The difference in reading skills between girls and boys in Denmark has remained stable across all PIRLS rounds since 2006.
• The difference in reading skills between the weakest and strongest readers is 20 times greater than the difference between genders.
• Danish fourth-grade students in 2021 read less frequently in their free time than in PIRLS 2016. However, the amount of time students spend reading when they do read remains unchanged. Students with the lowest reading scores are those who spend the least time reading and hardly ever read for enjoyment.
• Since PIRLS 2011, when Danish fourth-grade students performed their best, there has been a significant increase in the number of students who read for less than 30 minutes a day.
• Danish students’ enjoyment of reading has significantly declined since 2016, especially among girls. Students who do not enjoy reading have the lowest average reading scores. Denmark and Norway are the two countries in the entire study with the fewest students who truly enjoy reading.
• The proportion of students with strong confidence in their own reading comprehension is significantly smaller in 2021 than in 2016.
• There is a positive correlation between resources at home and students’ average reading scores.
• There is a positive correlation between the language spoken at home, the parents’ reading habits and the students’ reading scores.
• More students feel tired or hungry in PIRLS 2021 than in 2016. There is a significant correlation between students’ feelings of tiredness and hunger and their reading scores.
• Seven percent of the students experience bullying on a weekly basis. The experience of being bullied is significantly negatively correlated with students’ reading scores.
• There are few schools in Denmark with discipline problems, a lack of safety or a harsh tone. There is a significant correlation between the school atmosphere and the students’ average reading scores.

The study was conducted by the Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, co-funded by the Ministry of Children and Education and published in collaboration with Aarhus University Press.

Contact

Simon Skov Fougt
Email: sifo@edu.au.dk; tel.: 93 52 19 80