PIRLS 2001 International Database: Progress in International Reading Literacy Study

PIRLS provides trends and international comparisons of fourth grade students’ reading achievement and students’ competencies in relation to goals and standards for reading education. In addition to reading assessment, the PIRLS school, teacher, student and home questionnaires gather extensive information about the contextual factors at home and school which are associated with the teaching and learning of reading. 
PIRLS 2001 is part of a five-year cycle of assessments that measures trends in children’s reading literacy achievement and policy and practices related to literacy. PIRLS 2001 was inaugurated as a follow-up to IEA’s 1991 Reading Literacy Study. In addition, countries that participated in this 1991 study were able to measure trends in their students’ reading literacy achievement over the period 1991–2001.