The Role of Student and School Variables in Reading Performance among Those Participated in PIRLS 2006

The Role of Student and School Variables in Reading Performance among Those Participated in PIRLS 2006 M. S. Reza'ee A.R. Kiamanesh, Ph.D. Z. Naghsh, Ph.D. To determine the role of student and school variables in reading performance, the data on Iranian fourth graders who participated in PIRLS 2006 were analyzed. The sample had included 3978 students from 208 schools. At the student level the following variables were measured: self-concept, attitude, and time spent on studying. The school level variable was teachers' time spent on studying. In analyzing the data multilevel modeling techniques were utilized. Results show that only students' time spent on studying is positively and significantly related to reading performance. More significant was the finding of teachers' time spent on studying which accounted for 43% of the variance in the reading performance. Key words: reading self-concept, attitude towards reading, time spent studying, PIRLS 2006