University of Oslo Workshops June 29-30 Conference July 1-3 ...

eading and reading literacy achievement varied substantially with reading literacy
achievement. However, for students with reading literacy achievement between 0.5 and 1
standard deviation below the mean, and for those with reading literacy achievement just
under 0.5 standard deviations above the mean, this correlation was lower than expected.
This possibly indicates behavioral phenomena, test effects or a combination of both, and
certainly indicates the need for further theoretical consideration and analytical work.
Keywords: attitude to reading; reading literacy achievement; correlation curve
Reading between the Lines: Contributing Factors that Affect Grade 5 Learner
Reading Performance as Measured across South Africa’s 11 Languages.
Surette van Staden, Center for Evalution and Assessment, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Sarah Howie, Center for Evalution and Assessment, University of Pretoria, South Africa
This paper reports on the results of a study which purpose was to identify and explain
relationships between some major factors associated with successful reading at Grade 5
level in South African primary schools. In South Africa, grave concerns with regards to
low levels of student achievement pervade research initiatives and educational debates.
Despite considerable investments in educational inputs (such as policy and resources) and
processes (such as curriculum provision and teacher support), outcomes (such as student
achievement) remain disappointingly low. The South African population is characterized
by great diversity and variation. With 11 official languages, current educational policy in
South Africa advocates an additive bilingualism model and students in Grade 1 to 3 are
taught in their mother tongue. Thereafter, when these students progress to Grade 4, the
language of learning and teaching changes to a second language, which in most cases is
English. At this key developmental stage students are also expected to advance from
learning to read to a stage where they can use reading in order to learn. With this
complexity of issues in mind, Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to determine
the effect of a number of explanatory variables at student- and school level on reading
achievement as outcome variable, while controlling for language using the South African
PIRLS 2006 data. Utilizing Creemers’ Comprehensive Model of Educational Effectiveness
as theoretical point of departure, this paper will focus on the results of an overall South
African model with student- and school level variables.
Keywords: secondary analysis; educational policies; reading literacy; PIRLS 2006
Academic Work Ethics and Student Outcomes: Findings in a Global
Perspective
Laurence Ogle, Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education, San Diego State
University, USA
In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Max Weber asked a central question:
Why did capitalism develop first in Protestant rather than Catholic societies? He proposed
that the Reformation uniquely joined a religious consciousness to a cultural ethos of hard
work and achievement. This paper, drawing on data from PIRLS 2006 examines the
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