PIRLS: Vocabulary Shapes Educational Inequality in Reading

According to the 2021 International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), one in four children leaves elementary school without being able to read well enough. Children from socially disadvantaged and immigrant families are particularly affected. Current analyses based on IGLU data now clearly show that this disparity in reading proficiency based on family background is largely explained by the children’s vocabulary. Decoding, the fluent deciphering of words, plays only a minor role in explaining these differences in proficiency when considered alongside vocabulary. To combat inequality in reading proficiency, therefore, systematic vocabulary development is needed in addition to fluent reading.

Further Information: Press release  and summary report (German)