same information for the statistical analyses such as means and percentages but information such as the totals and population sizes differed. The PIRLS total weight is provided to compute statistics across countries with each country contributing proportionally to its population size. That is, the sum of the PIRLS total weights within a country provides an estimate of the size of the target population in the country (i.e., the total number of fourth grade students in a country). The PIRLS senate weight is provided to compute statistics across countries with each country contributing equally. That is, the sum of the PIRLS senate weights within each country is 500. Finally, the PIRLS house weight is provided for the conduct of statistical significance tests. The sum of the PIRLS house weights for a country reflects the actual sample size.
Selection of Variables
In the present study, it was aimed to identify those twenty predictors – as assessed using the four PIRLS background questionnaires – that contributed most to the individual differences observed in the RLT scores. A selection of the most important variables viewed from a theoretical perspective was initially made, based on the literature study as described in the introduction. Thereafter, those twenty variables with the most predictive power in an exploratory linear regression analysis were selected for further analysis (p < .001). In the following sections, a brief description of the relevant variables is presented.
PIRLS Student Questionnaire. Seven variables were selected for further analysis
from the PRILS student questionnaire. The first variable was Gender. Students reported whether they were a boy or a girl. The second variable was Reading Motivation. Students were asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the following five statements along a four-point scale: (a) I only read when I have to (reverse coded); (b) I like talking about books with other people; (c) I would be happy if someone gave me a book as a present; (d) I think reading is boring (reverse coded); and (e) I enjoy reading. The responses were averaged across the different items for this variable per student, and the Cronbach's Alpha was found to be 0.71. The third variable was Reading Self-Concept. The students were again asked to indicate the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the following three statements regarding just how well they read along a four-point scale: (a) reading is very easy for me; (b) I do not read as well as other students in my class (reverse coded); and (c) reading aloud is very hard for me (reverse coded). . The responses were averaged per student across the different items for this variable, and the Cronbach's Alpha was found to be 0.57. The fourth variable was Reading for Fun. Students reported whether they read for fun outside school using the following options: every day or almost every day; once or twice a week; once or twice a month; almost never or never. This categorical variable was recoded to form an interval variable indicating the number of times read per month (30, 6, 1.5, or 0 times a month). The sixth variable was Television Watching. The response options were again as follows: every day or almost every day; once or twice a week; once or twice
a month; almost never or never. The categorical variable was also recoded to form an interval variable indicating the number of times that television was watched per month (30, 6, 1.5, or 0 times a month). The seventh variable was Computer Usage. The students indicated how often they used a computer at home, school, or some other place separately using the following options: every day, once or twice a week, once or twice a month, almost never or never. The responses were recoded into the number of times per month (30, 6, 1.5, or 0 times a month, respectively) and
summed for each student: A student who used a computer every day at home, every day at school, and every day some place else thus used the computer 90 times a month. The final child variable was Home Language. The students reported whether they always, sometimes, or never spoke the language of the Reading Literacy Test at home.
PIRLS Parent Questionnaire. Six variables were selected for further analysis from the
PIRLS parent questionnaire. The first variable was Parental Education. Parents reported the highest level of education for the father and the mother. The response options were: college or some other post-secondary education, upper secondary education, lower secondary education, or elementary education. For each student, the level of education for the highest educated parent was used. The second variable was Preschool Activities. Parents reported whether they did each of the following activities with their child prior to elementary schools (i.e., first grade) using the following options: never, sometimes, or often. The activities were: read books; tell stories; sing songs; play with alphabet toys (e.g., blocks with letters of the alphabet); play word games; write letters or words; and read aloud signs and labels. The scores for the different activities were averaged per student, and a Cronbach's Alpha 0.68 was found. The third variable was the Number of Books at Home. Parents reported how many books there were in their homes (excluding magazines, newspapers, or children’s books). The response options were: 0-10; 11-25; 26-100; 101-200; or more than 200 books. The responses were recoded to form an interval variable indicating the estimated number of books in the home (5, 18, 63, 150.5, or 250, respectively). The fourth variable was Visit Library or Bookstore with the Child. Parents reported how often they or someone else visited the library or a bookstore with the child using the following response options: every day or almost every day; once or twice a week; once or twice a month; almost never or never. Once again, the number of times per month was recoded to create an interval variable (30, 6, 1.5, or 0 times per month, respectively). The fifth variable was Parental Reading Attitude. Parents indicated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with the following statements along a four- point scale: (a) I read only when I have to (reverse coded); (b) I like talking about books with other people; (c) I like to spend my spare time reading; (d) I read only when I need information (reverse coded); and (e) reading is an important activity in my home. The responses, which could vary from “disagree a lot” to “agree a lot,” were averaged for each respondent, and a. Cronbach's Alpha of 0.81 was found. The sixth variable was Parents Read for Information. Parents indicated the extent to which they read for work, to get news, and for their own education at home along a four-point scale that ranged from “daily” to “never.”. The responses were again