PIRLS 2011 Assessment Framework - Proj AVI

of texts used must range as widely as possible across nations andcultures. No country or culture should be overrepresented in theassessment texts. Text selection thus involves collecting potentialstimulus texts from as many countries as possible. The final selectionof texts is based, in part, on the national and cultural representationof the entire set of assessment texts. Texts that depend heavily onculture-specific knowledge are excluded.The appropriateness and readability of texts for assessingfourth-grade students is determined through review by educatorsand curriculum specialists from countries participating in theassessment. Among the criteria used to select texts are topic andtheme appropriateness for the grade level; fairness and sensitivity togender, racial, ethnic, and religious considerations; nature and levelof linguistic features; and density of information. In addition, thetime constraints of the test situation place some limits on the lengthof texts. Generally, texts selected for 2011 will be no longer than 800words so students have time to read the entire passage and answerthe comprehension questions. However, length will vary somewhatbecause other text characteristics also affect rate of reading.As a basis for measuring trends from 2001 and 2006,PIRLS retained six passages and items from the 2001 and 2006assessments—three literary and three informational—to be includedin the PIRLS 2011 assessment. To complete the design, four newpassages and associated items will be selected—two literary andtwo informational.Question Types and Scoring ProceduresStudents’ ability to comprehend text through the four PIRLScomprehension processes is assessed via comprehension questionsthat accompany each text. Two question formats are used in thePIRLS assessment—multiple-choice and constructed-response.66 | Chapter 4