Strategies for Promoting Reading Competence: Teaching Practices and Enjoyment of Reading.

BACKGROUND: Reading literacy is key for personal development and educational success. Previous studies have examined variables that influence and enhance development of reading literacy in specific contexts. However, there is no consensus about which teaching practices encourage development of reading in different settings. The aim of this study was to evaluate how educational strategies influence the development of reading literacy and to analyse their predictive capacity in various cultural, educational and social contexts. METHOD: The study used data from 294,527 students from 37 countries collected as part of the PISA 2018 study. The data were analysed using an adaptation of the Difference in Differences methodology, which allowed us to isolate the effects of the factors on the acquisition of reading literacy. RESULTS: Students who enjoyed reading and explicitly used an effective reading strategy had reading scores that outperformed their mathematics results on the PISA scale by 4 to 9 points on average. CONCLUSIONS: Identifying key factors in the acquisition of reading literacy­such as enjoyment of reading­and the use of effective strategies­such as summarizing texts­underscores the need for suitably targeted educational policies.

Strategies for Promoting Reading Competence: Teaching Practices and Enjoyment of Reading / Estrategias Para Fomentar la Competencia Lectora: Prácticas Docentes y Disfrute de la Lectura

Background: Reading literacy is key for personal development and educational success. Previous studies have examined variables that influence and enhance development of reading literacy in specific contexts. However, there is no consensus about which teaching practices encourage development of reading in different settings. The aim of this study was to evaluate how educational strategies influence the development of reading literacy and to analyse their predictive capacity in various cultural, educational and social contexts. Method: The study used data from 294,527 students from 37 countries collected as part of the PISA 2018 study. The data were analysed using an adaptation of the Difference in Differences methodology, which allowed us to isolate the effects of the factors on the acquisition of reading literacy. Results: Students who enjoyed reading and explicitly used an effective reading strategy had reading scores that outperformed their mathematics results on the PISA scale by 4 to 9 points on average. Conclusions: Identifying key factors in the acquisition of reading literacy—such as enjoyment of reading—and the use of effective strategies—such as summarizing texts—underscores the need for suitably targeted educational policies.(AU)

Antecedentes: La competencia lectora es clave para el crecimiento personal y el éxito educativo. Estudios previos han analizado las variables que potencian la competencia lectora en contextos específicos. Sin embargo, no existe consenso sobre las prácticas docentes que favorecen la evolución de esta competencia en distintos contextos. El objetivo de este estudio es evaluar la influencia de las estrategias educativas en el desarrollo de la competencia lectora y analizar su capacidad predictiva en distintos contextos culturales, educativos y sociales. Método: Se utilizaron datos de 294.527 alumnos de 37 países recogidos en el estudio PISA 2018. El análisis de datos se realizó mediante una adaptación de la metodología Diferencias en Diferencias, que permitió aislar el efecto de los factores sobre la competencia lectora. Resultados: Los resultados muestran que los estudiantes que disfrutan leyendo y utilizan explícitamente una estrategia de lectura eficaz superan entre 4 y 9 puntos de media los resultados en matemáticas en la escala de PISA. Conclusiones: La identificación de factores clave en la adquisición de la competencia lectora, como el disfrute de la lectura y la utilización de estrategias eficaces de comprensión y síntesis de textos escritos, enfatiza la necesidad de generar políticas educativas orientadas a su desarrollo. (AU)

Predicting Student Well-Being: Network Analysis Based on PISA 2018.

The latest trends in research extend the focus of school effectiveness beyond students' acquisition of knowledge and skills, looking at aspects such as well-being in the academic context. Although the concept of well-being itself has been defined and measured in various ways, neither its dimensions nor the relationships between the components have been clearly described. The aim of the present study was to analyse how the elements of well-being interact and determine how they are influenced by school factors. To do that, we conducted a network analysis based on data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 international assessment. Our results demonstrated that cognitive, psychological, and social well-being variables form a solid welfare construct in the educational context, where students' resilience and fear of failure, along with their sense of belonging, play central roles. Although the influence of school factors on student well-being is generally low, teaching enthusiasm and support promote positive school climates which are, in turn, crucial in reducing bullying.

How Schools Affect Student Well-Being: A Cross-Cultural Approach in 35 OECD Countries.

A common approach for measuring the effectiveness of an education system or a school is the estimation of the impact that school interventions have on students' academic performance. However, the latest trends aim to extend the focus beyond students' acquisition of knowledge and skills, and to consider aspects such as well-being in the academic context. For this reason, the 2015 edition of the international assessment system Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) incorporated a new tool aimed at evaluating the socio-emotional variables related to the well-being of students. It is based on a definition focused on the five dimensions proposed in the PISA theoretical framework: cognitive, psychological, social, physical, and material. The main purpose of this study is to identify the well-being components that significantly affect student academic performance and to estimate the magnitude of school effects on the well-being of students in OECD countries, the school effect being understood as the ability of schools to increase subjective student well-being. To achieve this goal, we analyzed the responses of 248,620 students from 35 OECD countries to PISA 2015 questionnaires. Specifically, we considered non-cognitive variables in the questionnaires and student performance in science. The results indicated that the cognitive well-being dimension, composed of enjoyment of science, self-efficacy, and instrumental motivation, as well as test anxiety all had a consistent relationship with student performance across countries. In addition, the school effect, estimated through a two-level hierarchical linear model, in terms of student well-being was systematically low. While the school effect accounted for approximately 25% of the variance in the results for the cognitive dimension, only 5-9% of variance in well-being indicators was attributable to it. This suggests that the influence of school on student welfare is weak, and the effect is similar across countries. The present study contributes to the general discussion currently underway about the definition of well-being and the connection between well-being and achievement. The results highlighted two complementary concerns: there is a clear need to promote socio-emotional education in schools, and it is important to develop a rigorous framework for well-being assessment. The implications of the results and proposals for future studies are discussed.