The next lecture in the Malta Review of Educational Research lecture series is entitled Determinants of Student Reading Achievement in Malta.
Date: Thursday, 4 February 2016
Time: 17:00
Venue: Open Access Area, Room 224, Faculty of Education, Old Humanities Building, University of Malta Msida Campus
Venue: Open Access Area, Room 224, Faculty of Education, Old Humanities Building, University of Malta Msida Campus
Chairperson:
Professor Carmel Borg
Editor, Malta Review of Educational Research
Coordinator, MRER Lecture Series
Lecturers:
Dr Victor Martinelli, Faculty of Education, University of Malta
Dr Milosh Raykov, Faculty of Education, University of Malta
Abstract:
Maltese students are often ranked relatively low in several major international studies of student academic achievement. In the 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), Maltese students were ranked 35th of 45 participating countries.
The main objective of this study is to examine pupils’ reading achievement in Malta and some of the possible factors that contribute to the low ranking of Maltese students in reading and, consequently, in other domains of academic achievement.
The main method of this study is a secondary analysis of the PIRLS 2011 data. The International Database (IDB) Analyser was used to extract two data sets that contain data about student reading achievement in English and Maltese. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) is used for the main descriptive and inferential analyses, including means, percentages, one- and two-way analyses of variance, cross tabulations, logistic regression and graphical data presentation.
The study found strong associations between student reading achievement and their socio- economic background, the type of school they attend and the dominant language that students use at home and school. The study also explores and discusses the practice of the early school start, the dominant language and issues associated with the methodology and practice of the large-scale international studies that examine student academic achievement.
